Stop Treating Every Signal Like a Buying Signal

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I got a chance to sit down with my good friend Leslie Venetz. She's the founder of The Sales-Led GTM Agency, which helps outbound teams be buyer-centric, earn trust, and drive revenue. She's been in the signal game since 2009, back when she was manually setting up Google alerts for triggers.

The problem? Everyone's using the same playbook: Same signals and same bland emails which are creating the same white noise.

The Problem: You're Misreading the Room

Your tech stack is serving up signals like website visits, webinar attendance, pricing page views, and job changes. And most reps treat every single one like the prospect is ready to buy.

"I saw you attended our webinar. Anyway, here's all the features of our product."

Leslie calls this out: reps are treating MQLs like inbound leads. They skip the trust-building phase and jump straight to the ask.

The other mistake? Even when reps pick the right signal, they don't connect the dots. They call out the trigger but never explain why it matters.

The Playbook: The POV Framework

Leslie's solution is thoughtful and strategic. She buckets every signal into one of three categories based on where the prospect actually is in their journey. Not where you want them to be but where they actually are.

P = Problem Unaware
Most signals fall here. New job. New role. Funding announcement. The prospect doesn't even know what problems they're about to face yet, let alone how to solve them.

What NOT to do: Send a "Congrats on the new job!" email with a calendar link.
What TO do: Give them a deposit. Share an insight. Show them you understand what they're walking into.

Leslie's example: When she sold to chief procurement officers, she didn't pounce on the "new CPO" trigger immediately. She waited two weeks (to avoid the congrats email pile-up), then sent a message that said:

"I know that in your first 100 days, the most important thing you'll do is an internal roadshow. Your peers are procurement's customers, and getting that right is critical to your success. Here's a three-page guide with insights from other CPOs on how to nail it."

No ask. Just value, relevance, and trust.

O = Option/Opportunity Unaware
This is a warmer bucket. They know there's a problem or opportunity. They're attending webinars, downloading white papers, and most importantly actively looking for answers.

What NOT to do: "Saw you attended our webinar. Want to book time with my AE?"
What TO do: Keep educating. Ask yourself what adjacent or tertiary questions they're probably asking. Help them scope their options. Become a trusted advisor while you still have their attention.

This is where Leslie sees the biggest mistakes. Reps treat these leads like they're ready to demo, when in reality, they're still figuring out what "right" even looks like.

V = Vendor Aware
They're on your pricing page and asking specific product questions. They've identified you as one of the vendors they want to learn more about.

What NOT to do: Force them into a 45-minute demo to answer a simple question.
What TO do: Answer it. Use video responses. Deploy AI chatbots. Make it easy for them to buy.

Leslie's question applies here too: "How am I earning the right to every bit of time I'm asking for?" At this stage, earn it by removing barriers.

The Results

Leslie's seen teams go from 0.02% reply rates to 20-30% open and reply rates just by making this mindset shift.

The change isn't complicated- stop sending generic, product-centric emails and start connecting the dots. Start earning the right. Use signals as an opportunity to educate, not just to pitch.

Here's the kicker: this framework makes your AI better. When you layer AI on top of a buyer-centric foundation, you're scaling context and trust, not just volume.

The Takeaway

Leslie's framework is a call to get real about where your prospects actually are. Not every signal means "I'm ready to buy." Most of them mean "I'm just starting to figure this out."

Your job isn't to close them in the first email. It's to earn the right to the next one.

So go back to your sequences. Look at the signals you're using. Ask yourself: Am I being buyer-centric? Am I connecting the dots? Am I earning the right?

If not, you know what to do.

Make sure to follow Leslie and her Sales-Led GTM Agency on LinkedIn.