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Be first with recently motivated decision-makers and you are 500% more likely to make a sale.
The Sleeping Market and the Window
A trigger event is a change in your customer’s situation that suddenly makes a previously tolerable problem no longer acceptable. Before the trigger, they are in the sleeping market — they have the problem but are not motivated to change. They repeat the pattern: “It’s good enough, it’s good enough, it’s good enough…”
Then something happens, and everything changes.
Customers do not gradually decide to buy. They tolerate problems because status quo bias is powerful. Then a trigger event hits — and everything shifts. McKinsey research shows that the birth of a first child drives more life insurance purchases than all other events combined. When LastPass had a security breach, 1Password was positioned to capture millions of suddenly dissatisfied customers. The trigger creates the urgency. Without it, you are selling to people who are comfortable doing nothing.
After the trigger they enter the window of dissatisfaction — they actively seek alternatives. People are 5× more likely to buy when you reach them in this window. But it does not last forever; in many B2B markets the window is 2–3 weeks, then they revert to “it’s fine.”
You are not looking for people with problems. You are looking for people whose problems just became urgent.
The ABC Trigger Model
Not all trigger events are the same. The ABC model categorizes every trigger into one of three types — so you know what to look for and where to look.
Each type has three sub-categories, giving you nine specific signals to monitor across your target accounts.
- Economics
- Risk Avoidance
- Legal
- People
- Product
- Provider
- People
- Places
- Priorities
A — Awareness — Economics · Risk Avoidance · Legal B — Bad Experience — People · Product · Provider C — Change — People · Places · Priorities
Using Trigger Events in Your Sales Process
Trigger events are only valuable if you can find them, time your outreach around them, and qualify whether the urgency is real. Here is the four-step process.
Sleeping Market
"It's good enough."
Trigger
ABC event
Window of Dissatisfaction
500% more likely to buy — 2–3 weeks
Window Closes
"It's fine again."
Reach them during the window. Miss it and you're selling to the sleeping market.
- Review your enrolling conversations from Box 5. Look for what made them aware of the problem and what would make them want to change right now. What language did they use to describe the moment things shifted?
- Categorize triggers using the ABC model. For each prospect, identify whether a recent Awareness, Bad Experience, or Change event applies — and which sub-category:
- A — Economics: a price shock, cost-of-inaction calculation, or industry-wide margin squeeze makes them suddenly see the cost of doing nothing.
- A — Risk Avoidance: a competitor’s breach or public failure that maps to their own setup makes the risk feel personal.
- A — Legal: a regulation, lawsuit, or compliance deadline that mandates action.
- B — People: a key staff member quits, an underperforming hire, or a customer complaint that exposes the system.
- B — Product: the current solution breaks, can’t scale, or stops fitting the need.
- B — Provider: a vendor stops responding, raises prices, or delivers late.
- C — People: a new manager, new owner, or new staff inheriting a broken process. This is the most common trigger for this ICP.
- C — Places: a new location, new shift pattern, or new region to staff.
- C — Priorities: a new regulation, new season, or new budget cycle that changes what matters.
- Assess the window of dissatisfaction. How long does the urgency last? For most B2B markets, the window is 2–3 weeks. Build your outreach calendar around it.
- Build your detection system. Best B2B outreach times: early Monday morning (on their to-do list) or Friday late afternoon (thinking about next week). Detection tools: LinkedIn job-change alerts (C — People triggers), Google News alerts (A — Risk Avoidance, A — Legal), compliance calendars (A — Legal), industry news feeds (A — Economics). Score each enrolling conversation: ask prospects to rate satisfaction with their current solution 1–10. You want 7 or below — that signals they are in or near the window.
Validating Your Trigger Events
Three tests to confirm your triggers are real — and actionable.
Test 1: Can You Name 2–3 Specific Trigger Events?
If you can't name at least two or three specific trigger events for your ICP, you need more enrolling conversations. Go back to Box 5. Generic answers like "when they're frustrated" don't count — you need named, real events.
Test 2: Can You Monitor or Detect When Triggers Happen?
If you cannot find out when someone experiences a trigger, you cannot time your outreach. LinkedIn job changes, industry news, compliance calendars, and Google Alerts are all sources. If you have no detection system, you're guessing.
Test 3: Do Your Enrolling Conversations Confirm the Trigger Creates Urgency?
Some events sound like triggers but don't create enough pain to motivate change. Validate with real enrolling conversations — does the event actually shift prospects from "it's good enough" to actively seeking alternatives?
ICP: Maria — new manager of a mid-size non-chain restaurant, inherited a scheduling system built on Google Sheets.
The Trigger (C — Change: People)
Maria stepped into the role three weeks ago. The previous manager left no documentation. Last Friday, three servers no-showed and the Google Sheet offered no way to find cover quickly. She lost $2,000 in revenue and is now actively looking for a solution.
The Window
Maria's urgency will last about 2–3 weeks. After that, she adapts to the chaos and the spreadsheet becomes "good enough" again. Reach her now — not next month.
The Outreach
Search LinkedIn for "new restaurant manager" in your city, filtered to the past 30 days. The message: "Congrats on the new role — stepping into scheduling in a busy restaurant can be a lot. Happy to share what other managers do to make the transition easier."
The Score
Ask Maria to rate her satisfaction with the current scheduling system 1–10. She says 4. Below 7 means she is inside the window — 5× more likely to buy than someone who hasn't been triggered.
"You are not looking for people with problems. You are looking for people whose problems just became urgent."
3 Common Mistakes
- Reaching out to the sleeping market. People who have the problem but haven’t been triggered won’t find the money or motivation to change. This is the most common reason founders struggle with long sales cycles. Instead, target your SIM — the Serviceable Initial Market that just had a trigger event and is 5× more likely to buy.
- Confusing chronic frustration with a trigger event. “Scheduling has always been hard” is chronic. “Three servers no-showed last Friday and we lost $2,000 in revenue” is a trigger. Instead, look for an ABC trigger — Awareness, Bad Experience, or Change — that happened in the last 30–60 days.
- Not tracking the timing of the window. The window of dissatisfaction closes. If you reach out two months after the trigger, the urgency has faded and they’re back to “it’s good enough.” Instead, set up LinkedIn job-change alerts, Google news alerts, and compliance calendars to catch triggers inside the 2–3 week window — then in Box 7 you’ll score those triggered prospects on the 5-factor Disqualifying Matrix to know which ones to pursue.
What’s Next
Download the fillable Traction Canvas template and map out your trigger events using the ABC model.
Work on Box #7 — Disqualifying. Not everyone with a trigger event is worth pursuing. The Disqualifying Matrix helps you score triggered prospects on five factors so you focus only on the ones most likely to convert.
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