earnings-signal-play · diff
v1.0.0 to v1.1.0
202 added, 77 removed. Audit A to A.
---
name: earnings-signal-play
description: >-
- Outbound play triggered by public company earnings calls — strategic priority
- mining, new-initiative alignment, urgency creation. Triggers on: "earnings signal",
- "earnings play", "public company outbound", "10-K outreach".
+ Outbound play triggered by public company earnings calls and SEC filings —
+ strategic priority mining from 10-K/10-Q sections, Risk Factor to discovery
+ question conversion, MD&A-grounded exec messaging, quarterly cadence.
+ Triggers on: "earnings signal", "earnings play", "public company outbound",
+ "10-K outreach", "earnings call prospecting", "SEC filing signal".
license: MIT
compatibility: Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Hermes, Windsurf, OpenCode, Gemini CLI, Copilot, Zed, VS Code, Goose
metadata:
- version: "1.0.0"
+ version: "1.1.0"
author: LeadMagic
category: sales-plays
tags: [sales-plays, earnings, public-companies, trigger-based, enterprise]
+ related_skills: [cold-email-strategy, meeting-prep, pipeline-management, account-selection, competitive-intel]
frameworks:
- - "Signal-Based Selling"
- - "Gartner Strategic Account Planning"
- - "Winning by Design — SPICED"
+ - "SEC EDGAR — Form 10-K/10-Q filings and SEC Investor Bulletin (sec.gov)"
+ - "Jamal Reimer — How to Use a 10-K Report (GTMnow / Sales Hacker)"
+ - "Elric Legloire — The 10-K Report Playbook (Outbound Kitchen)"
+ - "UserGems — Buying Signals Benchmark Report (4.2M accounts, 2.28M opportunities)"
---
# Earnings Call Signal Play
## Overview
- Public company earnings calls are the richest source of enterprise buying signals.
- In 45 minutes, executives reveal: strategic priorities for the next 12 months,
- budget allocations, headwinds they're fighting, headcount plans, and specific
- initiatives. This play mines earnings calls for outbound triggers.
- ## Frameworks Referenced
-
- This skill is grounded in public frameworks and source material relevant to the task:
-
- - **Signal-Based Selling.** Use the relevant method or published guidance where it improves the requested deliverable; do not cite it as decoration.
- - **Gartner Strategic Account Planning.** Use the relevant method or published guidance where it improves the requested deliverable; do not cite it as decoration.
- - **Winning by Design — SPICED.** Use the relevant method or published guidance where it improves the requested deliverable; do not cite it as decoration.
+ Most sellers who "use earnings signals" watch the call replay or read a
+ summary newsletter — meaning they react to the same curated quotes as every
+ other vendor who emails the account that week. The plays that actually open
+ enterprise doors start with the SEC filing itself: Item 1A Risk Factors is a
+ ranked list of management's biggest fears, Item 7 MD&A is where executives
+ explain their own priorities in their own language, and the analyst Q&A layer
+ reveals what the street is pressuring them on — none of which appears in
+ earnings recaps. This skill applies Jamal Reimer's mega-deal method and Elric
+ Legloire's tactical SDR playbook to turn 10-K/10-Q sections into discovery
+ questions, executive messaging, and a quarterly cadence that lands before
+ competitors who rely on summaries.
## When to Use
+
- "Mine earnings calls for signals"
- - "Earnings-based outbound"
- - "Enterprise trigger outreach"
- - "Public company prospecting"
+ - "Earnings-based outbound for [public company]"
+ - "Enterprise trigger outreach from SEC filings"
+ - "10-K prospecting playbook"
+ - "Outreach grounded in a specific earnings call passage"
+ - "Private company — borrow signals from public competitors"
- ## Core Principle
- > Earnings calls are legally required strategy documents delivered quarterly.
- > When the CFO says "we're investing heavily in X this year," that's a buying
- > signal. When the CEO says "Y is a headwind," that's a pain point your product
- > might solve.
