Buyer intent signals are observable behaviors and business events that suggest an account is moving toward a purchase. This page ranks 25 of them in four groups: causal business events, stacked events, first-party engagement and third-party intent. A 100-point rubric combines them, capping third-party intent so it can lift a borderline account but never put an event-free account on top.
The 25 signals, grouped by strength
Group A: causal business events (strongest)
| # | Signal | Starting points | Notes (heuristic) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New leader in the buying function | 35 | Often receptive in the first months after the start date; see leadership change signals |
| 2 | Hiring surge in the buying function (2+ roles in 30 days) | 30 | See hiring signals |
| 3 | Vendor dropped in your category | 35 | Time-sensitive; act soon; see technology change signals |
| 4 | CRM or core-system migration | 25 | Adjacent categories reconsidered in the same project |
| 5 | First adoption of an adjacent category | 20 | A motion is being built; the tooling decision is unmade |
| 6 | Funding round (Seed to Series B) | 20 | Broad; relevance often lasts for months after the round closes; see funding signals |
| 7 | Expansion: new region, office or product line | 20 | New motion, new capability needed |
| 8 | New function created (first RevOps hire, first SDR manager) | 25 | Greenfield decision |
| 9 | Strategic initiative announced publicly | 15 | Quote it back |
| 10 | Acquisition or merger | 15 | Longer fuse; consolidation follows |
Take the highest single event, not the sum, for the base (maximum 35 points before ICP fit).
Group B: stacking (the bonus, capped at 10)
| # | Signal | Points | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Second Group A event within 45 days, same function | +7 | In our judgment, the strongest timing evidence |
| 12 | Third Group A event within 60 days | +3 (cap) | Diminishing; the case for timing is already made |
Group C: first-party engagement (confirming, specific)
| # | Signal | Points | Decay |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | Pricing page visit | 8 | 30 days |
| 14 | Comparison or "vs" page visit | 8 | 30 days |
| 15 | Integrations or security page visit | 6 | 30 days |
| 16 | Multiple people from the same account in 14 days | +6 | 30 days |
| 17 | Return visit within 7 days | +4 | 30 days |
| 18 | High-intent content download (buyer's guide, ROI tool) | 5 | 45 days |
| 19 | Product signup or trial started | 15 | Does not decay while active |
| 20 | Email reply or link click on a trigger-based email | 6 | 30 days |
Cap Group C at 20 points.
Group D: third-party and review activity (confirming, shared)
| # | Signal | Points | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | Topic surge on your category | 8 | Every competitor sees it; see buyer intent data |
| 22 | Topic surge on an adjacent category | 4 | Function-level evidence only |
| 23 | Review-site category activity | 8 | Late-stage; competitors see it too |
| 24 | Competitor comparison activity naming you | 10 | Rare and valuable |
| 25 | Event or webinar registration on the topic | 5 | Confirms function; weak alone |
Cap Group D at 15 points.
Declared intent (overrides)
A demo request, inbound reply or explicit hand-raise adds 20 points and moves the account straight to a human thread regardless of the rest. It is added after ICP fit is applied.
The rubric
| Component | Points | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Highest Group A event | 0 to 35 | Highest single event; weight by function relevance to your ICP |
| Stacking (Group B) | 0 to 10 | Second event +7, third +3 |
| First-party engagement (Group C) | 0 to 20 | Sum, capped, decaying |
| Third-party and review (Group D) | 0 to 15 | Sum, capped |
| Declared intent | 0 or 20 | Added after ICP fit; routes to a human thread |
| ICP fit | ×0.5 to ×1.2 | Scales the A to D points (not declared intent). The final score is capped at 100. From your weighted ICP; the ICP generator produces one |
| Score | State | Action |
|---|---|---|
| 70 or more | Strong fit, worth a person's time | Human thread to the economic buyer; outreach to the rest of the committee drafted for your team to review and approve (see buying committee) |
| 50 to 69 | Watch | Outreach to the coach drafted for your team to review and approve; recheck in 30 days |
| Under 50 | Out | Ignore until a Group A event fires |
The weights sum to exactly 100: 35 for the strongest event, 10 for stacking, 20 for first-party engagement, 15 for third-party activity and 20 for declared intent. The cap on Group D is the whole design. A perfect third-party surge score at an account with no business event tops out at 15 points times ICP fit (at most 18), which is never enough to trigger a human. Once a Group A event appears, the same surge becomes confirming evidence that can lift the account over 70. That is how intent stays an input and never becomes the trigger. The thresholds are starting values, not validated cut-offs.
Worked example (illustrative, not a real account). A new head of sales is hired (35). A hiring surge in the same function follows within 45 days (+7 stacking). The account visits the pricing page (8) and two people from it visit within 14 days (+6), so Group C is 14. A topic surge on your category adds 8 in Group D. Subtotal: 35 + 7 + 14 + 8 = 64. With an ICP fit of ×1.1, 64 × 1.1 = 70.4, which rounds to 70, so the account goes to a human thread. Without the hiring surge the subtotal is 57, times 1.1 is 62.7 (63), which stays on watch.
How does PravRaha score intent?
PravRaha's Market Scanner reads hiring, funding, tech-stack and leadership signals against your ICP and shows which accounts appear to be moving and why. It does not publish a score cut-off, a buying date or a validated hit rate. Outreach is drafted for your team to review and approve, then sent from your own connected mailbox. On the Growth plan, the Pipeline Optimizer reads outcomes and adjusts what gets prioritized in the next cycle. The rubric above is a framework you can use by hand, with or without PravRaha. See the platform page.
After you have a score
- →Build your own weighted model: ICP generator
- →The parent guide: buyer intent
- →The causal events in depth: buying signals
- →From score to timing: revenue timing
Run the numbers on your own outbound.
Free, no signup. The ICP generator and outbound ROI calculator use the same logic PravRaha uses to prioritise accounts.