The reality in B2B today? Buyers are doing most of the work before they ever talk to you. According to 6sense (2024), 85% of buyers have defined their purchase requirements before contacting a seller, and 81% already have a preferred vendor.
At Enspyre, with over 20 years of B2B lead generation experience and millions of conversations with potential buyers, we’ve learned that the key to winning in this environment isn’t just tracking clicks or downloads, it’s understanding what prospects are thinking, planning, and prioritizing, and engaging them at the right moment.
“Clients often say, ‘We’re already evaluating a vendor and moving into POC; we probably won’t consider others, but even in those situations, knowing their pain points, timelines, and decision process can create opportunities to engage.’” says May Lin, 7-year B2B lead generation specialist at Enspyre, who has been involved to hundreds of cases.
This is where buying signals come in, but not all signals are equal. Let’s break down the different types of signals and explain where Enspyre fits in.
What Are Buying Signals?
Buying signals, or intent data, are indicators that a company or individual is actively evaluating solutions. They can come from multiple sources:
- Digital behaviors: website visits, content downloads, webinar registrations.
- Third-party activity: searches, competitor research, or engagement on industry platforms.
- Environmental/contextual changes: hiring, funding, leadership changes, or company growth.
- Human conversations: insights from direct interactions with prospects.
While the first three categories give context, it’s the human signals that truly reveal intent and readiness.
Types of Buying Signals
1. First-Party Signals
These signals come from interactions with your own digital properties:
- Visiting product pages, pricing pages, or case studies
- Downloading whitepapers, guides, or tools
- Signing up for demos or trials
- Registering for and attending webinars
These signals indicate interest in your solution, but they only capture prospects who have already discovered your brand.
2. Third-Party Signals
Third-party intent data is collected across external sources like forums, publisher sites, and review platforms. These signals include:
- Content consumption on industry websites
- Competitor research and product comparisons
- Topic-based engagement (e.g., searching “CRM migration”)
- Visits to review sites like G2
“These signals are useful for identifying prospects early, but they don’t tell you whether a company is actually ready to act, you still need to know if the budget is approved, or who really decides.” says Lucy Peng, Growth Marketer at Enspyre.
3. Environmental & Contextual Signals
Organizational changes often precede solution purchases:
- Company growth (new offices, expanding headcount)
- Funding announcements
- Leadership changes (new CXOs often bring new vendor preferences)
- Product launches, market expansion, or mergers and acquisitions
These signals help identify companies that are likely in a phase of potential demand. At Enspyre, we further analyze your ICP (Ideal Customer Profile), including revenue, employee size, and industry, to pinpoint the most relevant potential clients. This provides our sales team with targeted conversation context and improves the efficiency of outbound prospecting.
4. Human Conversational Signals
This is where the real magic happens. Human conversations reveal what Enspyre called BANT(budget, authority, needs, and timing), including:
- Budget status: Is there an approved budget or just preliminary planning?
- Decision-making authority: Who drives the purchase internally?
- Pain points and priorities: What problem is the buyer trying to solve, and what solutions are critical?
- Timeline and readiness: When will the solution be implemented or signed off?
- Objections or concerns: What could prevent the deal from moving forward?
“I often ask, ‘When do you plan to implement or sign off on this POC?’” says May Lin. “Even if a client seems locked in with a current vendor, knowing their timeline allows us to engage at the right moment and show how our solution can better meet their needs.”
These human signals turn abstract intent data into actionable opportunities. While digital and environmental signals tell you what is happening, human conversations tell you why and when it matters.
Why Human Conversational Signals Matter
Even when first-party, third-party, and environmental signals indicate interest, they rarely reveal the full story.
“Many companies have habitual vendor relationships or preferred SIs,” explains May Lin. “But if you understand their real pain points, timelines, and priorities, you can still position a better solution and influence the decision before it’s made.”
In other words, behavioral data is a map, but human conversations are the compass. They let sales and marketing teams navigate the hidden research process that happens before leads surface.
How Enspyre Helps Teams Capture Human Conversational Signals
At Enspyre, we focus exclusively on human conversational signals, helping teams:
- Systematically capture insights from outbound calls and discovery sessions
- Understand BANT (budget, authority, needs, and timing) for each prospect
- Provide structured data from conversations that teams can use to guide their next steps
By doing this at scale, we enable B2B teams to engage the right prospects at the right time, turning signals into predictable sales.
Turning Signals Into Action
Marketing Teams:
- Use ICP checks (industry, size, revenue) to focus on the right accounts
- Understand the context provided by environmental and third-party signals
- Feed insights from sales conversations into content, campaigns, and nurturing
Sales Teams:
- Move from generic outreach to signal-based engagement
- Focus conversations on helping buyers compare options and solve real problems
- Share feedback and insights systematically with marketing
Tools for Capturing Buying Signals
To effectively track and act on buying signals, B2B teams use a variety of specialized platforms:
| Signal Type | Common Tools / Platforms |
| First-Party Intent | HubSpot, Marketo, Clearbit Reveal |
| Third-Party Intent | Bombora, 6sense, TechTarget Priority Engine, G2 Buyer Intent |
| Environmental | Apollo.io, Clay, Zoominfo, Leadsourcing Crunchbase, LinkedIn Sales Navigator |
| Human Conversational | Enspyre call data, your own meeting transcription, Fireflies, Gong, Chorus |
No single source tells the full story. A hybrid approach, combining AI-driven insights with human signals, delivers the most actionable understanding of buyer intent.
The Takeaway: Master B2B Buying Signals to Boost Your Lead Generation Pipeline
B2B buyers are researching solutions long before engaging with vendors. Digital and environmental signals provide context, but they don’t tell you who’s truly ready to buy.
Enspyre’s specialty is capturing human conversational signals – the “why,” “when,” and “how” behind every decision. By systematically collecting and analyzing these insights, B2B teams can:
- Engage prospects before decisions are locked in, building influence early
- Tailor conversations to real needs and timelines, making solutions more relevant
- Turn signals into predictable, high-quality pipeline, improving conversion rates
“Capture the right signals, engage at the right time, and provide solutions that help buyers make informed comparisons,” says Lucy Peng, “That’s how you win in today’s B2B buying landscape.”
Want to capture every critical interaction and turn signals into tangible business opportunities? Contact Enspyre today and let us help you harness human conversational insights to grow your pipeline.
