Most teams know buying signals exist. Fewer know where to look for them outside the US, or how fast they go stale.
The usual list is funding, leadership changes, expansion. All true. The gap is the practical part: which source to check in Poland, how long a signal stays worth acting on, and what to actually say.
This is the version I'd want starting from zero, with no tool budget. For each of seven signals: what happened, why it predicts a purchase, how long it stays useful, where to find it for free across EMEA, and one opener you could adapt.
The openers don't pitch. They name the change, say what usually follows it, and ask one easy question. The goal is a reply, not a sale. Swap the part in {curly brackets} for the problem your product solves.
The windows below are working rules of thumb, not research findings. Adjust them for your sales cycle. For how signals combine into a score and why they decay, see Signal-based ABM in EMEA.
1. A new leader in the buying function
What happened. A new Head of Finance, CMO, CISO or Head of Operations started. Or a former champion of yours moved to a new company.
Why it predicts a purchase. New leaders get a short window to change things. They review the tools and suppliers they inherited and want early wins. A champion who moves takes their trust in you along, and often lands in a role with no setup yet.
How long it's useful. Roughly months 2 to 6. Before that they're still finding the coffee machine. After that the budget is spoken for.
Where to find it for free.
- Company registries for managing directors and board members: Companies House in the UK (you can follow any company and get email alerts on new filings for free [1]), Handelsregister in Germany, BODACC in France, BORME in Spain, KRS in Poland, Brønnøysund in Norway, CVR in Denmark, Bolagsverket in Sweden.
- Registries only cover directors and officers. A new CMO or Head of IT usually shows up first on LinkedIn, in the company's press releases or in the "people moves" column of local trade press.
- Your own CRM. When a contact's email bounces, check where they went.
Example opener. "Congrats on the new role. Most new finance leaders spend the first 90 days deciding what to keep and what to replace. Is {the problem you solve} on that list, or already sorted?"
2. A first hire or a hiring wave
What happened. A company posted its first role in a function (first data analyst, first information security officer, first RevOps hire). Or it posted five or more roles in one team at once.
Why it predicts a purchase. A first hire means the company decided the problem is real and put budget behind it. That person will need tools, processes and partners. A hiring wave means a team is growing faster than its setup. Job ads also list the tools and problems the new hire will work on.
How long it's useful. While the ad is live and for 2 to 3 months after the hire starts. Once the new person has picked their tools, the window closes.
Where to find it for free.
- Company career pages. Often the most complete and the first place a role appears.
- Local job boards next to LinkedIn: StepStone in DACH, Welcome to the Jungle in France, Pracuj.pl in Poland, InfoJobs in Spain, Bayt and GulfTalent in the Gulf.
- National public job portals, which list roles at mid-sized firms that never reach LinkedIn.
- Search ad text for "build", "set up" or "first". They tell you the function is new.
Example opener. "Saw you're hiring your first security officer. Until that seat is filled, someone usually carries {the problem you solve} on top of their day job. Is that you right now?"
3. Funding or new budget
What happened. A company raised a round, received a grant, increased its share capital or won a large contract.
Why it predicts a purchase. New money comes with a plan, and the plan needs spending. Grants and EU-funded projects are often tied to a specific purpose and a deadline, so the spend is more predictable than after a general funding round.
How long it's useful. Roughly 1 to 6 months after the announcement. Funded companies get flooded with pitches in the first weeks, so a later, more specific message can stand out.
Where to find it for free.
- Registry filings for capital increases. In the UK, a share allotment shows up as a filing at Companies House. In Germany and Spain, capital increases appear in the Handelsregister and BORME announcements.
- Kohesio, the European Commission's public database of projects and beneficiaries funded by EU cohesion policy, downloadable as CSV [2].
- Regional startup and tech press for rounds in your markets. Sifted and EU-Startups for Europe, Wamda for the Middle East, Disrupt Africa for Africa.
- Contract award notices in tender portals (see signal 6).
Example opener. "Read that the new funding goes into growing the sales team. When headcount grows that fast, {the handover between marketing and sales} is usually the first thing to slip. Already on your radar, or still a few hires away?"
4. Expansion: new office, country or language
What happened. A company opened a new office or subsidiary, registered a branch abroad or launched its website in a new language.
