Signal category descriptions and signal type definitions in this report are based on Lusha’s live signal database and product documentation as of June 2026. Mobility data is drawn from the Lusha B2B Contact Change Report Q2 2026. All data is aggregate and anonymised. No individual contact details are included or derivable from the figures presented.
13,600 B2B contacts change jobs every working day. 1,470,414 changed companies in the first half of 2026 alone. Every one of those changes is a signal. The question is not whether buying signals exist in your market — they do, at scale, every day. The question is whether your GTM team is detecting them before your competitors do, and whether the data attached to each signal is verified enough to act on.
This report maps Lusha’s four signal categories, explains what each one detects and when to act on it, shows why stacked signals produce the highest-conversion outreach windows in outbound, and gives the outreach timing framework for each signal type. Every signal category described here is live in Lusha’s signal layer today.
Part One: Why signals matter more than lists
A contact list tells you who exists. A buying signal tells you who is ready. The difference between the two is the difference between cold outreach and relevant outreach — and in Q2 2026, that difference is measurable at scale.
The Q2 2026 contact change data shows 13,600 contacts changing jobs every working day. Each one of those moves creates at least two signal events simultaneously: a risk signal at the old company (champion departed, evaluation stalled, renewal at risk) and an opportunity signal at the new company (new decision-maker arriving, stack evaluation opening, vendor selection beginning). Neither of those signals appears in a static contact list. Both appear immediately in Lusha’s live signal database.
Part Two: The four signal categories
Lusha tracks buying signals across four categories. Each category detects a different type of commercial event. Each creates a different type of outreach opportunity. Understanding which category a signal falls into determines both the urgency of the outreach and the angle of the message.
Category 1: Buying and research signals
These signals detect companies that are actively researching solutions like yours right now. A company showing buying and research signals has moved beyond passive awareness into active evaluation. Contacts at these companies are in the market — they are researching vendors, comparing solutions, and forming shortlists.
The outreach angle: A company showing buying and research signals does not need to be educated about the category. They are already in it. The outreach angle is relevance and differentiation — why your solution specifically, given what they are researching right now.
Category 2: Career movement signals
These signals detect the people moving, not the companies. Job changes, promotions, and new hires at target accounts — the 13,600 daily contact changes that the Q2 2026 data documents at scale. Career movement signals are the highest-frequency signal type in Lusha’s database and the most directly actionable for outbound teams.
The outreach angle: Career movement signals require personalisation that acknowledges the specific event. A message that references a contact’s new role directly converts significantly better than one that does not. The verified contact data Lusha attaches to each signal — current title, direct dial, business email — makes that personalisation accurate rather than assumed.
Category 3: Company change signals
These signals detect changes at the organisational level — funding events, headcount growth, hiring surges in specific functions, and ownership shifts. Company change signals are the most commercially powerful signals for outbound teams because they indicate that budget has changed, priorities have changed, or both.
The outreach angle: Company change signals require a message that acknowledges the specific event and connects it to a concrete business outcome — not a product feature. A funding event is not a reason to pitch features. It is a reason to open a conversation about what the growth target requires and whether the current stack can support it.
Category 4: Technology and stack signals
These signals detect changes in a company’s technology stack — new tool adoptions, integrations going live, and competitive displacement triggers. Technology signals are most valuable for vendors whose product integrates with, competes with, or is triggered by specific tools in the market.
The outreach angle: Technology signals require the most specific message of any signal type. A generic outreach message sent in response to a technology signal wastes the signal entirely. The message must reference the specific tool adopted and explain why your product is the natural complement, upgrade, or replacement.
Part Three: Signal stacking — why multiple signals matter more than any single signal
A single signal is a reason to pay attention. Multiple signals firing simultaneously at the same account are a reason to act immediately.
Signal stacking occurs when an account shows two or more signal types within the same 30-day window. A company that closed a funding round (company change signal) and hired a new CRO (career movement signal) and is showing intent on your category (buying and research signal) is not showing mild commercial interest. It has budget, a new decision-maker evaluating the stack, and active research underway. That is the highest-conversion outreach window in outbound.
Part Four: The outreach timing guide
Every signal type has an optimal outreach window. Acting outside that window — too early or too late — reduces the conversion likelihood significantly. The guide below maps each signal category to its optimal timing.
Part Five: How to operationalise signals in your GTM stack
A signal that is detected but not acted on is not a signal. It is noise. The gap between teams that generate pipeline from Lusha’s signal layer and teams that do not is almost never the quality of the signals. It is the speed and structure of the response.
Three operational requirements for signal-based outbound:
1. Route signals to the right rep automatically. A funding event signal at an account in a specific rep’s territory should arrive in that rep’s queue within minutes of detection — not in a weekly digest, not in a dashboard they have to log into. Lusha’s signal layer integrates directly with Salesforce, HubSpot, and other CRMs via API and native connectors. The signal fires, the record updates, the rep is notified. The Find accounts with stacked buying signals play on Lusha Campus shows exactly how to build this motion.
2. Have a signal-specific sequence ready to deploy before the signal fires. A signal sequence written after the fact is a sequence written in the worst possible conditions — under time pressure, with incomplete context, after the optimal window has already started closing. Every signal type Lusha tracks should have a corresponding outreach sequence built and ready. The message does not need to be identical for every account — but the framework should exist so personalisation to the specific signal is a 2-minute task, not a 20-minute one.
3. Use verified contact data to reach the right person, not just the right company. A funding event signal tells you that the company has budget. It does not tell you who controls that budget. Lusha combines the signal with verified contact data — title, seniority, department, direct dial, business email — so the outreach arrives with the right person’s verified details attached. A signal without a verified contact is a targeting opportunity without a way to act on it.
Methodology and data notes
Signal data source: Lusha live signal database — 300M+ verified contacts, 60M+ companies. Signal category descriptions based on lusha.com/buying-signals product documentation as of June 2026.
Mobility data source: Lusha B2B Contact Change Report Q2 2026. Signal window: January 1 to June 1, 2026 (108 working days).
Outreach timing guidance: Timing windows are based on Lusha’s observed signal patterns and are presented as directional guidance, not guaranteed conversion windows. Actual optimal timing will vary by industry, deal size, and target buyer persona.
Privacy and compliance: All data in this report is aggregated and anonymised. No individual contact details are included or derivable from the figures presented. Lusha is fully GDPR compliant, certified by European independent auditors ePrivacyseal GmbH, and validated by TrustArc. Full privacy documentation at lusha.com/trust-center.
