The difference between a 2% and a 30% reply rate is usually one layer deeper than the headline.
TL;DR: Most reps act on "surface signals" (company raised funding, exec got hired). The real opportunity is in the detail nobody reads - the earnings transcript, the press release fine print, the job listing requirements.
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Everyone in sales reads the same headlines. Which means everyone sends the same message. "Saw you're hiring", "Congrats on the series B funding" is kind of noise these days.
The money is always one layer deeper. I've started thinking about this as "surface signals" vs "deep signals."
Surface signal: SaaS company raises Series B.
Deep signal: The press release says "funding will be used to expand into EMEA." They don't have a sales team, pipeline, or demand gen engine in Europe yet. Someone just got handed a target in a market where they're starting from zero.
Surface signal: Bank misses earnings.
Deep signal: The CFO says in the transcript "we're closing 200 branches and going digital-first." Every company that sold into their branch network just lost their buyer. Every company that sells digital transformation just found one.
Surface signal: Ecommerce brand starts selling on Amazon.
Deep signal: Their own checkout is broken - 12 fields, no Apple Pay, account creation required. They're not on Amazon because they're growing. They're there because nobody can finish buying on their own site.
All of this is public. You just need to actually read it, or find a way for an LLM to process it.
Surface signals tell you WHO. Deep signals tell you WHY and WHEN.