Resource

    🚨 Ops Signals: A Practical Guide for GTM Teams

    12/17/2025
    In the fast-paced world of go-to-market (GTM) operations, being proactive beats being reactive every time. That’s where Ops signals come in. These are the breadcrumbs that, if tracked and operationalized correctly, can unlock powerful insights and ultimately drive revenue growth.
    This guide outlines what Ops signals are, why they matter, and how to build an end-to-end operating model around them.

    🧠 What Are Signals?

    Before you can operationalize signals, you need to understand what qualifies as one. This section defines what Ops signals are and why they should be treated as intentional, trackable events that fuel your GTM strategy.
    Signals are meaningful, behavior-based indicators that suggest a change in buyer intent, customer health, or GTM performance. They're often found in data your teams already collect but aren't yet using effectively.
    Think of them as GTM early warning systems.
    For example:
    • A target account suddenly surges in intent and visits your pricing page. 😍
    • A top customer hasn't logged in for two weeks. 😭
    • A decision-maker you just sold to leaves their company. ❗
    Each of these moments tells you something valuable. Together, aligning signals might even mean a deal or avoiding a churn. The power of Ops is operationalizing these signals.

    💡 Why They Matter

    Not all data is created equal, and not all insights move revenue. It’s really easy to get lost in the shiny-object-syndrome of it all. This section explains the strategic role signals play in aligning GTM teams and improving outcomes across the funnel.
    Ops signals break down the walls between Marketing, Sales, and CS. They provide a shared language for action.
    When you operationalize signals well:
    • Marketing sends fewer, higher-quality leads.
    • Sales focuses on the right opportunities at the right time.
    • CS proactively reduces churn and drives expansion.
    • Ops becomes the engine behind revenue orchestration.

    🔎 Where Signals Come From

    Signals exist in the tools you already use. That’s right: you DON’T *have* to buy signals. The key is knowing where to find the signals you have and how to interpret them. This section breaks down typical sources of Ops signals across Marketing, Sales, and Customer Success.
    Team
    Common Signals
    Example
    Marketing
    Website behavior, third-party intent, ICP fit
    Account surges in intent and downloads a whitepaper
    Sales
    Email opens, stalled deals, job changes
    Opp goes untouched for 14 days or champion changes jobs
    CS
    Product usage drop, ticket spikes, NPS declines
    Customer hasn't logged in in 10+ days and CSAT is trending down
    Signals often come from across your stack:
    • Website analytics (GA, Segment)
    • Intent providers (6sense, Bombora)
    🧨
    You can buy intent data, but I’d recommend starting to operationalize your own data first. Intent data can drive results, but is much harder — you have to work to really figure out how your specific business can successfully operationalize intent (is it a cold sales nurture? is it ads? is it something else???). It’s also a science, figuring out which intent signals work best for your business. Some are too narrow, some are too broad.
    • CRM data (Salesforce, HubSpot)
    • Product analytics (Pendo, Mixpanel)
    • Customer feedback tools (Zendesk, Gainsight)

    ⚙️ How to Operationalize Signals

    Capturing a signal is one thing, acting on it with precision is another. This section outlines a practical step-by-step approach to turning raw signals into business outcomes.

    Step 1: Define Your Core Signals

    Start with 3-5 high-impact moments that tie directly to revenue. These often include:
    • Intent surge + ICP match (Marketing > Sales handoff)
    • Opportunity inactivity (Sales risk)
    • Decline in product usage (Churn risk)
    • Executive visits pricing page (Expansion intent)
    🧨
    Once you get your native web cookie (or MAP cookie) keyed in well, you can layer in contact-level or company-level web deanonymization to get more coverage/to make this more precise. 👀
    Document:
    • What triggers the signal?
    • Who needs to know?
    • What should they do?
    Use a shared Notion table or spreadsheet to track signal definitions, owners, and SLAs.

    Step 2: Route Signals Where People Work

    Signals must show up where teams live — that might be something like:
    • Sales = Salesforce, Slack, email
    • CS = Gainsight, Vitally, inbox
    • Marketing = HubSpot, Marketo dashboards
    Use automation (either inside your existing tools or using iPaaS like Zapier) to trigger workflows, create tasks, or send alerts. Context matters, don't just dump alerts into a Slack channel.
    🧨
    I implement with this in mind:
    1. If no one sees it, no one cares about it.
    1. If no one cares about it, no one does anything with it.
    1. If no one does anything with it, it has 0 value to the business.
    1. If people see it TOO much, they will avoid it.
    1. If people avoid it, it also will have 0 value to the business.
    1. If people see it but don’t understand it, they won’t do anything with it
    1. If they don’t do anything with it, it has 0 value to the business.
    Do NOT overload people with signals, meet them where they already like to work, and make sure they have context on what it means and what to do with it.