+ ## Authoritative Foundations
+ - **SEC EDGAR — Form 10-K/10-Q and SEC Investor Bulletin (sec.gov).** All
+ public-company filings are free on EDGAR. The four sections that drive
+ outreach: Item 1 Business (segments, strategy, competitive position),
+ Item 1A Risk Factors (listed roughly in order of management's concern —
+ the pain-point goldmine), Item 7 MD&A (management's own narrative on
+ results, forward priorities, and known uncertainties), and Financial
+ Statements (revenue by segment, cost pressures). Used in Phase 1 to
+ anchor every outreach claim to a specific, citable filing section.
+
+ - **Jamal Reimer — How to Use a 10-K Report (GTMnow / Sales Hacker).** Mega-
+ deal seller method: convert Risk Factors directly into discovery questions;
+ use MD&A language to mirror how the management team thinks and tailor
+ exec-level messaging to their stated priorities; pull revenue-by-business-
+ unit numbers from analyst calls to quote in outreach. Applied in Phase 3
+ to write outreach anchored in the exec's own language, not vendor copy.
+
+ - **Elric Legloire — The 10-K Report Playbook (Outbound Kitchen).** Tactical
+ SDR method: Ctrl+F the filing for "risk", "initiative", "strategy",
+ "invest in", "headwind"; pair the annual 10-K with the most recent 10-Q to
+ see plan vs. actual progress; for private target accounts, read the 10-Ks
+ of their public competitors to borrow industry priorities; use an LLM to
+ extract the top three to five initiatives relevant to your product category.
+ Applied in Phase 1 for keyword extraction and Phase 2 for private-company
+ workarounds. Extended reference table in `references/framework-notes.md`.
+
+ - **UserGems — Buying Signals Benchmark Report (4.2M accounts, 2.28M
+ opportunities analyzed).** Growth signals measurably lift opportunity
+ creation; companies often announce news one to three months after the fact,
+ so speed of detection matters. Used in Phase 5 as the measurement anchor:
+ compare earnings-play reply and opportunity rates against your non-trigger
+ baseline.
+
## Step-by-Step Process
- ### Phase 1: Signal Mining
- Scrape and analyze target account earnings calls. Listen for:
+ ### Phase 1: EDGAR Research (Before the Call)
- **Buying Signals:**
- - "Investing in..." / "Doubling down on..." → Budget allocated
- - "Digital transformation..." → Tech stack overhaul
- - "Hiring [X] headcount..." → Team scaling, new tools needed
- - "Acquisition of..." → Integration needs, new buying center
- - "New [product line / geography / segment]..." → Initiative with supporting budget
+ Pull the filing directly from EDGAR before listening to the call:
- **Pain Points (your solution fit):**
- - "Margin pressure in..." → Need for efficiency tools
- - "Customer churn..." → Need for retention/CS tools
- - "Competitive pressure..." → Need to move faster/cheaper
- - "Operational inefficiency..." → Process automation opportunity
+ 1. Search EDGAR (sec.gov) for the company's most recent 10-K and latest 10-Q.
+ 2. Run Legloire's keyword scan: Ctrl+F "risk", "initiative", "strategy",
+ "invest in", "headwind", "accelerate", "priority". Log every hit with
+ section number and page.
+ 3. Extract signals by section:
- **Timing Markers:**
- - "By end of fiscal year..." → Deadline
- - "In the next two quarters..." → Active buying window
- - "We've already begun..." → Urgency, in-flight initiative
+ | Filing Section | What to Extract | Outreach Use |
+ |---|---|---|
+ | Item 1 Business | Segments, stated strategy, competitive position | Initiative owner identification |
+ | Item 1A Risk Factors | Ranked fears, operational threats | Discovery questions (Reimer method) |
+ | Item 7 MD&A | Management's priorities, known uncertainties, forward guidance | Exec messaging in management's own language |
+ | Financial Statements | Revenue by segment, margin trends, cost lines | Proof points on scale and urgency |
- ### Phase 2: Signal-to-Value Mapping
- For each signal, map to your product's value:
- - Signal: "Hiring 50 SDRs next quarter"
- → Your value: SDR efficiency tools, ramp time reduction, sequencing platform
- - Signal: "Customer retention is top priority"
- → Your value: Health scoring, CS automation, churn prediction
+ 4. Pair the 10-K with the most recent 10-Q (Legloire): flag where plan diverges
+ from actual — these gaps are live pain points.
