Decision maker left
The person who owned a tool or vendor at an account leaves, and the seat is empty or newly filled.
When the owner of a vendor relationship leaves, that relationship loses its defender. Contracts get reviewed, and the replacement has no attachment to the previous choice.
- Strength
- Good
- Act within
- From the departure until the replacement settles in
- Best for
- Companies that compete against an incumbent
How we detect it
Runs on Clay and job board data.
- Track departures of the buying titles at accounts that use a competitor.
- Watch for the job posting that replaces them, which confirms the seat is open.
What it triggers
An opening line, to show the angle. It never goes out as written.
With the RevOps seat open, I imagine someone is covering the HubSpot admin work on top of their day job. Happy to take a look at what needs fixing first.
- Email: Reach the person covering the role in the meantime, with a short audit offer.
- Ad audience: Warm the account with proof, so the replacement already knows your name.
Where it goes wrong
- Pitching the person who is leaving.
Stack it with
A second signal on the same account moves it up.
Hiring for the role you sell to
A target account posts jobs for the team that would use or buy your product.
New executive at a target account
A new VP or C-level leader starts at an account you sell to, in the function that buys from you.
Uses a competitor
An account runs a competitor’s product today.
More people and roles signals
Every people and roles signalChampion changed jobs
Someone who bought, used, or championed your product moves to a new company that fits your ICP.
Promotion into the buying seat
Someone at a target account is promoted into the role that owns the budget for what you sell.
Work anniversary
A buyer at a target account reaches their fifth or tenth work anniversary at the company.
FAQs about this signal
The person who owned a tool or vendor at an account leaves, and the seat is empty or newly filled. When the owner of a vendor relationship leaves, that relationship loses its defender. Contracts get reviewed, and the replacement has no attachment to the previous choice.
Track departures of the buying titles at accounts that use a competitor. Watch for the job posting that replaces them, which confirms the seat is open. Understory Agency runs it on Clay and job board data.
The window to act is from the departure until the replacement settles in. Understory Agency routes it to email and ad audience. Reach the person covering the role in the meantime, with a short audit offer. Warm the account with proof, so the replacement already knows your name.
It works best for companies that compete against an incumbent. It is strongest alongside “Hiring for the role you sell to”, “New executive at a target account”, and “Uses a competitor”.
Or let us run it for you
Understory Agency's GTM engineers build the detection in Clay, wire it to the play that fits, and sync every touch to your CRM. Tell us who you sell to, and we'll show you where we would start.