If you’re working B2B deals with lots of moving parts, you know the pain: endless emails, meetings, people popping up out of nowhere—and no easy way to tell who’s actually serious about buying. Most CRMs are just activity graveyards. This guide is for sales leaders, ops folks, and reps who want a realistic way to cut through the noise and see real buyer signals, not just busywork. We’ll walk through using Setsail to track what actually matters, skip the fluff, and avoid common traps.
Why Buyer Signals Matter (and Why Most Tools Miss the Mark)
Not all activity is good activity. The fact that you had another meeting or sent ten follow-up emails doesn’t mean you’re closer to a deal. What you really want is to spot signs that buyers are moving forward—things like:
- New stakeholders joining calls
- Decision-makers replying directly
- Requests for pricing, security review, or contract redlines
- Multiple departments getting involved
Most tools drown you in “engagement” metrics—email opens, call counts, task completions. But those are easy to game or automate. Setsail’s pitch is to surface signals that actually move deals, and make it easier to spot when a deal is real (or going off the rails).
Let’s be honest: no tool is magic. But with the right setup, Setsail can help you focus on what matters and ignore what doesn’t.
1. Get Clean Data Flowing In
First, garbage in, garbage out. Setsail connects to your CRM, email, calendar, and sometimes other sales tools. If your CRM is a mess or reps aren’t logging meetings, you’re going to get bad insights.
Checklist:
- Make sure your CRM is synced and contacts/opps are up to date.
- Connect your email and calendar accounts—ideally for everyone touching deals.
- If you use tools like Gong or Outreach, check if there’s a Setsail integration.
- Double-check permissions. Privacy matters. Only pull in what’s needed.
Pro tip: Run a quick test. Set up a dummy opportunity, have a colleague email and set meetings with you, and make sure Setsail picks up these activities. If something’s missing, fix it before rolling out.
2. Define What “Signals” Actually Matter for Your Deals
Setsail comes with pre-set signals, but don’t just take them at face value. Every sales org is different.
What to do:
- Sit with your top reps and ask: “When you know a deal is really moving, what are the signs?” Write down specifics—new stakeholder, security review, legal loop, etc.
- Map these to Setsail’s signal library. Hide or reweight signals that aren’t relevant for your process.
- If you can, customize signals. For example, only count a “significant meeting” if at least one VP or C-level joins.
What to ignore: Don’t get distracted by vanity metrics like “meeting length” or “email open rate.” They barely correlate with deal progress in complex sales.
Honest take: The default settings are okay, but they’re generic. Take the extra hour to tune signals to your deals—you’ll thank yourself later.
3. Track Stakeholder Engagement, Not Just Activity
One of Setsail’s best features is mapping who’s actually involved on the buyer side. In complex B2B sales, you often have 5-10 people from the customer popping in and out.
How to use this:
- Look at Setsail’s “stakeholder map” for each deal. Who’s engaged? Are you still just talking to the project manager, or has the CFO shown up?
- Set alerts for when new decision-makers join calls or start responding to emails.
- Track engagement drop-offs. If a key stakeholder ghosts you for two weeks, that’s a red flag—don’t ignore it.
Pro tip: Export the stakeholder map to review in deal reviews. It’s a fast gut-check: if you only see one or two names, the deal’s probably not real yet.
4. Use Signal Scoring to Prioritize Your Pipeline
Setsail assigns each deal a “signal score” based on real buyer actions. This isn’t a replacement for your judgment, but it’s a useful filter.
How to use it:
- Sort your pipeline by signal score. Deals with high activity from the right people bubble up.
- Spot “stale” deals—those with lots of activity, but all from the same champion, not the real decision-makers.
- Use the scoring to challenge happy ears in pipeline meetings. If the score is low but the rep is bullish, dig deeper.
What doesn’t work: Don’t blindly chase only high-signal deals. Sometimes deals are just slow. Use the score as a conversation starter, not the final word.
5. Automate Nudges, But Keep Your Brain Engaged
Setsail can send out nudges when deals stall or when you haven’t engaged a key stakeholder. This is handy, but don’t let it make you lazy.
Best practices:
- Set up nudges for major signals only—e.g., no reply from legal after contract sent, or no execs on the last two calls.
- Ignore the temptation to automate generic follow-ups. Buyers can smell it a mile away.
- Use nudges as a prompt to pick up the phone, not just fire off another email.
Honest take: Automated nudges are helpful, but they can also turn your sales team into spam bots if you’re not careful. Use with restraint.
6. Measure What’s Working—Then Tweak
After a month or two, look back at closed-won and closed-lost deals. Do the top signals actually correlate with outcomes? Be ruthless.
How to review:
- Pull up a few closed-won deals. Which signals showed up most? Were there any false positives?
- Do the same with lost deals. Did you miss signs of disengagement?
- Adjust your signal settings based on real patterns, not what vendors promise.
What to ignore: Don’t get lost in the dashboard rabbit hole. A few key signals are enough—don’t try to track everything.
Pro tip: If you’re in sales ops, get feedback from the reps. If they’re ignoring the signals or find them confusing, that’s on you to fix.
7. Avoid Common Traps
A few honest warnings from the trenches:
- Signal overload: More signals ≠ more clarity. Stick to the handful that actually matter for your process.
- Blind faith in AI: Setsail uses machine learning to spot patterns, but it’s not reading minds. Reality beats algorithms every time.
- Chasing ghosts: Sometimes, a deal is dead but the signals still look good (lots of activity, but with the wrong people). Use your judgment.
- Ignoring rep input: If your team doesn’t trust the signals, adoption will crater. Make it collaborative.
Keep It Simple and Iterate
Tracking buyer signals isn’t about having the fanciest dashboard or the most metrics. It’s about focusing on real signs of progress and ignoring the noise. Start with the basics, get everyone on board, and tweak as you go. Remember, the real “signal” is when the right people are moving the deal forward—everything else is just background noise.