+ 5. **Private accounts:** Read the 10-Ks of their top two public competitors to
+ borrow industry-level priorities and pressures.
- ### Phase 3: Executive Outreach Sequence
- Target: VP or SVP referenced in the earnings call (owner of the initiative).
+ ### Phase 2: Earnings Call Transcript Mining
- Subject: "Your Q3 call — [specific quote]"
- Body: Quote their earnings call. "You mentioned [strategic priority] is a
- focus. The teams I work with at similar scale find [X insight]. Curious how
- you're thinking about the [specific domain] piece of this."
+ The prepared remarks surface polished strategy; the analyst Q&A reveals
+ unscripted pressure:
- ### Phase 4: Multi-Level Engagement
- - **C-suite:** Strategic alignment email (1 per quarter — don't spam)
- - **SVP/VP:** Initiative-specific outreach referencing the earnings call
- - **Director:** Operational connection — "your SVP mentioned X, here's how
- teams like yours execute on that"
+ - Source transcripts: Seeking Alpha, The Motley Fool, the IR page, or an LLM
+ with browsing.
+ - Mine prepared remarks for: "investing in", "doubling down on", "hiring [X]
+ headcount", "new [product / geography / segment]", "by end of fiscal year".
+ - Mine analyst Q&A for: topics analysts asked multiple questions on (street
+ concern), management deflections (sensitive topics), and any revenue-by-
+ business-unit numbers named in follow-ups.
+ - Use Reimer's method: map analyst pressure questions directly to the exec's
+ pain — these become your cold email discovery angles.
- ### Phase 5: Quarterly Cadence
- - Earnings week: Mine the call, prepare outreach drafts
- - Week 1 post-earnings: Send executive outreach
- - Week 2: Follow up to non-responders
- - Week 3: Expand to Director level
- - Maintain: Add to nurturing cadence with quarterly touch
+ ### Phase 3: Signal-to-Value Mapping
- ## Output Format
- Earnings play playbook with: signal mining framework, signal-to-value mapping,
- executive outreach templates, and quarterly cadence calendar.
+ For each extracted signal, produce a signal card:
+ | Field | Content |
+ |---|---|
+ | Signal | Exact quote with Item/section citation |
+ | Category | Buying signal / Pain point / Timing marker |
+ | Initiative owner | Named exec or function from Item 1 or call |
+ | Your product fit | One concrete value connection, not a feature list |
+ | Discovery question | Reimer-style open question derived from the signal |
+ Example:
+ Signal: "We plan to hire 60 SDRs in North America by end of Q3" (10-K Item 1,
+ p. 8).
+ Category: Buying signal (team scaling, new tools needed).
+ Initiative owner: CRO, VP Sales.
+ Discovery question: "Your 10-K flagged a 60-person SDR expansion — how are
+ you thinking about onboarding speed and early ramp productivity?"
+ ### Phase 4: Executive Outreach Sequence
+
+ Target the exec who owns the named initiative — not just any VP.
+
+ **Email 1 — Filing Anchor (Earnings Week + Week 1):**
+
+ Subject: `Your Q[X] MD&A — [quoted management phrase]`
+
+ Body template:
+ > In [Company]'s [10-K / Q3 10-Q], Item 7, you noted "[exact MD&A quote]."
+ > The teams I work with at similar scale running [named initiative] typically
+ > hit [specific friction point] at this stage. Curious how you're approaching
+ > the [domain] piece — is that a live conversation for you this quarter?
+
+ **Email 2 — Risk Factor to Discovery Question (Week 2):**
+
+ Convert an Item 1A Risk Factor into a question that shows you read the actual
+ filing, not a summary.
+
+ **Email 3 — Peer Proof Point (Week 3):**
+
+ Reference how a similar public company at comparable revenue addressed the
+ same initiative you identified. Cite the publicly available result.
+
+ ### Phase 5: Multi-Level Engagement
+
+ | Persona | Cadence | Angle |
+ |---|---|---|
+ | C-suite | 1 email per quarter max | Strategic: MD&A language, board-level initiative |
+ | SVP / VP | Initiative-specific, filing-anchored | Reimer method: their language, their priorities |
+ | Director | Operational connection | "Your SVP's Q3 call highlighted X — here's how teams at your level execute on that" |
+
+ Never contact all three levels simultaneously with identical content — each
+ level should receive a message anchored to their section of the filing.
