B2B sales and marketing teams all face the same challenge: how do you find the right buyers at the right time? The truth is, in any given market, most buyers aren’t ready to buy.
In fact, only about 3% of your Total Addressable Market (TAM) is actively in-market at any moment.
The other 97% are either unaware of their need, still researching, or simply not looking – yet. And while most teams focus on generating as many leads as possible, the real opportunity lies in identifying and activating that small group who are actively looking for a solution like yours, right now. This is where buyer intent and Lead Onion change everything.
The 3% Rule: More Than a Marketing Myth
The “3% rule” has been floating around B2B circles for years. While the exact number varies depending on the study, the concept holds true across industries: Only a small portion of your market is truly in an active buying cycle at any given time.
And yet, most companies continue to market as if every account in their database is equally ready to convert.
They blast campaigns across their full TAM, hoping to catch a few active buyers in the process.
The result? Wasted resources, bloated pipelines, and frustrated sales teams. Instead of treating every account the same, modern revenue teams are shifting focus – from quantity to precision.
The Problem With Traditional Targeting
Most go-to-market strategies rely on firmographics, job titles, and form-fills. But none of these tell you who’s actually in-market. Sure, someone downloaded your whitepaper. But are they actively evaluating vendors? Or were they just curious? Without visibility into true intent, teams are left guessing – sending outreach too early, too late, or to the wrong person entirely.
That’s why intent data is no longer optional. It’s essential.
Stop Guessing. Start Predicting.
Lead Onion’s multi-source intent platform helps you pinpoint the 3% who are ready to engage – and gives you the tools to act in real time. With Lead Onion, you can:
- Monitor 24+ integrated intent sources – across account, person and website-based intent.
- Identify active buying signals using advanced models like Research Surge™ and PharosIQ™.
- Map signals to actual buying stages so you know exactly when and how to engage.
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This isn’t about hoping someone raises their hand. It’s about watching what your buyers are already doing anonymously – across the web, review sites, search engines, competitor pages, and your own website. When you can see intent unfold, you no longer have to wait for leads. You can engage buyers the moment they enter the market.
From Signals to Revenue
Intent signals alone don’t drive revenue. Activation does. That’s why Lead Onion goes beyond data – turning insight into automated action:
- Trigger real-time sales and marketing plays the moment a surge is detected.
- Push in-market contacts directly into sales cadences and multi-channel outreach.
- Sync seamlessly with your CRM, MAP, and ad platforms to engage buyers wherever they are.
By moving from reactive to predictive, your team can stop chasing cold leads and focus exclusively on the 3% that matter.
How Leading GTM Teams Operate
The best-performing revenue teams have one thing in common: they start with signals, not spreadsheets. They don’t ask “Who downloaded our content?”.
They ask “Which accounts and buyers are actively researching our solution, our competitors, or our category right now?”
And they don’t just score leads, they score intent across:
- Accounts
- Individual contacts
- Buying teams
- Website engagement
- Competitor research
- Topic-level surges
With Lead Onion, sales and marketing teams stay tightly aligned around activation-ready audiences, building orchestrated, high-converting plays that follow buyers from first signal all the way through to closed-won.
The New GTM Math
Let’s break it down:
You have 10,000 accounts in your TAM.
3% = 300 accounts showing active intent.
Of those, maybe 150 are showing multi-source surge signals. You now have a choice:
Spread your team thin across 10,000 cold accounts.
Or focus firepower on the 150 that are actively searching for a solution like yours.
With Lead Onion, the answer is obvious.
Find Your 3% & Convert Faster
B2B revenue growth isn’t about chasing more leads – it’s about targeting better ones. Lead Onion helps you find, prioritize, and engage the buyers who are ready – while your competitors are still playing the guessing game.
Stop wasting resources on the 97%. Activate your 3%.
Turn buyer intent into pipeline, faster.
Ready to see how Lead Onion finds your 3%? Get started with ai.mee today.
