If your sales team is tired of chasing ghosts and cold leads, you’re not alone. There’s no shortage of companies promising “hot leads” and intent data, but most of it ends up being just noise. This guide is for sales and marketing folks who actually want to cut through the hype and use intent data — specifically from LeadGenius — to focus outreach on prospects who might actually buy.
Let’s get practical. Here’s how to use LeadGenius intent data to stop guessing and start working smarter.
Step 1: Understand What Intent Data Actually Is (and What It Isn’t)
Before you dive in, let’s get clear on what you’re working with:
- Intent data isn’t magic. It’s just signals — like someone researching topics, visiting competitor sites, or downloading whitepapers — that suggest a company might be in the market.
- Not all signals are equal. Some are weak (generic blog visits), some are stronger (comparing pricing pages, reviewing competitor solutions).
- LeadGenius intent data combines web activity, company data, job changes, and even triggers like funding rounds or tech stack changes.
What to ignore:
Don’t waste time on generic “interest” signals. Focus on data that actually ties to buying behavior: product comparisons, solution research, or concrete buying triggers.
Pro tip:
If your team expects intent data to hand you sales on a platter, reset those expectations now.
Step 2: Define What “High Intent” Means For Your Team
Not every company’s buying signals look the same. What’s “hot” for you might be lukewarm for someone else.
Ask yourself: - What behaviors have actually led to deals in the past? (e.g., demo requests, specific content downloads, visiting a pricing page) - Are there company changes that almost always mean a good opportunity? (e.g., new CTO, recent funding, launching a new product line) - Which signals are just noise for your market?
How to do this with LeadGenius: - Look at the intent categories and triggers in your LeadGenius account. - Work with your sales team to pick out which ones have historically matched closed-won deals. - Set up your account to track these — and ignore the rest.
Honest take:
If you try to chase every “interested” company, you’ll drown. Less is more.
Step 3: Get Your Data Flowing — Cleanly
Intent data is only as good as its fit with your existing systems. Garbage in, garbage out.
Checklist: - Integrate LeadGenius with your CRM (Salesforce, HubSpot, etc.). - Map the fields you care about: company, contact, trigger type, signal strength. - Test a few sample records. Make sure the right people and data land where you expect — not in some random spreadsheet no one looks at.
What works:
Keeping it simple. Don’t try to sync every data field just because you can.
What to skip:
Don’t bother with intent signals for companies outside your ICP (ideal customer profile). If they can’t buy, it doesn’t matter if they’re “interested.”
Step 4: Rank and Segment Your Prospects
Now that you’ve got intent data flowing, it’s time to actually make it useful.
How to prioritize: - Score leads based on signal type and recency. (E.g., “Visited pricing page last week” > “Read a blog post two months ago.”) - Segment by trigger: funding event, tech stack change, job change, etc. - Combine with your own criteria: company size, industry, geography.
With LeadGenius, you can: - Set up custom scoring rules for different signals. - Filter lists by trigger or intent level. - Push only the highest-priority prospects to your reps.
Pro tip:
Don’t go overboard with complicated scoring formulas. Simple, clear rules beat black-box algorithms every time.
Step 5: Personalize Your Outreach Based on Real Triggers
Intent data is worthless if your emails sound generic. Use the actual triggers to make your outreach relevant.
What works: - Refer to the actual event in your message. (“Congrats on your recent funding — teams in your space usually start looking for X at this stage.”) - Mention what they did. (“Saw your team comparing solutions for [problem]. Here’s what our customers learned when they switched.”) - Keep it short. Don’t pretend you “just happened to notice” — be direct.
What doesn’t:
Don’t fake personalization (“Saw you’re interested in solutions like ours…”). People see right through it.
Example snippets: - “Noticed you recently switched to Salesforce — our clients in fintech did the same and ran into [problem]. Want the playbook?” - “Congrats on the Series B! Many teams use this time to revisit their [process/tool]. If you’re evaluating options, happy to share what’s working for others.”
Step 6: Test, Measure, and Don’t Get Lazy
Intent data isn’t “set and forget.” The market changes, your product changes, and so do the signals.
How to keep improving: - Track which signals actually lead to meetings or deals. Drop the rest. - Regularly ask reps: “Which triggers were actually useful? Which were duds?” - Adjust your scoring and outreach as you learn.
Honest take:
Most teams set up intent workflows once and never touch them again. That’s how you end up with bloated lists and bad data. Stay on top of it.
A Few Pitfalls to Watch Out For
- Chasing weak signals: Just because someone read a blog post doesn’t mean they want your pitch.
- Overcomplicating scoring: If your team needs a PhD to understand your lead score, you’ve gone too far.
- Ignoring rep feedback: Your sales team knows which signals are junk. Listen to them.
- Too much automation: If every “intent” lead gets the same canned email, you’ll burn through your list fast.
Keep It Simple, Iterate, and Don’t Believe the Hype
Intent data — even from a solid provider like LeadGenius — won’t close deals for you. But it can help you focus on the right companies, at the right time, with the right message. Start with a few high-value triggers, keep your process simple, and keep tweaking as you learn what works.
Sales is hard enough. Don’t make it harder by chasing every shiny signal. Build a list you trust, talk to people who care, and let the rest go.