JournalSignalsNo. 07
A signal is not a buying intent.
A new hire tells you something changed. It does not tell you someone is ready to buy. Better outbound starts with that distinction.
Perpetual2 min read4 sections
Contents
01Start with what you can observe
Imagine a company publishes three open roles for its sales team. You have an observable fact: the company is recruiting. You also have a source you can open and a date when you found it.
That is a useful starting point for research. It does not establish a budget, a broken workflow, or a plan to replace a tool. Those are separate claims that need separate evidence.
02Keep the interpretation separate
Write down the fact before you write the pitch. In this example, the fact is that three sales roles are listed. Your interpretation might be that the team is preparing to grow. Your unanswered question is how that growth changes their outbound process.
Keeping these three things separate makes a lead easier to review. A teammate can agree with the observation, challenge the interpretation, and suggest a better question without having to untangle them from a finished email.
03Turn the unknown into a question
An opener such as ‘Saw the three sales roles on your careers page. How are you thinking about prospect research as the team grows?’ leaves room for the person to correct your assumption.
Compare that with ‘Your growing team is struggling to find leads.’ The second version turns a guess into a statement about someone else's business. Specificity is useful only when the evidence supports it.
04Give every signal a limit
For each lead, keep a short note about what the source does not prove. A hiring page does not prove purchasing intent. A leadership announcement does not prove a change in strategy. A pricing update does not prove customer dissatisfaction.
This is the principle behind Perpetual: carry the evidence and its limits into the review, so the eventual message stays grounded in something real.
