Job changesPlay · Intermediate

A past champion lands somewhere new

Someone who bought or used your product starts at a new company. A step-by-step playbook: what the signal means, whom to write to, what to say and how to measure it.

By the Breaknorm team · Updated 24 Oct 2026 · 7 min read

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The champion moved play in two minutes · Read the transcript

For

Any B2B company with past customers: software, agencies, data and service providers.

Level

IntermediateOne timing signal

Setup

30 minutes to upload, then automatic

Data

People · Signals

How do you know when a former customer champion changes jobs?

Keep a list of the people who bought or loved your product and check every week whether any of them started at a new company. When one does, check that the new company fits, find their new verified email, and write while they are still settling in. They already trust what you do; the only question is whether the new team needs it.

Why

Why does the champion moved play work?

A champion who moves is the warmest new account you will ever get. They know your product, they know it works, and they are new in a team that may not have it.

They already know what you do

No education needed. The first message can skip the pitch and go straight to whether it fits the new place.

New jobs come with a review

In their first months, a new hire looks at what the team uses and what is missing. Tools they relied on before are the first they ask about.

Trust carries over

A recommendation from someone the new team just hired carries weight that no ad can buy.

The list costs you nothing

You already have it: customers, users, past trials. The work is watching it, which can run on its own.

Signal

What counts as a champion move?

All of these:

A person on your list of buyers, admins or heavy users.
Their current role is at a new company.
The start date is within the last 60 days.
The new company fits your market: size, what it sells, and not already a customer.

What looks like the signal but is not

Profiles updated late: Some people update their profile months after they move. Go by the start date, not the date you noticed.
Moves inside a group: A move to a sister company, or a new title at the same company, is not a new account.
Light users: Someone who logged in twice is not a champion. Keep the list to buyers, admins and frequent users.
Moves out of the function: A RevOps lead who becomes a product manager no longer owns the problem you solve.

How

How to run it, step by step

Six steps in the same five-part frame as every play. Each step says what you are after, why it matters and how to do it with any tools; the Breaknorm boxes show the shortcut.

01Signal
Build the list of champions
Goal. Everyone who chose, ran or loved your product.
Why. The play is only as good as the list. Buyers and admins move your product; casual users do not.
How.
- Export buyers, admins and the most active users from your CRM and product.
- Add people from deals you lost on timing, not on fit.
- Include LinkedIn URLs where you have them; names alone are harder to match.
Upload the listtrack_people
```
track_people({ "file": "customers-and-champions.csv" })
```
You end withA tracked list of champions with their current company and role.
02Signal
Watch for a move
Goal. An alert within days of a champion starting somewhere new.
Why. The first weeks in a new job are when they review tools. An alert that arrives months later misses the window.
How.
- Check current roles every week.
- Alert on a new company, not on a title change at the same company.
- Send alerts to where you work: a webhook, your CRM, or a daily digest.
Get alertswebhook
```
{ "on": "job_change", "deliver": { "webhook": "https://hooks.example.com/champions" } }
```
You end withA row per move: who, from where, to where, and when they started.
03Who
Check the new role and the new company
Goal. Only moves where the person still owns the problem and the company fits.
Why. A warm contact at a company you can't serve is still a dead end. And if they changed function, they are no longer the buyer.
How.
- Check the new company's size and what it sells against your market.
- Drop companies that are already customers or in an open deal.
- Check that the new role is in the same function, at a level that decides or recommends.
Check fitget_companies
```
{ "new_company": { "employees": { "min": 20 }, "exclude_list": "crm-customers" } }
```
You end withA short list of moves worth writing to.
04Find
Find their new email
Goal. A verified address at the new company.
Why. Their old address stopped working the day they left. A new joiner's address is often missing from older databases, so find it and verify it.
How.
- Find the address from the name and the new company's domain.
- Verify it at the mail server.
- If it can't be confirmed yet, wait a week and try again; new mailboxes appear late.
Find and verify with Breaknormfind_email · verify_email
```
find_email({ "name": "Marco Esposito", "domain": "cargolio.com" })
```
You end withA verified email at the new company.
05Say
Write as someone who knows them
Goal. A short, personal note with something useful for their first weeks.
Why. They know who you are, so a pitch would be odd. What helps is something that makes setting up in the new place easier.
How.
- Mention the new role and what they did with you before.
- Name what usually happens when someone sets up in a new team.
- Offer something useful for that, and ask if you can send it.
You end withOne personal message per move.
06Measure
Track moves and what they turn into
Goal. A clear view of how much pipeline your past customers create.
Why. Champion moves are easy to treat as luck. Counting them shows how valuable the list is, and how much it is worth keeping fresh.
How.
- Count champion moves per quarter.
- Track replies and deals from moves separately from cold outreach.
- Add new champions every quarter; the list improves the longer you run it.
You end withA quarterly count of moves, replies and deals.

