How do I check a UK buying signal is real before I call?

To check a buying signal, open the record it came from and confirm four things: the company is the right one, the date is recent, the record says what the signal claims, and it is relevant to what you sell. If a tool cannot show you the record, treat the signal as a guess. The check takes about two minutes and prevents most embarrassing calls.

UK public registers make this practical. Companies House, Contracts Finder and Find a Tender are free to search, so any signal built on them can be verified by the seller.

The four checks

First, the company. Many UK companies have similar names, so match the company number, not just the name. Second, the date. Registers record both the date of an event and the date it was filed, and these can differ by weeks. Use the one that matches what you will say on the call. Third, the content. Read the actual entry: a charge filing tells you a charge was registered and who holds it, not why. Fourth, the relevance: ask whether the event plausibly affects a need you can meet.

What to check for common signals

Why sources matter more than scores

A score or a label such as 'high intent' tells you a vendor's view; it does not tell you what happened. Ask any tool you use where each signal comes from and whether you can open the original. A tool that links the record lets you quote it on the call and correct it if wrong.

Common mistakes

Calling on an old event as if it were news. Treating a routine filing as a decision by the company. Misreading a date format. Assuming a role posted by an agency belongs to the agency's own business. Ringing the wrong company with a similar name.

A practical habit is to keep a short note against each company: the signal, the date, the link and the one line you will say. If you cannot fill in all four, the signal is not ready to call on. Over a week, the notes also show you which signals produced conversations and which did not, which is a better guide to your targeting than any vendor label.

Where Lockley fits

Lockley reads UK public registers and postings every night, from Companies House, Contracts Finder and Find a Tender, Adzuna job postings, planning registers and company websites, and gives a small B2B sales team a short list of companies each morning. Each finding links to the record it came from, so the checks above take a click rather than a search. It does not sell contact lists.

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