    Step 3: Build a Feedback Loop

    Signal performance must be measurable:
    • Are leads from this signal converting at a higher rate than baseline?
    • Did a churn-risk alert actually prevent churn?
    • How often are signals ignored?
    🧨
    Make sure you measure baseline before implementing a new signal, so you can benchmark against baseline! ✍️
    Create reports or dashboards to monitor:
    • Volume of signals triggered
    • Actions taken
    • Business outcomes (like pipeline growth/velocity, bookings, retention, expansion)
    Use this feedback to refine your definitions and thresholds.

    Step 4: Train Your GTM Teams

    Signals are only effective if people trust them.
    • Run enablement sessions to explain the "why" behind each signal
    • Share examples of success stories driven by signal-based actions
    • Bake signal literacy into onboarding for SDRs, AEs, and CSMs
    🧨
    Enablement is key. I like to:
    • Start with a small pilot group of reps or marketers, ones that like to share feedback
    • Adjust based on feedback
    • Then launch, with the pilot group functioning as “change champions” aka our hype people, generating excitement and adoption
    • Finally, I collect feedback in whichever way the team feels comfortable; sometimes it’s an open Slack channel, sometimes it’s an anonymous survey

    🛠️ Tech Stack: Tools That Power Signals

    To be honest, I went back and forth on including this section. Not because the tools aren’t great, but because I really want to hammer home that you don’t need to start by buying something right away.
    But it’s also helpful to understand what you can buy, as you get to that stage.
    So, I guess I’ll include it, and say:
    ⚠️ YOU DON’T NEED TO START BY BUYING SOMETHING RIGHT AWAY. ⚠️
    Okay, now that we’ve covered that (🤣) here are some example toolsets:
    Detection & Scoring
    • 6sense, Bombora (intent)
    • Trigify, UserGems (buyer job changes and LI activity signals)
    • Vector (contact-level website visitors, ad views, clicks, contact-level intent)
    • HubSpot, Marketo (behavioral tracking)
    • Clearbit, ZoomInfo (ICP data)
    • Pendo, Mixpanel (product signals)
    Routing & Automation
    • Zapier, Tray.io, Workato (workflow automation)
    • Slack, Email, Salesforce/HubSpot Tasks (delivery channels)
    Measurement
    • Salesforce/HubSpot Reports
    • Looker, Tableau
    • Gainsight dashboards
    Enablement & Documentation
    • Notion (signal playbook)
    • Loom (signal walkthrough videos)
    Also, one last note here:
    ⚠️ NOT ALL SIGNALS ARE RELEVANT TO ALL BUSINESSES. If your business targets a persona that constantly changes jobs, job change signals probably aren’t very relevant. Or maybe they are even more relevant. This is where measuring and shopping smart come into play. ⚠️

    🚫 Common Mistakes to Avoid

    Many teams fall into the trap of creating directionless or overwhelming noise instead of any kind of real insight. This section flags the biggest pitfalls in signal strategy so you can avoid wasting time and damaging team trust.
    • Too many signals, not enough clarity: Focus on 3-5 that matter.
    • No clear ownership: Every signal needs someone accountable.
    • Disconnected tools: Centralize data and delivery through shared platforms, not new platforms that no one wants to log into.
    • No measurement: You can’t improve what you don’t track, and if you don’t track it, you can’t tell if it’s actually valuable.
    • No team training: The best signal is useless if no one knows what it means. Enablement and change management are key to any change in ops, so don’t skimp here.

    ✅ Checklist: Is Your Signal Operationalized?

