---
name: buying-signal-scout
description: >
  Find demand and buying signals in public data and any first-party data you hand
  it: people asking for recommendations, switching from a competitor, complaining in
  reviews, hiring for the problem, or changing their stack. Scores each signal on
  specificity, recency, fit, and whether a named account is attached, and returns a
  dated signal log plus a summary of what the market is asking for. Use when sales
  wants warmer accounts or content wants to follow real demand.
license: MIT
source: https://vibemarketers.ai/starter-pack/buying-signal-scout/SKILL.md
---

# buying-signal-scout

Log evidence that someone is looking for what you sell, with the link that proves it.

## When this applies

Sales is working cold lists, or marketing is guessing what the market wants. Buying
intent is often public: people ask for tools by name, announce they are switching,
write angry reviews of a competitor, and post jobs that describe the problem. This
skill collects that evidence and ranks it.

## Inputs

Ask for these. Do not guess them.

- **ICP:** from the marketing brain if one exists, otherwise a paragraph.
- **Product category and competitors:** names and domains.
- **Problem words:** the phrases a buyer uses before they know your name.
- **First-party data, optional:** pricing page visits, demo requests, trial signups,
  exported as a file. Use only what you are given.
- **Window:** how far back to look. Default to the last thirty days.

## Signal types, strongest first

1. **First-party:** demo requests, repeat pricing page visits, trial activity. Only
   from data provided.
2. **Direct asks:** "what do you use for", "alternatives to <competitor>",
   "recommend a tool for" in communities, on X, on LinkedIn.
3. **Switching:** "moving off <competitor>", "we just cancelled", migration questions.
4. **Competitor pain:** recent negative reviews on G2, Capterra, app stores, or public
   support forums that name a problem your product solves.
5. **Job posts:** roles that name the problem or list a competitor tool as a
   requirement.
6. **Company changes:** funding, a new leader in the buying function, a public stack
   change. Weakest, because it implies need rather than stating it.

## Score each signal

0 to 3 on each:

- **Specificity:** does it name the problem or a competitor, or is it vague?
- **Recency:** inside the window, and how close to today.
- **Fit:** does the person or company match the ICP?
- **Attribution:** is a named company or public profile attached? Anonymous posts
  still count for demand themes but score zero here.

## What you produce

A signal log, one row per signal:

```
| Signal (quoted) | Type | Source URL | Collected | Account | Score | Next action |
```

Next action is one of: route to sales, reply publicly with help, add to content
themes, watch. Pick one per row and say why in a few words.

Then a demand-theme summary: the recurring asks and complaints grouped into themes,
each with its count of signals and two or three links. This feeds the content
backlog; the niche-content-research skill can take it as input.

## Rules

- **A signal without a URL is dropped.** No exceptions.
- **Public data only.** No scraping behind logins, no private groups, no automated
  access a platform's terms forbid.
- **Never guess an email address** or enrich a contact from a source you cannot cite.
- **Quote, do not paraphrase.** The signal column is the person's own words.
- **Do not contact anyone.** This skill logs and ranks. Outreach is a human decision.
- **Do not inflate.** One person posting in three places is one signal.

## Self-check before you hand it over

1. Does every row have a URL and a collection date inside the window?
2. Are duplicates from the same person merged?
3. Does every "route to sales" row have a named account attached?
4. Does each demand theme link to signals that actually say it?