Signal gap scorecard

What’s wrong

Some closed-won deals have industry, size and source filled in, but not enough to trust a pattern. Any target list you build from them inherits the gaps.

You have only a few closed deals so far, and their records are patchy. Get the fields right now and every win from here on becomes evidence of who you sell to best.

What to do

1. Export your last 50 closed-won deals and complete industry, company size, lead source and cycle time for each.
2. Make those four fields required when a deal is marked closed-won, so the gaps stop growing.
3. Add the SPICED fields (Situation, Pain, Impact, Critical event, Decision) to the deal record for new wins.

1. Start logging deals this way from day one: industry, company size, lead source and cycle time on every deal you close.
2. Make those four fields required when a deal is marked closed-won, so the record stays clean as you grow.
3. Add the SPICED fields (Situation, Pain, Impact, Critical event, Decision) to the deal record for new wins.

What’s wrong

If nobody can pull your last 20 wins with industry, size and source, nobody can say with confidence who you win. Targeting then runs on memory and opinion instead of evidence.

With little or no deal history yet, nobody can say from evidence who you win. That's normal at launch: what matters is recording every deal from now on, so the evidence builds as you sell.

Industry data Only 35% of sales professionals completely trust the accuracy of their organisation's data. SourceSource: Salesforce, State of Sales, 6th edition (2024) (opens in a new tab). 5,500 sales professionals.

What to do

1. Take your last 50 closed-won and 50 closed-lost deals and complete industry, size, source and cycle time for each.
2. Find the two or three segments where you win most often and fastest. That is your first evidence-based ICP.
3. Make the fields required at deal close, so the next 50 wins are clean by default.

1. Start logging deals this way from day one: industry, company size, lead source and cycle time on every won and lost deal.
2. Write down the two or three segments you expect to win (your ICP hypothesis) and check each new deal against it.
3. Make the fields required at deal close, so your first 50 wins are clean by default.

What’s wrong

A shared list is a start, but if nobody owns it, it isn't scored, refreshed or checked against who you actually win. Reps soon drift back to their own sources.

What to do

1. Give one person ownership of the target list and a monthly refresh date.
2. Rebuild it as TAM → SAM → SOM: every company that could buy, narrowed to those you can serve, ranked by how closely they match your wins.
3. Retire the side lists once the scored list is live.

What’s wrong

When each rep builds their own list, the team works overlapping slices of the same market and nobody can see what's left. The list reflects who reps already know, not who is most likely to buy.

What to do

1. Build one account database of your TAM in your own CRM, not in reps' spreadsheets.
2. Narrow it to your SAM (the accounts you can actually serve) and rank the SOM by fit with your past wins.
3. Assign accounts from the ranked list, so reps stop overlapping and gaps become visible.

What’s wrong

If reps mostly work inbound and existing accounts, your pipeline depends on who happens to find you. The accounts that match your best customers but haven't heard of you stay untouched.

What to do

1. Build a scored list of the accounts most like your best customers that aren't in your CRM yet.
2. Give each rep a small, fixed weekly allocation from the top of that list.
3. Pair every allocated account with a reason to reach out (a signal), so prospecting doesn't turn into cold volume.

What’s wrong

Tracking one or two signals is better than none, but it catches only a few of the moments when an account opens a buying window.

What to do

1. List the events that came before your last 20 wins: a new hire, a leadership change, funding, a tech change, a champion moving.
2. Track the three or four that show up most, across your whole scored market, not just open deals.
3. Send each fired signal to the account owner with a suggested reason to reach out.

1. Pick the events most likely to open a buying window for your ICP: a new hire, a leadership change, funding, a tech change, a champion moving.
2. Track three or four of them across your whole target market, and start logging deals this way from day one: note which signal came before each win.
3. Send each fired signal to whoever sells with a suggested reason to reach out.

What’s wrong

Without signals, your team can't tell which accounts just opened a buying window. Every account gets the same timing: whenever a rep gets to it.

Industry data Up to 95% of business buyers are not in the market for many goods and services at any one time. SourceSource: Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for the LinkedIn B2B Institute, The 95-5 rule (2021) (opens in a new tab). a 2021 model, not a live measurement.

What to do

1. Start with two signals that came before your past wins, such as hiring for the role you sell to, or a new sales leader.
2. Watch for them across your scored market every week.
3. Route each fired signal to a rep within the week, with the signal as the reason for reaching out.

1. Start with two signals that fit your ICP hypothesis, such as hiring for the role you sell to, or a new sales leader.
2. Watch for them across your target market every week, and start logging deals this way from day one: note which signal came before each win.
3. Act on each fired signal within the week, with the signal as the reason for reaching out.

What’s wrong

Re-contacting accounts every month without a new reason treats every account as if it's ready now. Most aren't, and each touch without a reason makes the next one easier to ignore.

What to do

1. Replace the monthly re-touch with a rule: re-open an account only when a signal gives the rep something new to say.
2. Move accounts with no signal into a warm-up track that marketing owns.
3. Review closed-lost deals each quarter for re-open triggers, such as a new decision-maker.

