3 Most Compelling Sales Triggers for 10-20% Higher Reply Rate

TL;DR:

• Sales triggers are key to impactful outreach, with different levels of accessibility and impact.
• Public triggers like new hires and funding announcements are competitive, while private triggers like website visitors are exclusive.
• Use personalized outreach to stand out, focusing on triggers that show high intent.
• Tools like Letterdrop and 6Sense can help uncover and act on these triggers at scale.
• By focusing on private and exclusive triggers, you can achieve higher reply rates and leave traditional cold outreach behind.

When it comes to outreach, not all signals are created equal. Some are crowded with competitors, others take more effort to uncover, and a few are exclusive to you. The key is knowing where to focus your time and energy to make an impact.

Sales triggers aren’t just about finding excuses to reach out—they’re about creating timely, personalized, and relevant outreach that gets replies.

This guide will show you:

• The three strongest types of sales triggers and actionable examples for each, with priority focus on LinkedIn
• How to use these triggers to boost reply rates and stand out from the competition

The 3 Most Compelling Sales Triggers (With Examples)

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Sales triggers can be grouped into three main categories. Each has its own level of accessibility and potential impact.

(As for how to follow up with signals like LinkedIn engagement, we have a separate in-depth guide for that.)

1. Public and Easy to Access

These are the triggers everyone is tracking—often the first that come to mind because they practically scream, "We have budget!"

Examples:

• New hires or leadership changes: A new hire or executive often signals organizational shifts or openness to fresh ideas.
• Recent funding announcements: Companies with new funding are typically focused on growth and scaling.
• Job openings: Hiring for specific roles can highlight operational gaps or priorities.

The Problem: These signals are easy to find, so they attract a lot of attention. Your prospect’s inbox is likely already swamped with generic messages.

How to Stand Out:

Since everyone and their mom is reaching out to companies for these signals, there’s a lot of competition for the decision maker’s attention. The same strategies you use for cold outbound apply here:

• do you research and try to find a reason to reach out beyond just this trigger
• go multichannel and find ways to personalize - voice notes, warm up the prospect and build a relationship on LinkedIn first
• you might want to get on a 10 min call with someone who reports up to the decision maker first to learn some internal info on the business you can use to make your outreach stand out

2. Public but Harder to Access

These triggers exist in plain sight but require extra effort or automation to uncover.

Examples:

• Insights from LinkedIn posts, blogs, or podcasts: Look at what pain points prospects are posting about, and what related posts they're interacting with
• Specific details in job postings: Roles that mention tools or challenges can indicate what solutions they’re considering.
• Information hidden in company websites or reports: Updates on strategy, product launches, or customer reviews.

Why These Work: These signals are less competitive because most sales reps aren’t putting in the work—or don’t have the right tools to uncover them.

Use tools like Letterdrop, Clay, or Copy.ai to surface these insights at scale.

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Example: They Engage with Competitors or Relevant Influencers

An example would be when a prospect engages with a relevant influencer or even competitor’s content.

While this trigger is similar to direct engagement with your content, it needs more finesse. They aren’t yet aware of you, so the reply rate might be lower. Focus on adding value and tying your outreach to the broader topic they engaged with.

3. Private and No Competition

These are the golden nuggets of LinkedIn signals: exclusive to you and invisible to competitors.

Examples:

• Website visitors
• LinkedIn profile views, engagement, follows, or connection requests
• Newsletter clicks or gated asset downloads
• Webinar attendees
• Past customers who’ve joined new companies

Why They’re Valuable: These triggers are inherently less competitive and signal high intent since the prospect has already engaged with folks in your team.

Pro Tip: Tools like Letterdrop, 6sense, HubSpot, and UserGems can help you capture and act on these private signals at scale.

3.1 They Engaged with You or Your Team

Engagement signals, like likes or comments on your content, can reveal a prospect’s priorities. Take a moment to analyze the interaction and tie your outreach to the theme of their engagement.

Example:

Alice liked a post about the cost of customer support. This could imply that reducing staffing costs is a concern. A thoughtful outbound message might look like this:

"Hey Alice, what does COGS on support look like? We helped Acme drop costs with automated phone support. Here's a guide on how to do it yourself: [link]... but most people prefer to let a provider like us handle it."

Pro Tip: Avoid explicitly mentioning the trigger ("I saw you liked my post"). It comes across as creepy. Instead, focus on connecting the dots naturally.

3.2 They Follow or Connect with You

When someone follows or connects with you, it's often linked to something recent, like a post you shared or a mention you received. Look at what you’ve posted or been tagged in over the past 24 hours and frame your outreach around that context.

3.3 They Follow Your Company Page

Hardly anyone follows company pages unless they’re genuinely interested. Use this trigger to filter for prospects in your ICP (and not job seekers). Since they’ve already shown interest in your brand, it’s okay to be a bit more direct about your product.

Example:

"Hey Bob, saw that you're familiar with Acme. Looks like you’re using PiedPiper today. They're great for SMBs—are you happy with them?"

Be Selective About the Signals You Chase

The reality is that not all signals are worth your time.

Public and easy-to-access triggers often lead to overcrowded inboxes, while private and exclusive ones give you a competitive edge.

By focusing on the latter and tailoring your outreach around thoughtful triggers, you can achieve reply rates that leave traditional cold outreach in the dust.

LinkedIn is the place to track sales triggers that mean something — and we can help you keep your finger on the pulse.