Why it predicts a purchase. Entering a new market means new needs at once: local hiring, payroll, legal, tax, translation, local marketing, logistics. Much of it gets bought from outside because the team doesn't exist yet.
How long it's useful. From the first sign (a new entity, a job ad in the new country) until about 6 months after launch. The earlier you spot it, the more of the setup is still open.
Where to find it for free.
- New entities and branches in the target country's registry. A German company opening in the Netherlands registers with the KvK. A foreign company setting up in the UK registers a UK establishment at Companies House. In France, new establishments appear in BODACC.
- Annual reports and press releases naming new markets.
- Job ads in a new country or language. A "Country Manager Nordics" ad is an expansion announcement before the press release.
- The company's website. A new language version is easy to spot with a monthly check.
- In the Gulf, free-zone and emirate registries and announcements of new regional headquarters.
Example opener. "Noticed you're building a team in Poland. The first local hires usually lose their first month to {the problem you solve} instead of selling. Is that planned for, or still open?"
5. A regulation now applies to them
What happened. A law with a deadline now covers this company. Either the deadline arrived in their country, or the company grew or changed sector and fell into scope.
Why it predicts a purchase. Compliance has a date and a penalty. That moves a topic from "someday" to "this year". EU rules are especially useful because the same directive lands in different countries at different times, so you can run the same play country by country.
Examples: NIS2 for cybersecurity, national e-invoicing mandates for finance and ERP, DORA for financial services, and the European Accessibility Act, which applies since 28 June 2025 to a defined list of products and services such as e-commerce and consumer banking [3]. I've listed NIS2 and e-invoicing dates by country in Signal-based ABM in EMEA.
How long it's useful. From roughly 12 months before a deadline until a few months after it, when late adopters and first enforcement cases create a second wave.
Where to find it for free.
- Official journals and national government pages for transposition dates.
- Regulators' public registers where they exist. The FCA Financial Services Register in the UK and BaFin's company database in Germany show which firms are licensed, including newly authorised ones that take on new obligations.
- Job ads that name the regulation, for example "NIS2" or "DORA" in a security or risk role.
- Annual reports, often in the risk section.
The regulation alone isn't the signal. The signal is evidence that this specific company is in scope and hasn't solved it yet.
Example opener. "With e-invoicing becoming mandatory for companies your size, most finance teams I speak to have the format covered and get stuck on {the problem you solve}. How far along are you?"
6. A tech change or a contract coming up for renewal
What happened. A company is replacing a core system, or a contract with a current supplier is close to its end date.
Why it predicts a purchase. Switching windows are short. Most contracts renew silently unless someone starts a review months before the end date. A system change pulls related tools into the review too: migrating the CRM is often when the reporting and data tools get replaced.
How long it's useful. For renewals, roughly 6 to 12 months before the end date. For a tech change, from the first job ad naming the new system until the migration is done.
Where to find it for free.
- Public tender portals. TED publishes EU public procurement notices, and the UK runs Find a Tender. Contract award notices often include the contract duration, which gives you a renewal date years ahead. National portals cover smaller contracts, for example BOAMP in France and e-Zamówienia in Poland.
- Job ads that say "migration to", "implementation of" or name two tools in the same category.
- The company's privacy policy. Its list of processors often names the tools in use.
- Review sites in your category. A company writing about switching or posting a review of a competitor is mid-evaluation.
Example opener. "Saw your IT services framework contract runs until next autumn. Teams that start the review a year early usually get to rethink {the problem you solve}, not just the price. Is that review on the plan yet?"
7. Engagement with you
What happened. Someone from a target company revisited your pricing page, came to your webinar or replied to a newsletter.
Why it predicts a purchase. Buyers do most of their research alone. In a Gartner survey of 632 B2B buyers, 61% said they prefer a buying experience without a sales rep overall [4]. Your own channels are often the only place that research leaves a trace you can see.
In my experience it's also the one teams miss most, because it's scattered across the website, the newsletter tool, the event list and someone's inbox.
How long it's useful. Days to about two weeks. Of all seven signals, engagement decays fastest.
Where to find it for free.
- Your website analytics: returning visits to pricing, case study or comparison pages, and referral domains that look like a company intranet or partner portal.
- Form fills, demo requests that never got booked, newsletter replies, webinar registrations and no-shows.
- Event attendee lists and the conversations your team had at the booth.
