Looking to catch new business signals before your competitors do? If you’re on a GTM (go-to-market) team, you know the pain: company news moves fast, and if you’re not first, you’re last. Real-time alerts—when set up right—can give you an edge, flagging new opportunities, risks, or account changes as they happen. But setting them up isn’t always straightforward, and a bad alerting setup is almost worse than none at all.
This guide walks you through setting up real-time company alerts in CompanyEnrich. I’ll cover what actually works, what’s just noise, and how to avoid making your inbox a dumpster fire. Whether you’re in sales, customer success, or revenue ops, you’ll walk away with a practical setup that helps—not hinders—your team.
Why Real-Time Company Alerts Matter (and When They Don’t)
Let’s get something out of the way: real-time alerts aren’t magic. They can surface gold—like a target account raising a funding round or suddenly hiring for a new department. But too many, and you’ll just end up ignoring them. The secret is quality over quantity.
You want alerts that:
- Tell you something you can actually act on (“Acme Corp just hired a new VP of Sales”)
- Arrive where your team already works (Slack, email, CRM)
- Are easy to tweak as your strategy changes
You don’t want:
- Vague signals (“Acme Corp updated their LinkedIn page”)
- A firehose of irrelevant updates
- Alerts that nobody owns or follows up on
With that in mind, let’s get into the setup.
Step 1: Define What Actually Needs an Alert
Before you touch any settings, get clear on what really matters to your team. This is the step most people skip—and regret later.
Start by asking:
- What triggers a real sales opportunity or risk?
- Are you tracking expansion signals, churn risk, or net-new accounts?
- Who needs to know, and how fast?
Common useful triggers:
- Executive changes (new C-suite, VP, or department head)
- Funding events (Seed, Series A, etc.)
- Hiring spikes (e.g., suddenly hiring for sales, engineering, or other key roles)
- Company expansion (new office locations, product launches)
- M&A activity
Skip or downplay:
- Generic press releases
- Minor website updates
- Irrelevant job postings (unless you sell HR tech)
Pro tip: If it’s not something you’d want to see in a weekly recap, it probably doesn’t need a real-time alert.
Step 2: Pick Your Channels and Owners
Real-time only helps if the right people see the alert, and someone actually does something about it.
Decide:
- Where should alerts go? (Slack channel, email, CRM notes, etc.)
- Who owns each alert type? (AE, CSM, RevOps, etc.)
- What’s the expected action? (Reach out, flag for review, ignore)
Reality check: Slack is great for urgency, but gets noisy. Email is easy to ignore. CRM integration is best for tracking, but takes work to set up. Don’t overcomplicate—start with what your team actually checks.
Step 3: Set Up Alerts in CompanyEnrich
Here’s how to actually set up real-time alerts in CompanyEnrich. Interfaces change, but the basics tend to stick.
3.1. Log In and Navigate to Alerts
- Head to your CompanyEnrich dashboard.
- Look for an “Alerts,” “Notifications,” or “Signals” section. It’s usually in the main menu or under “Settings.”
3.2. Create a New Alert Rule
- Click “Create Alert” or “New Alert.”
- Give your alert a clear name. (“Exec Change – Target Accounts” is better than “Alert 1.”)
3.3. Set Up Your Trigger Criteria
- Choose the event types you actually care about (e.g., “Funding Round,” “Executive Hire”)
- Filter by the companies or segments you want to track. You can often use saved lists, account tiers, or firmographic filters (industry, employee count, etc.)
- Double-check your filters—broad filters = more noise.
Pro tip: Start narrow. You can always widen later.
3.4. Choose Notification Channels
- Select how you want to be notified:
- Slack: Pick the right channel (not #general, please).
- Email: Consider a distribution list if multiple people need to see it.
- CRM: If CompanyEnrich supports direct pushes, map the alert to the right object (account, opportunity, etc.).
3.5. Set Frequency and Throttling
- Decide if you want instant alerts, daily summaries, or both.
- If instant, set up throttling (e.g., “no more than 5 per hour”) to keep from getting buried.
3.6. Test Before Rolling Out
- Use test mode (if available), or set up a dummy alert to see how it looks.
- Make sure the message is clear, not just “Company update: see dashboard.”
- Confirm that notifications show up where you expect.
Step 4: Roll Out and Train Your Team
An alert is only useful if people know what to do with it.
Tips:
- Announce the new alerts in a team meeting or via Slack.
- Give concrete examples: “When you see a funding alert for one of your accounts, drop them a note congratulating their team and see if their needs have changed.”
- Document what each alert means and expected follow-up actions.
Pro tip: Set a quick feedback loop. After two weeks, ask: “Which alerts are helpful? Which are useless?” Tweak accordingly.
Step 5: Tune and Maintain (The Part Everyone Forgets)
Real-time alert setups get stale. Companies change, your strategy shifts, and what was urgent last quarter becomes noise today.
Regularly:
- Review which alerts get actioned, and which get ignored.
- Trim or adjust criteria to reduce noise.
- Add new triggers as your strategy evolves.
What to ignore: Vanity metrics. Don’t keep alerts running just because you set them up. If nobody is acting, kill or change them.
The Good, the Bad, and the Annoying
What works well:
- Alerts tied to real buying signals (funding, new execs) drive quick action.
- Slack or CRM notifications keep things actionable and visible—if used right.
- Tight filters keep your team focused.
What to watch out for:
- Over-alerting. Too many pings = alert blindness.
- Vague triggers. “Company updated their website” rarely matters.
- Lack of ownership. If everyone’s responsible, nobody is.
What to skip:
- Generic broadcasts to everyone. Only alert the people who need to know.
- Setting and forgetting. Review and adjust every quarter, minimum.
Keep It Simple, Iterate Often
Setting up real-time company alerts in CompanyEnrich can give your GTM team a genuine edge—if you do it with intent. Keep your criteria tight, pick the right channels, and don’t be afraid to turn things off if they’re not working. The goal isn’t to know everything as it happens; it’s to know what matters—fast enough to act.
Start simple, stay skeptical, and adjust as you go. Your future self (and your team’s sanity) will thank you.