+
+ ### Phase 6: Quarterly Cadence
+
+ - **Earnings week:** Pull EDGAR filing, run keyword scan, prepare signal cards.
+ - **Week 1 post-earnings:** Send executive outreach (Email 1 above).
+ - **Week 2:** Follow up to non-responders with the Risk Factor discovery angle.
+ - **Week 3:** Expand to Director level with operational connection.
+ - **Between quarters:** Maintain with quarterly strategic touch; refresh signal
+ cards when the next filing drops. Per UserGems research, companies often
+ announce initiatives one to three months after they begin — file-date
+ monitoring captures earlier signals than press coverage.
+
+ ## Output Format
+
+ Earnings play playbook containing: keyword-scanned EDGAR filing notes with
+ section citations, signal cards (signal / category / owner / product fit /
+ discovery question), filing-anchored outreach emails per persona, and a
+ quarterly cadence calendar. Reference the extended filing-to-outreach mapping
+ table in `references/framework-notes.md`.
+
## Quality Check
Before delivering, verify:
- - [ ] All required sections are complete
- - [ ] Output matches the user's stated need
- - [ ] Named frameworks are cited for key recommendations
- - [ ] No vague claims — every recommendation has a specific action
- - [ ] Deliverable is ready for operational use, not just conceptual
+ - [ ] Every outreach email quotes a specific filing section (Item 1, Item 1A,
+ Item 7) or named call passage — not a paraphrase from a news summary
+ - [ ] Outreach targets the exec who owns the named initiative, identified in
+ Item 1 or the call transcript — not a generic title match
+ - [ ] Signal cards exist for at least three extracted signals with section
+ citations, initiative owners, and discovery questions
+ - [ ] Play is executed within the earnings window (within two weeks of filing
+ or call date)
+ - [ ] Private target accounts are handled via the Legloire competitor 10-K
+ method — not skipped
+ - [ ] Multi-level emails carry different angles by persona — not the same
+ message sent to all three levels
+ - [ ] Measurement baseline established: non-trigger reply rate documented so
+ earnings-play lift is calculable against the UserGems benchmark
## Common Pitfalls
- 1. **Skipping research.** Building output without understanding the specific context. Fix: always gather required inputs before producing deliverables.
- 2. **Generic output.** "Improve your process" without concrete steps. Fix: every recommendation must include a specific action, timeline, and owner.
- 3. **Missing framework citations.** Advice without named authorities. Fix: ground every recommendation in a cited framework from a recognized authority.
+ 1. **Reading a summary instead of the actual filing.** Summaries surface the
+ same bullet points every competitor reads. Fix: pull the 10-K/10-Q from
+ EDGAR directly, run the keyword scan on the full text, and cite section
+ numbers in outreach — it signals to the exec that you did the work.
+ 2. **Mining the prepared remarks while ignoring the analyst Q&A.** The
+ prepared remarks are polished strategy. The Q&A is where analysts press on
+ weak spots and executives respond under pressure. Fix: read the transcript
+ end-to-end; topics that draw multiple analyst questions are the live street
+ concerns — and your discovery angles.
+
+ 3. **Opening with generic "I saw your earnings call" framing.** This is the
+ default opener from every vendor monitoring the same recap newsletters.
+ Fix: use Reimer's method — mirror the executive's own MD&A language in the
+ subject line and first sentence so it reads as a peer conversation, not
+ vendor outreach.
+
+ 4. **Targeting any VP instead of the initiative owner.** Sending the same
+ earnings-signal email to all VPs dilutes relevance. Fix: trace the
+ initiative back to a named leader or business unit in Item 1 or the call,
+ and route the email to that specific owner.
+
+ ## Execution Artifacts
+
+ - `references/framework-notes.md` — Named frameworks and reference tables
+ - `templates/output-template.md` — Deliverable shell for agent output
+ - `scripts/check-output.py` — Lightweight deliverable validator
+
## Related Skills
+
- cold-email-strategy, meeting-prep, pipeline-management, account-selection, competitive-intel