What’s wrong

When re-contacting the same accounts is the main motion, the team is selling to a list it has already worked and hoping the timing has changed. It's the clearest sign your market has been worked without signals.

What to do

1. Stop scheduled re-touches for accounts that have had no change since the last contact.
2. Re-open accounts on a signal instead: a new hire, a leadership change, a champion moving, a closed-lost deal whose reason has gone away.
3. Give the time you free up to accounts from your scored list that nobody has contacted yet.

What’s wrong

If you don't know how often accounts are re-contacted, your team probably doesn't either, and buyers may be hearing from you more often than you think.

What to do

1. Report touches per account per month from your CRM or sequencing tool.
2. Set a limit on touches without a new reason, per account, per quarter.
3. Log a reason (a signal) with every re-contact, so the pattern becomes visible.

What’s wrong

Marketing sometimes reaches the accounts sales is about to contact, but not by design. When it lines up it helps. When it doesn't, reps call in cold.

What to do

1. Give marketing the same scored account list and signal feed that sales uses.
2. Agree a warm-up window: the accounts reps will contact next month see your content first.
3. Check each month which contacted accounts had been warmed and which hadn't.

What’s wrong

When marketing and sales work from separate lists, the first call is often the first time a buyer has heard of you. By then many buyers have already chosen a favourite.

Industry data Buyers choose the vendor they contacted first 77% of the time. SourceSource: 6sense, 2025 B2B Buyer Experience Report (2025) (opens in a new tab). about 4,000 responses.

What to do

1. Share one target list between marketing and sales, ranked by fit and intent.
2. Aim marketing at the buying group of the accounts reps will contact next month.
3. Make sure every first call can refer to something the buyer has already seen.

What’s wrong

Without marketing, warm-up has to come from somewhere else, or reps always make the first impression cold.

What to do

1. Start small: a sales-leader LinkedIn presence aimed at the people in your top-scored accounts.
2. Put targeted content or ads in front of the accounts reps will contact next month.
3. Make sure every first call can refer to something the buyer has already seen.

What’s wrong

Two to four hours a week per rep sounds manageable, but it's selling time spent working out who to call and what to say. Across five reps, that's 10 to 20 hours every week.

What to do

1. Write down what a rep needs before a first call: the account, why now, who to speak to and what to ask.
2. Have that prepared as a lead brief before the account reaches the rep.
3. Track research hours for a month, before and after, to see what the brief gives back.

What’s wrong

Five to eight hours a week is close to a full working day per rep spent finding names and background instead of talking to buyers.

Industry data The average seller spends 40% of their time selling. SourceSource: Salesforce, State of Sales, 7th edition (2026) (opens in a new tab). 4,050 sales professionals, 22 countries.

What to do

1. Move account research out of reps' weeks: each account should arrive with a sales-ready lead brief.
2. Put the fit score, the signal that fired, a suggested angle and three SPICED questions in every brief.
3. Give reps a weekly batch of briefed accounts instead of a raw list.

What’s wrong

Nine hours or more a week means research, not selling, is the main job. It usually means the list gives reps names without the context to act on them.

Industry data The average seller spends 40% of their time selling. SourceSource: Salesforce, State of Sales, 7th edition (2026) (opens in a new tab). 4,050 sales professionals, 22 countries.

What to do

1. Stop handing reps raw lists: every account should come with a brief that says why now and what to ask.
2. Centralise research in one workflow (enrichment plus signals) instead of each rep doing it by hand.
3. Set a target of under an hour of research per rep per week, and measure it.

What’s wrong

A score that hasn't been checked against past wins is a guess with a number on it. Reps soon learn to ignore it, and it drifts further as new deals close.

A score that hasn't been checked against real wins is a guess with a number on it. With few deals so far, the job is to set the test up now, so it runs as your first wins arrive.

What to do

1. Score your past won and lost deals with the current model. Your wins should rank near the top.
2. If they don't, adjust the weights until they do, then score the rest of your market.
3. Re-test every quarter as new wins and losses arrive.

1. Start logging deals this way from day one: record the score of every account you work, and whether it was won or lost.
2. Once 20 or so deals have closed, check that your wins rank near the top. If they don't, adjust the weights.
3. Re-test every quarter as new wins and losses arrive.

What’s wrong

Without a score, every account looks equally worth a call, so reps prioritise by gut feel or by who is easiest to reach. Nothing tells you when your market has shifted.

What to do

1. Build a simple fit score from the traits your best customers share: industry, size, region and tech stack.
2. Test it on your own sales history. It must rank your past wins highly before you trust it.
3. Put a quarterly re-test in the calendar, so the model is maintained, not built once and forgotten.

1. Build a simple fit score from your ICP hypothesis: industry, size, region and tech stack.
2. Start logging deals this way from day one: score every account you work, so you can test the model on your first 20 or so closed deals.
3. Put a quarterly re-test in the calendar, so the model is maintained, not built once and forgotten.