Intent Signals

An intent signal is a behavioral clue showing that a prospect is actively researching a problem your product solves. Unlike static profile attributes like job title or company size, intent signals reflect real-time activity — such as engaging with a competitor's content, posting about a relevant challenge, or hiring for a specific role. They help sales teams prioritize outreach based on timing, not just fit.

Lead scoring ranks contacts based on fixed attributes and historical behavior, telling you who to target. Intent signals are real-time behavioral triggers — such as a prospect following a competitor or their company posting a job mentioning a specific technology — that tell you when to reach out. The two are complementary: lead scoring builds the list, intent signals tell you who to call today.

Intent signals are detected by continuously monitoring multiple data sources — LinkedIn activity, job postings, technology usage, CRM history, and competitor interactions. When a prospect's behavior matches a predefined pattern, a signal fires and surfaces that lead as a high-priority target. The result is that sales reps engage with prospects who are already in motion, dramatically improving relevance and timing.

The most effective approach is to layer multiple signal types rather than acting on a single data point. A hiring signal combined with a social signal from the same lead creates a much stronger case for outreach than either alone. Sales teams should also personalize their messaging around the specific signal observed — referencing why they're reaching out now — rather than sending a generic sequence.

Topo monitors five categories of intent signals: competition (interactions with competitor content or teams), social (LinkedIn activity and event participation), hiring (job postings and new hires), technology (tools a company uses or could switch), and CRM (reactivation triggers from past deals and marketing interactions). Each signal type is designed to surface a different stage of buying behavior across the prospect's digital footprint.

Yes. Topo's AI research agent can be configured to detect fully custom signals tailored to any ICP — such as companies with a self-served sign-up on their website, leads who have submitted a support ticket recently, or companies that mention a specific certification like SOC-2. If the data is publicly accessible on the web, Topo's agent can find and act on it.