- Company-level website identification tools exist, but whether you may use them depends on consent rules in each country. I've covered that in GDPR and buying signals.
Example opener. "Thanks for joining last week's session. Most questions afterwards were about {the problem you solve} with a small team. Was that what brought you, or something else?"
A word on contacting people
Finding a signal is one thing. Using it to contact a named person is another, and the rules differ by country.
In Germany, cold advertising email needs prior consent, B2B included [5]. LinkedIn and Xing messages are a grey zone: no regulator has taken a clear position, though one court notice (OLG Hamm) leaned towards treating them like email [6]. Personal one-to-one messages are widely used. Mass automated sequences are where the risk sits. Austria requires prior consent for advertising calls as well as email [7]. Other markets are more relaxed, with their own conditions.
That's why the openers above are channel-neutral. Pick the channel per country and read GDPR and buying signals before building a process around named contacts. A signal gives you a reason to reach out, not permission.
The seven signals at a glance
| Signal | Why it predicts a purchase | Useful for (rule of thumb) | Free sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| New leader in the buying function | Reviews inherited suppliers, wants early wins | 2 to 6 months | Companies House, Handelsregister, BODACC, BORME, KRS, Nordic registers, press releases, LinkedIn, your CRM |
| First hire or hiring wave | Budget approved, new owner needs tools and partners | While ad is live + 2 to 3 months | Career pages, StepStone, Welcome to the Jungle, Pracuj.pl, InfoJobs, Bayt, GulfTalent, public job portals |
| Funding or new budget | Money comes with a plan that needs spending | 1 to 6 months | Registry capital filings, Kohesio, regional startup press, contract award notices |
| Expansion | New market means setup work bought from outside | First sign until ~6 months after launch | KvK, Companies House, BODACC, annual reports, job ads abroad, new language sites |
| Regulation now applies | A deadline and a penalty move the topic to this year | ~12 months before to a few months after the deadline | Official journals, FCA register, BaFin database, job ads naming the rule, annual reports |
| Tech change or renewal window | Short switching window before silent renewal | 6 to 12 months before end date | TED, Find a Tender, BOAMP, e-Zamówienia, job ads, privacy policies, review sites |
| Engagement with you | Buyers research alone, your channels show the trace | Days to ~2 weeks | Website analytics, forms, newsletter replies, webinars, event lists |
How to start without tools: 30 minutes a week
You don't need a platform. You need a list and a fixed slot in the calendar, ideally Monday morning.
- Keep a short list. 30 to 50 target companies in your top two or three markets. Not 500.
- Set up the free alerts once. Follow your list on Companies House, save job searches on the local boards, set a TED search for your category and countries, and bookmark the registry search pages for your other markets.
- Minutes 0 to 10: scan. Check alerts, saved job searches and your own website and form data from the past week.
- Minutes 10 to 20: verify. For anything that looks like a signal, open the source. Is it real? Is it recent? Does it fit your offer?
- Minutes 20 to 30: write it down. For the top three to five companies: what happened, why now, which role to talk to, one opener, and an act-by date based on the windows above.
Do this by hand for a month. You'll see which sources produce signals for your offer. Then automate what you kept repeating.
I run this routine for B2B teams across EMEA, at a larger scale. Every Monday they get the companies showing buying signals that week: why now, who to talk to and suggested messaging. If you want to see what it finds in your market, ask for a free sample of 3 companies.
References
- GOV.UK, "Follow companies for free" (Companies House Follow service). gov.uk
- European Commission, Kohesio: discover EU projects in your region. kohesio.ec.europa.eu
- Directive (EU) 2019/882 on the accessibility requirements for products and services (European Accessibility Act), Art. 2 and Art. 31. eur-lex.europa.eu
- Gartner, "Gartner Sales Survey Finds 61% of B2B Buyers Prefer a Rep-Free Buying Experience", 25 June 2025 (survey of 632 B2B buyers, August to September 2024). gartner.com
- §7 UWG (Gesetz gegen den unlauteren Wettbewerb), Unzumutbare Belästigungen. gesetze-im-internet.de
- OLG Hamm, Hinweisbeschluss, Az. 18 U 154/22 (2023), summarised by IT-Recht Kanzlei. it-recht-kanzlei.de
- Austria, Telekommunikationsgesetz 2021, §174. ris.bka.gv.at