Three stats tell the story: CAC is up 60%, buyer attention is harder to get (also 60%), and only 43% of reps hit quota in Q4 2023.

Is it that 60% of companies said their CAC has increased? Or that 60% of companies also said it’s harder to get buyers’ attention? Or maybe it’s that only 43% of sales reps hit quota in Q4 of 2023?

For us, all of these challenges keep us up at night.

Like every revenue team, we're always searching for the best ways to build pipeline.

We focus on the highest-impact pipeline strategies.

One of our most successful buying signal strategies is New Hires & Promotions. Operationalizing this one signal drove 8% of our pipeline last year and converted to 14% of total annual revenue.

What's the New Hires & Promotions buying signal?

UserGems’ newest signal automatically identifies any persona matching new-in-role buyer within the accounts you care about.

New executives spend 70% of their budget in their first 100 days, often evaluating new tools before they know your company exists.

👉 It’s timely - New executives spend 70% of their budget within the first 100 days.

👉 It’s relevant - There’s a reason to reach out.

👉 It’s high priority - Director and VP titles convert 2.5X in their first 3 months vs. after 1 year.

Internal data analysis revealed that new executives convert 2.5X higher in their first 3 months vs. after 1 year

Make the New Hires & Promotions buying signal work for you with workflows

We talked to hundreds of revenue leaders. The pattern: teams track dozens of signals but lack clear processes to act on them. Reps get flooded with information without direction on how to turn signals into meetings.

In practice, that means reps are being flooded with information without clear direction on how to turn signals into meetings or pipeline.

Signals become valuable only when reps act on them.

Every signal in our platform comes with an end-to-end workflow.

Once the signal defines the 'who,' the workflow defines the ‘how.’ A workflow can add a contact to an email sequence or send an alert to an Account Development Representative (ADR) that includes information like:

1. What happened (a promotion or new hire)

2. Who it is (name, title)

3. What to do next (send a templated email, message on LinkedIn, call)

In UserGems, you can add innumerable customizable actions to this signal-based workflow. When you automate your workflow, you ensure you’re always capturing and engaging the right buyer at the right account at the time they’re most likely to buy.

This means your hottest leads stay captured and engaged!

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Getting started with the New Hires & Promotions workflow

Creating a successful New Hires & Promotions workflow starts with defining your target buyers and accounts.

First, you need to define your target buyers and accounts.

Ask yourself which titles, levels of seniority, and aspects of your ICP should be included in this signal. Do you care if this person joined in the last year or the last month, for example?

Once you’ve defined your buyer, you can define your target accounts. You can pull this in from Salesforce or use LinkedIn Sales Navigator to determine your target accounts.

This clarity and precision made New Hires & Promotions drive 8% of our pipeline and 14% of revenue last year.

How UserGems’ New Hires & Promotions workflow works

These 3 actions take place behind the scenes once your team has defined its target accounts and buyers.

1. Contacts are created in your CRM

UserGems is always scanning for new hires with appropriate titles within your target accounts. When one is found, it automatically creates a contact in your CRM including information like new title and job start date. This gives sales teams a comprehensive understanding of the new decision-maker.

2. Contacts are added to automated sequencing

Signal-based workflows run on personalized automation. When a new hire or promotion that you care about occurs, that contact is automatically added to the right sequence in Outreach or Salesloft. (Reminder: it’s a good idea to limit the number of people added to your sequences to ensure accounts aren’t overworked!)

We recommend ranking target accounts based on signals like past relationships (Champion Tracking) and New Hires & Promotions.

This tip is grounded in a key insight: accounts with fresh hires, particularly in decision-making roles, often indicate a higher likelihood to buy. Adopting this signal keeps sales efforts directed toward accounts with the highest potential for conversion.

3. Automated Actions

Next, UserGems initiates a second automation layer. The sequence grouping is automatically integrated into a personalized outbound sales sequence that has been tailored specifically for your BDR/SDR/ADRs or any other team.

Best practice requires creating specific, tailored actions for each new hire or promotion. Instead, base the actions on the prospect's current role and how you specifically can help them achieve their new goals.

How to add a personalized, strategic touch to your outbound

Example of a personalized email for a recently promoted prospect

Personalized, strategic touches keep our targets on track and our teams happy.

Automation handles the technical work. ADRs focus on building relationships.

When constructing outreach templates for individual sales reps to fill in, include space for personalized congratulations to the new hire, accompanied by a thoughtful gift and curated materials to assist them in their first 100 days.

Try researching the original job posting to see if any 30-60-90 day plans were outlined, and then tie your communication back to it. Using the Wayback Machine can help you find original postings.

Blending personalized engagement and technical precision ensures your message stands out as valuable in their inbox.

💡Remember, new hires are super busy. Your first engagement with them should be to provide a useful asset or simply congratulate them. Focus on providing value and building rapport when they’re brand new!

What’s next for Signal-based GTM?

Signals work. Champion Tracking plus New Hire signals brought in 25% of pipeline and 37% of closed won revenue last year. We’ve already seen Champion Tracking buying signals + New Hire signals bring in 25% of pipeline last year and 37% of closed won revenue, proving that our formula of unique signals + automated play works.

We focus on integrating Signals with actions that your best reps are already using to hit quota. We're about integrating them with actions that your best reps are already using to hit quota. Signal-based workflows turn into repeatable pipeline.

This is the blueprint for consistent pipeline generation. Next: helping more teams turn signal-based workflows into revenue.