If you’re in B2B sales, marketing, or customer success, you’re probably hearing more about “job change tracking” than you ever thought possible. The pitch: catch your past champions as they move to new companies, and you’ll open doors faster. There are a few tools out there, but Usergems is the one making the most noise in 2024. So, does it actually deliver? Here’s what you need to know before you bring it to your team—or let your CFO buy another SaaS seat.
Who Actually Needs Job Change Tracking?
Let’s be real: this isn’t for everyone. Usergems (and tools like it) are best for:
- B2B companies with long sales cycles and big deals.
- Teams with lots of accounts and a history of multi-threaded sales.
- Customer success teams who want to keep in touch even after a champion leaves.
If you’re running a small shop or have tight, repeatable sales with little churn, you probably don’t need this. But if you’ve ever lost a deal because your “champion” got poached by a competitor, keep reading.
What Does Usergems Actually Do?
At its core, Usergems tracks when your contacts (think: customers, prospects, champions) change jobs. It then pushes alerts and updates into your CRM, so sales, marketing, or CS can reach out at the right time.
Here’s the basic workflow:
- Connects to your CRM: It ingests your records—contacts, accounts, deal history.
- Monitors LinkedIn and other sources: Usergems crawls public data to spot job changes.
- Alerts you: If one of your contacts lands at a new company, you get a heads up.
- Enriches data: You get the new company, title, sometimes even email/phone.
- Pushes updates to your CRM: So your team doesn’t have to chase spreadsheets.
Where it gets interesting is how this fits into your actual go-to-market motion. Some teams use it for outbound (e.g., “Hey, congrats on the new gig!”), while others use it to defend existing accounts (“Your champion just left—better make friends with their replacement”).
The Good: Where Usergems Delivers
1. Reliable Job Change Detection
Usergems is better than most at finding job changes quickly—usually within days, not weeks. That matters because speed is everything. If you’re the first to say congrats, you’re top of mind.
2. Integrations That Mostly Work
It plugs into Salesforce and HubSpot without much fuss. You can push updates to CRM fields, trigger workflows, or build custom reports. No more copy-pasting LinkedIn updates into Salesforce notes.
3. Decent Enrichment
You’ll often get a new email, company, and sometimes a direct dial. Is it perfect? No. But it’s better than chasing people down manually.
4. Prioritization Features
Usergems tries to help you focus. You can set up rules—like “show me only job changes for ICPs,” or “alert me if a champion lands at a target account.” It’s not magic, but it helps cut through the noise.
5. Outreach Support
Some plans include templates and sequences for reaching out to these job changers. If your team’s new to this play, it’ll save time.
The Bad: Where Usergems Falls Short
1. Data Isn’t Perfect
Let’s get this out of the way: no tool tracks 100% of job changes, and Usergems is no exception. Some contacts slip through, especially if they don’t update LinkedIn or have privacy settings.
Pro tip: Always double-check before reaching out. Nothing kills a relationship like “Congrats on your new job!” when they haven’t moved.
2. False Positives and Clutter
You’ll get some noise—people you don’t care about, roles that don’t matter, or changes that aren’t actually new. You have to tune your filters or you’ll drown in alerts.
3. Pricey for What It Is
Usergems isn’t cheap. Pricing isn’t always public, but expect mid-to-high five-figures per year for a typical B2B team. If you’re not ready to act on every lead, it can feel steep.
4. CRM Sync Issues
Most of the time, integrations work. But sometimes you’ll get duplicate records, missing fields, or updates that don’t show up where you expect. You’ll want someone who knows your CRM inside-out.
5. Outbound Isn’t Magic
Just because you know someone switched jobs doesn’t mean they want to buy from you again. If your product’s a “rip and replace” or your champion left on bad terms, don’t expect miracles.
What’s Hype? What’s Real?
Usergems’ marketing makes it sound like you’ll close every deal where a champion moves. Reality check: job change tracking is a tool, not a silver bullet.
- It’s a great way to warm up cold outreach. People are more likely to respond when they’re new and building their stack.
- But you still need a real relationship. If your champion barely remembers you, your email will get ignored.
- And timing is everything. Jump in too soon and you’re annoying. Wait too long and someone else gets the meeting.
Ignore the hype that suggests this replaces good sales process. It’s a supplement, not a substitute.
How To Get Value From Usergems: A Simple Playbook
Here’s what actually works, based on what real teams are doing (and what doesn’t):
- Clean Your CRM First
- Garbage in, garbage out. Make sure your contact records are up to date before you sync Usergems.
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Focus on contacts who’ve actually engaged—ignore the rest.
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Tighten Your Filters
- Don’t track every job change for every contact. Set criteria: seniority, deal size, or ICP fit.
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This keeps alerts actionable instead of overwhelming.
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Set Up Alerts Where Your Team Works
- Push alerts to Slack, email, or your CRM—not just a Usergems dashboard.
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Make it part of your workflow, not another tab no one checks.
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Write Real Outreach (Not Templates)
- “Saw you joined Acme—congrats!” is fine, but add context: mention past wins, shared contacts, or why you’re reaching out now.
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If you helped them succeed before, remind them.
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Track Outcomes
- Don’t just blast out messages. Track who responds, who books meetings, and—most importantly—who closes.
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Adjust your filters and messaging based on what’s actually working.
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Have a Plan for Account Transitions
- When a champion leaves an account, don’t panic. Use Usergems to find their replacement and start building that relationship fast.
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Play defense as much as offense.
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Rinse and Repeat
- This isn’t set-and-forget. Review your job change alerts, response rates, and impact every quarter. Stay ruthless about what’s actually driving pipeline.
Alternatives Worth a Look
Usergems isn’t the only tool in this space. Here’s how it stacks up:
- Champify: Similar job change tracking, often a bit cheaper, but fewer bells and whistles.
- LinkedIn Sales Navigator: Manual, but you can set alerts for job changes if you’re disciplined.
- Apollo, ZoomInfo: Offer enrichment, but job change tracking is hit-or-miss.
- DIY: You could set up some Zapier workflows, but it’s a pain and not as reliable.
If you’re tight on budget or just want to dip your toe in, try Sales Navigator’s job alerts first. If you need scale and automation, Usergems is more robust—but you’ll pay for it.
Bottom Line: Is Usergems Worth It?
If you have a real go-to-market team, big deal sizes, and a culture of multi-threaded sales, Usergems can give you a real edge—if you use it right. But it’s not magic, and it’s not cheap. If you’re not ready to act on job changes fast, or if your CRM’s a mess, you’ll just end up with more noise.
Keep it simple: start with a tight segment, track what works, and don’t let the tech distract you from actually building relationships. If you get that right, job change tracking can pay for itself. If not, save your budget for something else. Either way, don’t buy the hype—buy what actually helps your team close deals.