> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.salestools.io/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Monitor Company News and Trigger Outreach with Scout > Watch saved companies for news worth reaching out about, score each signal for relevance and sentiment, and act on door-openers as approve-first tasks. Scout watches the companies you care about and reads their news for you. Every run, it scores each announcement for sentiment and relevance, then turns the genuine door-openers — a funding round, a new VP of Sales, a market expansion, a product launch — into approve-first **✦ News** tasks so you reach out at exactly the right moment, with exactly the right angle. ## What you can do Point a scout at every company you've saved, or hand-pick a focused set with the searchable company list. Describe what counts as a reason to reach out in plain language — Scout uses it to separate real signals from noise. Each door-opener carries a sentiment label, an opportunity type, and a relevance score out of 100 so you always work the highest-signal items first. Every door-opener becomes a **✦ News** task in Tasks. Nothing goes out automatically — you review and approve before any outreach is sent. Scout watches companies from **My Data → Companies**. Save the companies you want to track there first, then point a scout at them. ## Create a Scout Go to **Sales Intelligence → Scout** in the sidebar. The **New scout** card appears at the top of the page. Give the scout a clear, recognisable name — for example, *"Q3 Expansion Watch"* or *"Key Accounts — Weekly"*. You'll see this name in the Scouts list and on every task it generates. In the **Qualify news on** field, write a plain-language description of what makes a piece of news worth reaching out about. Be as specific as possible — this is how Scout decides what counts as a real door-opener versus background noise. For example: > *New funding rounds (Series A or later), a new VP of Sales or CRO hire, expansion into a new market or region, a product launch that integrates with our platform, or a layoff event or security breach we can help with.* Select **All my companies** to watch every company you've saved, or **Select companies** to hand-pick a focused set. With *Select companies*, use the search box to filter your saved companies and tick the ones you want to include. Under **Runs**, choose how often Scout scans for news: **Daily · 24 h**, **Every 3 days**, or **Weekly**. Daily is selected by default. Review the summary line — it confirms the company count and cadence you've chosen — then click **Start scouting**. Scout goes live immediately and begins watching on the schedule you set. Run scouts on a **Daily** cadence for your hottest accounts. Funding rounds, executive hires, and product launches move fast — a 24-hour cycle means you reach out while the news is still fresh and your competitors haven't moved yet. ## Examples of good qualifying criteria *"Announced a new funding round of Series A or later, or closed an acquisition. Includes press releases about significant revenue milestones."* Funding events signal budget availability and growth ambition — ideal timing to introduce an expansion-ready solution. *"A new VP of Sales, CRO, VP of Marketing, or Head of Revenue has been appointed in the last 30 days."* New executives often reassess vendors in their first 90 days. Reaching out early establishes you as a proactive partner before their priorities are locked in. *"Announced expansion into a new geography, opened a new office, or is hiring aggressively in a new region."* Companies scaling into new markets often need new tools, partners, and infrastructure — a natural entry point for your product. *"Launched a new product, integration, or technology partnership that overlaps with our platform or target use case."* A product launch shows momentum and gives you a specific, relevant hook for your outreach message. *"Experienced a data breach, security incident, significant layoffs, or public operational difficulty that our product directly addresses."* Negative events can still be genuine door-openers if your solution directly solves the problem they're facing. ## Act on a Scout opportunity Door-openers Scout finds become approve-first tasks in your **Tasks** list, tagged **✦ News**. The **Opportunities** section on the Scout page links you straight there. On the Scout page, find the **Opportunities** section and click **Open Tasks →** to go to your task list, pre-filtered to show only Scout's news opportunities. Open any **✦ News** task to see the news that triggered it, the sentiment chip, the opportunity type, the relevance score, and Scout's suggested outreach angle. Review the context, then approve and send when you're ready. Nothing is sent automatically. Every Scout opportunity is an approve-first task — you review the news, the suggested angle, and the company context before any outreach goes out. ## Understand Scout scores and opportunity types Scout labels each item **positive**, **mixed**, **negative**, or **neutral** based on the tone of the news. Don't dismiss negative news — a breach, a layoff, or a public operational difficulty can be exactly the moment your product helps most, and Scout surfaces these as opportunities when they match your qualifying criteria. Scout categorises every door-opener by how you can act on it: * **Warm intro** — a teammate in your network is already connected at the company, so you can ask for an introduction before reaching out cold. * **Cold outreach** — you already have a saved lead at the company to contact directly. * **Notify** — a relevant door-opener where neither of the above applies, surfaced so you don't miss it and can decide how to act. The score reflects how strongly a news item matches your **Qualify news on** criteria and how actionable it is as an outreach opportunity. Scout only surfaces the strongest matches as tasks, so you spend your time on the highest-signal items first. ## Manage your scouts Scroll to the **Scouts** section on the Scout page. Each scout shows its current status (Active or Paused), the number of companies it watches, and its cadence. Use the dropdown on a scout's row to switch between Daily, Every 3 days, and Weekly. The change applies immediately and takes effect on the next scheduled run. Click **Run now** to trigger an immediate scan without waiting for the next scheduled run. This is useful right after you create or edit a scout, or when a company you're tracking just made news. Click **Pause** to stop a scout from running on its cadence. Click **Resume** to start it back up. Paused scouts appear dimmed in the list and retain all their settings. ## Frequently asked questions A new scout needs at least one run to complete before opportunities appear. Click **Run now** on the scout to trigger an immediate scan. If results stay empty after the run, your **Qualify news on** criteria may be too narrow for the news those companies are publishing — try broadening the description, or add more companies to the scout's coverage. Scout draws from the companies in **My Data → Companies**. If you see a message about no saved companies, go there first, save the accounts you want to track, then return to create your scout. With **Select companies** coverage, you must tick at least one company before Scout can start. Use the search box to find the companies you want, check the boxes, then click **Start scouting**. Check the **Scouts** list — paused scouts appear dimmed and won't run until you **Resume** them. Confirm the cadence is set to what you expect, and use **Run now** to verify the scout scans correctly on demand. ## Related Prospect new companies and contacts, then save the accounts you want Scout to monitor. Where Scout's approve-first opportunities surface as ✦ News tasks for you to action. The teammate connections that power Scout's warm-intro opportunity type. Turn the leads and signals Scout uncovers into automated, multi-step outreach.