Example

A worked example, start to finish

One move, through every step. The company and the person are invented; the steps are the real ones.

Signal
Marco Esposito ran operations at Shipvane and used your product there for two years. He is on your champions list.
Signal
He started as Head of Ops at Cargolio on October 1.
Who
Cargolio makes freight software, has about 210 people and is not a customer. Marco still runs operations. Both fit.
Find
[email protected] comes back valid from the mail server.
Say
A personal note that mentions Shipvane and offers a setup checklist for a team Cargolio's size.
Measure
Logged as a champion move, so the reply is counted apart from cold outreach.

Prompt

Tell me when anyone from my customer list changes company

Former user

Started Oct 1

Marco EspositoHead of Ops · Cargolio · was at ShipvaneWarm

Email[email protected] · valid

Used you atShipvane, 2 years

AccountCargolio · 210 people · fits

Champion alerts12 movedthis month · example

ILLUSTRATIVE · EXAMPLE DATA

Say

What to write to a former champion

A short email that gives before it asks: something useful for the situation they are in, not a meeting request. Why each line is there:

SubjectStarting over at Cargolio

Hi Marco, I saw you started at Cargolio as Head of Ops this month. Congratulations.

At Shipvane, the first thing you fixed was carrier routing. In a new team that usually starts again from zero, with nobody who knows how it was set up.

If it helps, I can send the setup checklist we use with new teams, adjusted for a company Cargolio's size.

Can I send it over?

Pitfalls

When not to run this play

The person was a light user or never chose your product.
The new company is already a customer.
They moved into a function you don't serve.
More than about six months have passed; they have settled in.
You ask them to bring data or setup from their old company.

Measure

How to measure whether it works

Track a few numbers per batch and compare them over time. What counts as good depends on your market, so the trend matters more than any benchmark.

Champion moves per quarter: How many people on your list change company. It grows as the list grows.
Reply rate compared with cold outreach: Champion moves should answer far more often. If they don't, look at the list quality.
Deals from champion moves: The number that justifies keeping the list fresh.
List coverage: The share of champions with a LinkedIn URL. Better coverage means fewer missed moves.

Data

From our data

Figures from Breaknorm's own job-change data, refreshed every 1 to 7 days.

—

Share of B2B managers who change company within a year, US, UK and EU

Live figure from our data, to be added before launch.

—

Median days between a job start and the profile update

Live figure from our data, to be added before launch.

—

Functions with the most job changes this quarter

Live figure from our data, to be added before launch.

Recap

Checklist

List of buyers, admins and heavy users, with LinkedIn URLs
Weekly check of current roles
Alert on a new company, not a new title
New company fits and is not a customer
New role is in the same function
New email found and verified
Personal note that offers something useful
Moves and deals tracked apart from cold outreach

FAQ

Questions about this play

How do you track when customers change jobs?

Keep a list of the people who matter, with LinkedIn URLs where possible, and check their current role every week. When the company changes, you get an alert with the new company and the start date.

How soon after a move should I reach out?

Within the first two months. That is when a new hire reviews what the team uses. Many people wait a week or two so the person has settled in.

Who counts as a champion?

The people who chose, ran or pushed for your product: buyers, admins and the most active users. Add people from deals you lost on timing, since the fit was already there.

Is it OK to contact a former customer at their new job?

Write to their work address about their work, keep it short, and make it easy to opt out. Never use data or setup from their old company. Check what your local rules require.

Can I run this play without Breaknorm?

Yes. Keep the list in a spreadsheet and check profiles every few weeks. It works for a few dozen people; past that, the weekly checking and finding new emails is what a data API does for you.

Video transcript: The champion moved play in two minutes

A champion who changes jobs is the warmest new account you will get. They know your product, they know it works, and they have just joined a team that may not have it.

Keep a list of buyers, admins and heavy users, and check every week whether any of them started somewhere new.

When one does, check that the new company fits and is not already a customer, and find their new email. The old one is gone.

Write as someone who knows them. Skip the pitch, and offer something useful for setting up in the new place.

Run it

Run it with Breaknorm

Steps one to four run on their own once the list is uploaded. Writing the message and measuring the replies stay yours.

Tell me when anyone from my customer list changes company

{
  "track": "customers-and-champions.csv",
  "on": "job_change",
  "new_company": { "employees": { "min": 20 }, "exclude_list": "crm-customers" },
  "deliver": { "webhook": "https://hooks.example.com/champions" }
}

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