If you’re in B2B sales or marketing, you know how rare it is to get a lead who already knows you or your product. That’s what makes “warm leads”—people who’ve engaged with you before, or former champions who’ve changed jobs—so valuable. Problem is, tracking them manually is a nightmare. Enter Usergems, a tool that says it can surface these golden opportunities and ping you before your competitors even know what’s happening.
But let’s be real: software is only as good as how you use it. This guide is for anyone who wants to actually get value from Usergems alerts, not just add another “cool tool” to the stack. I’ll walk you through setting up alerts, making sense of them, and—most importantly—turning them into deals.
Why Warm Leads Matter (and Why You Miss Them)
Not all leads are created equal. Warm leads—like contacts who already trust you, or ex-customers starting new gigs—convert at a way higher rate than those cold, spray-and-pray lists. But most teams still miss them because:
- People change jobs quietly, and LinkedIn isn’t always accurate or timely.
- CRM data gets stale fast.
- Sales reps don’t have time to stalk old contacts all day.
That’s where automated alerts come in. But only if you set them up right and actually act on them.
Step 1: Connect Usergems to Your CRM (Don’t Skip This)
Before you can get alerts about warm leads, Usergems needs to know who your current and past contacts are. This means plugging it into your CRM—usually Salesforce or HubSpot.
How to do it: - Go to the Usergems dashboard and find the integrations page. - Authorize the connection with your CRM account. - Decide which objects to sync (usually Contacts and Accounts). - Set sync frequency—daily or weekly is fine for most.
Pro tip:
Don’t sync every record you’ve ever touched. Focus on decision-makers and champions—people who actually influenced deals.
What to ignore:
Usergems offers integrations with a bunch of other tools. Stick to your core CRM to start. More connections = more noise.
Step 2: Set Up Your Alerts Thoughtfully
Usergems can alert you about all kinds of changes: job moves, new roles, even when a contact joins a target account. It’s tempting to turn on everything and hope for the best. Don’t.
Instead: - Pick 1-2 alert types that matter most. Usually “Contact changed job” and “Contact joined target account” are the big ones. - Set up filters. Maybe you only care about VPs and Directors, not interns. - Choose the frequency—daily, weekly, or real-time. Daily is usually enough unless you’re moving fast.
How to set up: 1. Go to Alerts in the Usergems dashboard. 2. Click “Create Alert” and choose your trigger (e.g., “Job Change”). 3. Apply filters: title, industry, company size, etc. 4. Decide who gets the alert—yourself, or the right rep.
Honest take:
If you make alerts too broad, you’ll get overwhelmed. If you make them too narrow, you’ll miss deals. Start broad, then tighten as you see what’s useful.
Step 3: Deliver Alerts Where You’ll Actually See Them
Email alerts are fine, but let’s be honest—most people ignore them, or they get buried. Usergems can push alerts into Slack, Salesforce, or even as tasks for your reps.
What works: - Slack channels for the sales team—fast and visible. - Direct assignments in your CRM so nothing slips through. - Weekly digest emails for managers (not reps).
How to set up: - In Usergems, go to “Notifications.” - Pick your delivery method: Email, Slack, CRM task, etc. - Test it: Trigger a test alert. If it’s not instantly visible, tweak it.
Pro tip:
If you’re getting alerts but not acting on them, try changing where they show up. Visibility beats “fancy features” every time.
Step 4: Build a Simple Process for Acting on Alerts
Getting an alert is pointless if you don’t do something about it. You need a playbook.
Basic playbook: 1. When you get a warm lead alert, check if you (or your team) actually know the person. 2. Do a quick LinkedIn scan—did they really change jobs? Are they still in your ideal buyer profile? 3. Personalize your outreach. Don’t just drop into their inbox with, “Saw you changed jobs!” Add context they’ll remember.
Example outreach: - “Congrats on the new role, Anna! We loved working with you at Acme. If you’re tackling [old pain point] again, happy to share what worked last time.”
What doesn’t work: - Spammy outreach. “Congrats on the new job! Want to book a demo?” That’s how you get ignored. - Waiting days to act. These windows close fast.
Pro tip:
Assign a single point person (or team) to handle alerts. If everyone owns it, no one owns it.
Step 5: Track Results and Tune Your Alerts
It’s easy to set and forget, but you’ll get more out of Usergems if you check what’s actually working.
What to track: - Which alert types lead to real conversations? - Who’s actually following up on alerts? - Is the signal-to-noise ratio good, or are you drowning in junk?
How to tune: - If you get too many dead ends, tighten your filters (role, company size, etc.). - Not enough alerts? Loosen filters or add another trigger. - Every month, review which alerts led to pipeline.
Honest take:
Most teams overcomplicate this. Just ask: “Did this alert lead to a meeting?” If not, tweak it.
What to Ignore (for Now)
There’s always more features: enrichment, scoring, fancy dashboards. Ignore them until you’re nailing the basics. The goal is more warm conversations, not more data.
Skip: - Over-customizing reports before you’ve closed a single deal from an alert. - Integrating with five tools you don’t use. - Chasing “AI-powered insights” if you haven’t even acted on a single alert.
Real-World Tips
A few things I’ve seen work (and not work) in real teams:
- Don’t delegate alerts to interns or SDRs with zero context. Warm leads need a warm touch.
- Update your CRM regularly. Bad data in = bad alerts out.
- Celebrate wins. When a rep closes a deal from an alert, share it with the team so everyone buys in.
Keep It Simple, Iterate, and Actually Use the Alerts
Usergems can be a real asset for surfacing warm leads, but only if you keep your setup straightforward and actually act on what you find. Start with the basics: connect your CRM, pick the key alerts, deliver them where you’ll see them, and follow up fast. Don’t get distracted by shiny features. Once you’re seeing results, tweak and expand. That’s how you’ll actually stop missing warm opportunities—no magic required.