Frequently Asked Questions

We detect real-time buying signals across thousands of companies every day — hiring surges, funding rounds, leadership changes, career transitions, expansion announcements — and the moment a company or individual matches your ideal client profile, we enrich the decision-maker's contact information and deliver the lead to your dashboard with the signal that triggered it, a relevance score, and a suggested outreach angle. You get qualified, signal-verified leads delivered daily so your team can reach the right people at the right time. You own the outreach and the relationship.

It depends on your industry. For staffing and recruiting agencies, we track job posting velocity, funding rounds, acquisition integrations, and expansion announcements — the signals that mean a company is about to be overwhelmed with hiring demand. For franchise development, we monitor career transitions, leadership changes, and professional milestones that indicate someone is ready to consider business ownership. Every signal filter is configured specifically for your ICP during setup, so you're only receiving leads that actually match what you close.

A lead list tells you a company exists. It doesn't tell you they need you right now. The difference is timing — and in sales, timing is almost everything. We detect the specific moment a company or individual becomes a buyer, then deliver that lead to you at that exact moment with the signal attached. That's why outreach based on real-time signals converts at a substantially higher rate than list-based outreach. The contact isn't surprised to hear from you — they're in the middle of the problem you solve.

A BDR costs $60K–$90K in salary before they close a single deal, takes 3–6 months to ramp, and leaves. A VA works set hours and brings no signal intelligence. Sonar Engine runs 24/7, monitors signals continuously, and delivers scored leads to your dashboard every day. There's no ramp time, no management overhead, no retraining cycle, and no gap in your pipeline when someone quits. Your team focuses on what they do best — building relationships and closing — while the system handles signal detection and lead qualification around the clock.

Every lead delivered to your dashboard includes the decision-maker's name, title, company, verified business email, phone number when available, LinkedIn profile, the specific signal that triggered the match, the date the signal was detected, an AI-generated relevance score, and a suggested outreach angle your team can use as a conversation starter. You get everything you need to reach the right person with the right message at the right time.

Every lead is scored by an AI model trained on your specific ICP. The score factors in signal strength, recency, the decision-maker's title and seniority, company fit, and how closely the lead matches the profile of your best clients. Only leads that pass a qualification threshold are delivered to your dashboard — everything else is filtered out automatically. This means your team spends time on high-probability conversations, not sorting through noise.

A setup call, roughly 60–90 minutes, where we map your ideal client profile — the industry, company size, geography, seniority, and specific signals that predict your best clients. That's it. We handle everything else: signal configuration, scoring calibration, dashboard setup, and launch.

About one week from the day you sign. We map your ICP, configure your signal filters, calibrate scoring, and set up your dashboard. Leads start flowing as soon as setup is complete, and you'll typically see your first batch of qualified leads within the first few days of going live.

Just a browser. Your leads are delivered to a dashboard you can access from anywhere. If you want leads pushed directly into your existing CRM, we can configure that integration during setup at no extra cost.

We offer managed outreach as an optional add-on. With that service, we handle everything beyond signal detection — dedicated sending domains, email warmup, sequence writing, AI-powered reply handling, and meeting booking directly on your calendar. It's a fully managed pipeline where you just show up to calls. If you're interested, we'll scope it on the intro call alongside the core signal delivery plan.

Sonar runs on a flat monthly fee, scoped to your firm — sized to your signal volume, team size, and whether you want Managed Outreach included. We share the number on the scoping call so you get a tailored quote, not a generic tier.

Your subscription starts when setup is complete and leads begin flowing to your dashboard. You're not paying while we configure — you pay when the system is actively delivering value.

A qualified signal lead is a contact that passed every filter — ICP match, signal verification, enrichment with verified contact data, and AI scoring above the qualification threshold we set together during setup. Only leads that meet the standard reach your dashboard. Anything that doesn't pass our checks never gets delivered.

