Reports
Signals
A signal is one fact about a prospect that says something about whether to approach them now. Signals are the evidence behind every verdict.
What a signal is
Each signal has:
- A short statement of the fact, such as a new head of marketing or an open vacancy for a developer.
- A direction: for approaching the company, or against it.
- A date, when it is known.
- A source you can open, and the quote the signal is based on.
Vintoo only keeps signals that relate to your offer. A new CFO matters if you sell finance software, not if you build websites.
Categories
Every signal belongs to one of 13 categories. The icon in the report shows which.
| Category | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Firmographic | Company characteristics: sector, size, region, business model, growth phase or the make-up of the team. |
| Technographic | Technology in use: current tools, a competing product, the state of the website or the domain setup. |
| Hiring | Recruitment: open vacancies, a growing department, or a vacancy that describes the problem you solve. |
| Personnel change | People changes: a new decision-maker, someone who owned the current tool leaving, or a team unchanged for years. |
| Corporate events | Company events: funding, an acquisition or merger, a new owner, a new location, a new market or a launch. |
| Pain signals | Evidence of problems: bad reviews, complaints, declining revenue, layoffs or a visible issue you solve. |
| Regulation | New or upcoming legislation for their sector, such as NIS2, CSRD or the accessibility act. |
| Contract cycle | Contract or budget timing: a contract with a competitor ending, the start of a fiscal year, a renewal. |
| Third-party intent | Research seen elsewhere: searching your topic, visiting comparison sites, reading reviews of competitors. |
| First-party engagement | Interaction with you: website visits, email clicks or a demo request. |
| Social & content | Public content by the company or its people: posts about the problem, event attendance, questions in communities. |
| Relationship | Existing ties: shared connections, a former customer who now works there, a partner who is a customer. |
| Disqualifying | A fact that rules the company out on its own, such as a competing product just bought or a budget freeze. Always counts against. |
Not every signal counts the same
Vintoo weighs each signal on three things:
- Type. Some categories say more than others about whether now is the moment.
- Strength. A clear, specific fact counts more than a vague hint.
- Age. Older signals count less. How fast depends on the category: a vacancy is stale after a few months, while the sector of a company doesn't age at all.
Signals that are too weak or too old are left out of the report.
What you see in a report
- At most two signals per category, the heaviest first.
- One top signal: the strongest signal for the verdict. It is shown first and is the signal the list and the history refer to.
- Signals for and against, so you see both sides.
Not every category fills for every prospect. Intent, relationship and contract cycle are often empty, because that information is rarely public.
Steering what counts
Your services and ideal customer decide which facts count as relevant. The signals you add under Ideal customer in the organization settings tell Vintoo what to look out for.