    Use this to assess whether a signal is truly operational—or just a disconnected alert.
    Clearly defined trigger logic
    Is the signal based on objective, repeatable data?
    Tied to a core business question
    Does it answer something like “Who’s ready to buy?” or “Who’s at risk?”
    Delivered in context
    Does it show up where the user already works (Slack, CRM, CS tool)? Do they understand what it means?
    Mapped to a specific next step
    Is it clear what action should be taken once the signal fires?
    Has a clear owner
    Is someone responsible for responding to the signal? Who owns any changes, as an admin?
    Response is time-bound (SLA)
    Is there an expected timeframe for follow-up?
    Measured for business impact
    Do you track whether this signal leads to outcomes (bookings, retention)? Make sure you measure against baseline.
    Documented in your GTM playbook
    Is it included in a central, accessible source of truth?
    Reviewed and refined quarterly
    Do you revisit the signal’s performance and relevance regularly?
    ✅ If you can confidently check at least 7 of these, your signal is likely healthy. If not, it needs refining—or retiring.

    🛷 Example Use Cases & Solutions

    Here’s a snapshot of common Ops signal scenarios and how you can operationalize them effectively:
    Scenario
    Signal
    Action Triggered
    Tool(s) Involved
    Outcome
    High-intent account browsing pricing
    Intent surge + pricing page visit
    Create HubSpot task for SDR and send Slack alert to sales team channel. NOTE: You also could use this signal to increase (or decrease, if it’s a page like a Careers page instead of Pricing) account and/or contact score.
    6sense, HubSpot, Salesforce, Slack
    Faster follow-up, increased demo conversions
    Stalled opportunity
    No activity for 10+ days in opp stage
    Send HubSpot workflow email alert and post automated message in Slack #account-management
    Salesforce, Gong, Slack
    Pipeline hygiene, re-engagement or disqualification
    Churn risk detected
    Login drop + high support volume
    Send HubSpot email alert to CSM and trigger Gainsight playbook
    Pendo, Zendesk, Gainsight
    churn through proactive outreach
    Executive engagement
    VP-level persona visits multiple solution pages
    Send Slack notification to AE and auto-log page visit activity in Salesforce
    Clearbit, Segment, Salesforce
    Accelerated buying cycle, exec alignment
    Post-sale expansion signal
    Product usage spike + new feature adoption
    Post Slack alert in #growth-pipeline and assign task in Salesforce
    Mixpanel, Vitally, Slack
    Increased NRR via expansion revenue
    Ad retargeting activation
    Known contact revisits high-intent page (pricing, product tour)
    Use HubSpot smart list and Zapier to sync user to Google, LinkedIn, and Meta retargeting audiences with tailored content
    Segment, HubSpot, Google Ads, LinkedIn, Meta
    Increased return visits and accelerated buyer readiness through personalized ads
    Champion job change
    Key buyer or stakeholder changes roles or companies
    Trigger Slack and email alert to AE; auto-enrich CRM with new title or employer; initiate playbook to retain contact or re-engage new account
    UserGems, Trigify, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Salesforce, Slack
    Retain influence at current account and generate new pipeline at buyer’s new company
    Competitive intent
    Company is showing up as trending with intent on a competitor name
    Trigger a sales nurture that speaks to why they should consider you over the competitor
    Vector, Instantly, Outreach
    Generate awareness and get in front of potential customers with a competitive message when it’s relevant (when they’re researching solutions).
    Enrichment updates
    Previously were running 10 LinkedIn ads, now are running 500 (surge in activity detected by Adyntel enrichment)
    Notify Account owner
    Adnytel, Clay, HubSpot
    Account owner judges if it’s worth an outreach, especially relevant if ads are a fit indicator and a company is growing (not running enough ads before, running enough ads now)
    🧨
    If you get really advanced with signals, you can build custom dashboards in your CRM or tools like Looker, which can be really easy to use and centralized for your teams. I’ve done this before and sales teams love it. BUT this takes a high level of signal maturity and usually some engineering talent, so make sure you have figured out signals before you invest months into building a custom dashboard or visibility layer.
    Maybe I’ll publish an advanced signals guide, with how to set that up… 🤔

    📘 Final Thought

    If you take away one thing: Signals are not just about data, you can’t just buy a signal and call it a day. Signals are about orchestrating timely, intelligent action across your revenue engine.
    Ops signals = how you turn messy GTM data into a strategic advantage. How your GTM teams react more quickly and are more effective in their messaging and activities.
    Start small. Be consistent. Build the muscle of acting on what matters. 💪
     
    👂
    By the way, if you’ve done anything cool with signals that I haven’t listed or talked about, please do let me know! Would love to add your use case. 🤓

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