We ask for a 3-month minimum commitment, then you're month-to-month with 30 days notice. The minimum exists because the first 30–60 days cover configuration and initial signal delivery — evaluating the system before a full cycle runs isn't fair to either side. After month three, the clients who stay do so because the system is producing — not because they're locked in.

We iterate. If volume is below target we look at signal filters first, then scoring thresholds, then targeting — in that order. Most performance gaps are a targeting issue, not a volume issue, and they're fixable. We'd rather optimize than lose a client. If after genuine effort a specific market genuinely isn't producing enough signal volume, we'll tell you that directly. Keeping a client on a service that isn't performing isn't something we're interested in.

Two ways. First, the signal itself is a qualifier — a company posting 40 new roles in 30 days is demonstrably in hiring mode. We're not guessing. Second, your ICP filters mean we're only surfacing the right company size, industry, geography, and seniority level. Every lead is then scored by AI against your specific close history. We configure all of this during setup based on who you actually close, not a generic persona.

For staffing: HR Directors, VPs of Talent Acquisition, Heads of People, and COOs depending on company size. For franchise: professionals at director level and above who match your investment and experience profile. We configure this based on your close history during setup.

Yes — and the more specific you are, the better the system performs. Specificity sharpens signal detection. If you only place engineers in SaaS companies between 50 and 200 employees in the Southeast, that's the filter we build. Broad targeting produces broad results. Tight targeting produces the leads that actually convert.

Leads start flowing as soon as setup is complete — typically within one week of signing. Signal detection runs continuously, so your first batch of qualified leads usually appears within the first few days of going live. By the end of your first month, you have a clear picture of the volume and quality the system produces for your specific ICP.

It depends on your market size and ICP specificity. We'll give you a realistic estimate on the intro call based on your vertical, geography, and target profile — every market is different and we'd rather size it honestly than overpromise. Volume scales as the system detects more signal patterns in your space.

Meaningfully yes. Every lead your team converts tells the system which signals, which company profiles, and which lead types actually close for your specific business. We use that data to sharpen scoring and targeting continuously. The gap between month one and month six is significant — signal accuracy improves, scoring gets tighter, and the percentage of delivered leads that convert into real conversations climbs steadily. It's a compounding advantage that a competitor who starts later can't replicate quickly.

That depends on your sales cycle and how quickly your team follows up. What we can tell you is that signal-timed leads convert at a substantially higher rate than cold lists because you're reaching people in the middle of the problem you solve. The faster you act on a signal, the better your conversion. Most clients see their first new accounts within 4–6 weeks of going live.

Yes. All signal data and contact information comes from professional B2B data providers with verified business email addresses. We're not scraping personal inboxes or buying consumer lists. For clients with contacts in Europe, we discuss GDPR implications during setup and adjust accordingly. Compliance questions are always fair game on an intro call.

We use professional B2B data providers with verified business email addresses. We're not scraping personal inboxes or buying consumer lists. All contacts are decision-makers at companies showing active signals relevant to your ICP. Data sourcing is part of our proprietary stack, but compliance questions are always fair game on an intro call.

Agencies with 10–200 employees that have outgrown referrals but aren't big enough to justify a full BD team. At that size, one new client meaningfully changes the month — and our pricing is built around that math. If you're a solo recruiter, the deal economics are too tight. If you're a 300-person national firm with an internal BD team, you probably don't need us.

Niche markets often work better than broad ones with Sonar Engine. A tight vertical means the signal filters are more specific, the leads are more relevant, and your outreach converts at a higher rate. The risk with small markets is total addressable volume — if there are only 50 companies in your niche in your geography, we'll tell you that on the intro call so you have accurate expectations on monthly output.

Our signal data, contact coverage, and compliance configuration is optimized for the US market. We can discuss international coverage on a case-by-case basis, but we'll be direct if a specific market isn't one we can serve well.

Yes. We configure separate signal filters and scoring for each vertical. If you're a staffing agency breaking into tech placements alongside your existing healthcare book, we build two distinct configurations and run them in parallel. Each one is optimized independently and delivers to the same dashboard.