Planning season
An account enters its budget planning window, usually the quarter before its fiscal year starts.
Budgets get set once a year. Being on the list when plans are written beats arriving after the money is allocated.
- Strength
- Early
- Act within
- 6 to 10 weeks before the fiscal year starts
- Best for
- Companies with annual contracts and larger deals
How we detect it
Runs on Clay and HubSpot or Salesforce.
- Find each account’s fiscal year from public filings or the timing of past deals.
- Schedule the plays against that date.
What it triggers
An opening line, to show the angle. It never goes out as written.
Most teams lock next year’s pipeline plan in the next month. Here are the benchmarks we are seeing across 150 B2B companies.
- Ad audience: Run planning-season content to the account.
- Email: Offer a planning session with benchmarks for their stage.
Where it goes wrong
- Assuming everyone plans in December.
Stack it with
A second signal on the same account moves it up.
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.
Funding round
A target account announces a new round of funding.
More company moments signals
Every company moments signalNew office or market expansion
An account opens a new office, enters a new country, or announces a new region.
Product launch
An account launches a new product, a new tier, or a major feature.
Rebrand or new website
An account changes its name, positioning, or website.
FAQs about this signal
An account enters its budget planning window, usually the quarter before its fiscal year starts. Budgets get set once a year. Being on the list when plans are written beats arriving after the money is allocated.
Find each account’s fiscal year from public filings or the timing of past deals. Schedule the plays against that date. Understory Agency runs it on Clay and HubSpot or Salesforce.
The window to act is 6 to 10 weeks before the fiscal year starts. Understory Agency routes it to ad audience and email. Run planning-season content to the account. Offer a planning session with benchmarks for their stage.
It works best for companies with annual contracts and larger deals. It is strongest alongside “New executive at a target account” and “Funding round”.
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.