The flood of generic sales outreach has left prospects numb to most messages. Sales teams are finding it harder than ever to break through the noise, while buyers have become more selective about who earns their attention. Chrisley Ceme, a fractional chief revenue officer and B2B sales strategist and founder of The Aesop Agency, has spent the past decade helping SaaS companies and growth-stage businesses tackle this challenge by focusing on smarter buyer signal strategies.
Understand and Identify Buyer Signal
Most sales reps are throwing darts blindfolded. Chrisley has seen this firsthand while working with companies trying to grow their revenue. The solution isn’t overly complex, but it starts with understanding buyer signals. “These are behaviors such as job changes or mentioning certain keywords on LinkedIn that indicate a prospect is either in research mode or ready to make purchasing decisions,” he explains.
Tools like Bombora and Clay can help pull these signals and integrate them into your CRM. But as Chrisley has learned, the tools are only part of the equation. Your team also needs to know what to look for. Signals such as how often someone visits your site, which pages they spend time on, or when they change jobs and talk about it on LinkedIn are all indicators that someone may be ready to engage. Recognizing these patterns turns guesswork into strategy.
Personalize at Scale Based on Intent
Raw data sitting in your CRM doesn’t close deals. Chrisley encourages teams to turn buyer signals into outreach that actually resonates. Consider this example: “Let’s say you’re selling a CRM and you’re reaching out to sales leaders who are engaging with a LinkedIn post about managing pipeline,” he says. That’s your opening. The key is aligning your message with what the prospect is already showing interest in. If someone is engaging with content about pipeline management, they’re far more likely to respond to a relevant CRM solution. It sounds simple, but Chrisley has seen many teams miss the mark by sending the same message to every lead. LinkedIn is already saturated with people trying to sell everything to everyone. The goal is not to add to the noise, but to cut through it with relevance.
Time Your Outreach Accordingly
Speed matters, but context is what truly drives results. Chrisley recommends reaching out within 24 to 48 hours of spotting a buyer signal, but not at the expense of relevance. “If it’s a sales leader looking for CRM, you don’t want to reach out talking about marketing initiatives because one doesn’t align with the other,” he explains.
LinkedIn has become increasingly difficult to navigate. Chrisley sees AI-generated outreach everywhere, tools designed to get responses rather than provide real value. Many of these messages overpromise or offer services the company doesn’t even deliver. That kind of disconnect only fuels skepticism. His advice is clear: lead with something useful. Before jumping into a pitch, offer insight, resources, or perspective that’s actually helpful. Especially when prospects have never heard of your company, value-driven outreach stands out and earns trust.
Measure, Optimize, Repeat
You can’t improve what you don’t measure. Chrisley urges teams to track everything in their CRM rather than relying on spreadsheets. “I wouldn’t necessarily go that route because that’s not the most efficient way of measuring success, but you want to make sure you’re measuring everything so that you can further optimize your campaigns,” he explains. The goal is to understand what messages and timing actually work. Once you have that clarity, you can double down on what drives results and stop spending time on efforts that don’t. Over time, this data-driven approach typically shortens sales cycles and boosts close rates.
Chrisley also doesn’t see buyer signals as just another stream of data. “Buyer signals aren’t just data. It’s a genuine opportunity to reach out to your consumer base or prospect base with intent and context right when they need it, versus just putting things out there into the ether,” he says. That’s the difference between interrupting someone’s day and actually helping them solve a problem. When you engage at the right moment—when a prospect is actively looking for a solution—you become the person who shows up with value, not noise. Companies that get this right see better results across the board. Higher close rates, shorter sales cycles, and more engaged prospects. It’s not magic. It’s timing, relevance, and execution that make the difference.
Follow Chrisley Ceme on LinkedIn for more actionable insights on sales strategy and buyer behavior.
