If you’re in B2B sales or marketing, you know the pain: tons of leads, but few worth your time. Most platforms promise “qualified” leads, but really just hand you a big, messy list. You need a way to spot which companies are actually in-market and ready to talk. That’s where Clay can help—if you use it right.
This guide is for hands-on sales folks, marketers, and founders who want to cut through the noise and actually do something with their lead data. No fluff, no silver bullets—just a practical approach to using Clay to find and focus on high intent B2B leads.
Why “High Intent” Matters (and What It Actually Means)
Let’s get one thing straight: most B2B leads are junk, or at least not ready to buy. “High intent” means someone’s likely in the market now, not just vaguely interested. You’re looking for signals like:
- Recent hiring in key roles
- Buying tech that fits your ecosystem
- Searching for solutions like yours
- Visiting pricing pages or requesting demos (if you can see this)
Put simply, high intent leads save you time and boost your close rates. But they’re not always easy to spot—especially if you’re just staring at a spreadsheet of company names.
Step 1: Get Your Raw Lead List
Before you even open Clay, you need a source list. This can be:
- Website signups
- Tradeshow attendee lists
- Export from LinkedIn Sales Navigator
- Old CRM data
Pro tip: Don’t overthink this. Start with any list you have, even if it’s messy.
Step 2: Bring Your Data into Clay
Clay’s real value is in enrichment and automation. Here’s how to kick things off:
- Create a new table: Think of a Clay table as a “super spreadsheet.” Import your raw lead list (CSV, LinkedIn, whatever).
- Map your data: Make sure columns like company name, domain, and contact email are lined up. Garbage in, garbage out.
- Keep it simple: Don’t try to bring in 50 columns. Start with the basics so you don’t get overwhelmed.
Step 3: Enrich Your Leads with Useful Data
Clay can pull in a ton of info, but don’t get distracted by vanity metrics. Focus on these enrichment points:
- Firmographics: Company size, industry, location. Filters out obvious mismatches.
- Technographics: Are they using tech that complements or competes with yours? (E.g., if you sell to HubSpot users, look for that.)
- Hiring signals: Recent job postings in relevant roles. Companies hiring for “Sales Ops” or “RevOps” might be expanding tech spend.
- Intent data: Some tools (like Bombora, G2) can feed intent signals into Clay. Don’t expect miracles, but it’s better than nothing.
- Website activity: If you use tools like Clearbit Reveal, you can sometimes see if a company visited your site.
What to skip: Social follower counts, Alexa rank, vague “engagement scores.” These rarely correlate to purchase intent.
Step 4: Build a Simple Scoring System
Now you’ve got enriched data—great. But staring at 500 rows won’t help you prioritize. You need a score.
- Assign points to meaningful signals. For example:
- +5: Company uses a key tech in your ecosystem
- +3: Hiring relevant roles in the last 30 days
- +2: In your target industry
- +10: Visited your pricing page (if you can track it)
- Subtract for red flags. For example:
- -5: Already a customer
- -3: Wrong company size
Clay lets you set up these logic rules directly in the table, so you can see a “score” column update automatically.
Pro tip: Don’t chase perfection here. A rough score is better than none. You’ll tweak as you go.
Step 5: Prioritize and Act
Sort your Clay table by score, highest first. Here’s what to do next:
- Top 10%: These are your “must reach” leads. Personalize your outreach. Don’t send them generic emails.
- Middle 40%: Maybe worth a lighter touch—automated sequences or ads.
- Bottom half: Ignore for now. Don’t waste cycles chasing maybe’s.
If you’re a small team, focus on the top 20 leads. Quality > quantity.
Step 6: Keep It Real—Review and Adjust
No scoring system is perfect out of the gate. Every two weeks, look at:
- Which leads replied or booked meetings?
- Did your top scorers turn out to be duds?
- Are you missing good prospects because of your filters?
Adjust your rules in Clay. Cut signals that don’t matter. Add new ones if you spot patterns. This is how you actually get smarter over time.
What Works (and What Doesn’t) with Clay
What works: - Automating grunt work: Clay saves you hours of copy-paste and enrichment hell. - Combining multiple data sources: Clay pulls from LinkedIn, Clearbit, job boards, and more—all in one place. - Fast iteration: You can tweak your scoring logic and see results quickly.
What doesn’t: - “Magic” intent signals: No tool can tell you exactly who’s ready to buy. Use intent data as a hint, not gospel. - Overcomplicating your logic: If you have 20 scoring rules, you’ll spend more time debugging than selling. - Relying only on data: Your gut and context still matter. Data helps, but it won’t close deals for you.
What to ignore: - Shiny dashboards: Don’t get distracted by pretty graphs. Focus on the few columns that actually help you act. - Lead “engagement” scores from third parties: Usually black boxes, rarely actionable.
Pro Tips for Getting More Out of Clay
- Template your process: Once you’ve got a scoring system that works, save it as a template. Use it for every new list.
- Integrate with outreach tools: Connect Clay to your email or CRM (like HubSpot or Outreach) to trigger workflows based on lead score.
- Don’t pay for every enrichment tool: Start with Clay’s built-ins. Add premium integrations only if you see real gaps.
- Review false positives: If a lot of “high intent” leads ghost you, revisit your signals. Maybe they’re just curious, not buying.
Wrapping Up: Keep It Simple and Iterate
The real trick to using Clay for high intent B2B leads isn’t in the tool—it’s in how you think. Don’t get lost in feature overload or chase every new signal. Start with a clear idea of what high intent looks like for your business, enrich your list, build a score, and actually do something with the results.
You’ll get it wrong at first. That’s fine. Review, tweak, and keep shipping. The teams who win aren’t the ones with the fanciest data—they’re the ones who act on it, quickly and consistently.
Ready to cut through the noise? Fire up Clay, start simple, and focus on what actually moves the needle. The rest is just noise.