Sales · 10 min

Spot buying signals in a month of emails and meetings

Copilot Chat

Short answer: With a Microsoft 365 Copilot license, ask Copilot Chat to look at your emails, Teams chats and meetings about one customer from the last 30 days. Ask for signals on budget, decision makers, timing, objections and competitors, each with a short quote and date. Treat anything without a quote as a guess.

Last checked against Microsoft docs: Oct 21, 2026

You can often tell whether a deal is real from what the customer does between calls. It's just spread across a dozen emails and three calls. Copilot pulls it into one place so you can see if the deal is moving or if you're the only one excited. Knowing that early is how good reps spend time on deals that close.

A common situation (composite)

They keep taking meetings.
They never talk about budget.
I can't tell if this is a deal or a hobby for them.

What you get

Data: a month of emails, chats and meetings with one customer.
Does: pulls out signals by category, with quotes.
Output: a signal table and a read on deal health.
How often: before a forecast call or a big next step.

Before you start

Needs: Microsoft 365 Copilot. Not sure what you have? Start here.
Microsoft's label for this scenario: Microsoft 365 Copilot.
Where: Copilot Chat.
Access: Copilot only uses content you already have permission to open. Use only information your company allows in Copilot.

The steps

Open Copilot Chat with your work data available.
Run the prompt with the customer name.
Click a few citations to check the quotes are real.
Run the follow-up to plan the next conversation.
Ask the customer directly about anything missing.

Copy this prompt

From my emails, Teams chats and meetings with or about [customer] in the last 30 days, list buying signals in these groups:
- Budget (amounts, approvals, funding timing)
- Decision makers (who decides, who influences)
- Timing (deadlines, events, reasons to act now)
- Objections or concerns
- Competitors or alternatives mentioned

For each signal: a short quote, who said it, and the date. If a group has nothing, write NOTHING FOUND. Don't infer signals without a quote.

(Prompt from stuckwithcopilot.com/guides/buying-signals-scan/)

Make it better

Run this next, in the same chat.

Based only on that list, what's the biggest gap in what I know about this deal? Give me two questions to ask on my next call to close that gap, worded the way a person talks.

(Prompt from stuckwithcopilot.com/guides/buying-signals-scan/)

Data tip: use this with your work Copilot, and leave out passwords, payment details and anything your company marks restricted.

What a good result looks like

Every signal has a quote and date you can click through to. Empty groups say NOTHING FOUND instead of a guess.

If a feature is missing

Without a Microsoft 365 Copilot license, run the same prompt in Copilot Chat in Outlook. It can see your inbox, calendar, meetings and chats, but less of your other work content than the full license. Or paste the key emails and your call notes into Copilot Chat.

Make it smarter

Keep a short "What it got wrong" note. Paste it above the prompt next time, like "Don't invent dates".

Not sure what to ask? Copy the quick note for your Copilot admin.

Questions people ask

Spot buying signals in a month of emails and meetings?

With a Microsoft 365 Copilot license, ask Copilot Chat to look at your emails, Teams chats and meetings about one customer from the last 30 days. Ask for signals on budget, decision makers, timing, objections and competitors, each with a short quote and date. Treat anything without a quote as a guess.

What do I need for this?

Microsoft 365 Copilot. Without a Microsoft 365 Copilot license, run the same prompt in Copilot Chat in Outlook. It can see your inbox, calendar, meetings and chats, but less of your other work content than the full license. Or paste the key emails and your call notes into Copilot Chat.

Does Copilot read the customer's mind?

No. It finds what people wrote or said. Silence on budget is a signal too, and a good reason to ask.

Can I run this on a whole territory?

One account at a time works best. A territory-wide scan gets vague fast.

Is this the same as the Sales agent?

No. This uses your own email and meetings. The Sales agent adds CRM data if your company set it up.

Next step

Try it once, then make it yours.

Run the prompt on one real task this week. Then pick your next workflow.

See the workflow library ↗

Cite or share this guide

Spot buying signals in a month of emails and meetings. Stuck with Copilot. https://stuckwithcopilot.com/guides/buying-signals-scan/ Last checked Oct 21, 2026.

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Where this comes from

Inspired by Microsoft's Copilot scenarios. See the original at Microsoft Copilot adoption (Microsoft 365 Copilot Prompt Pack for Sales). The prompts and steps here are rewritten and expanded by Stuck with Copilot. This site is not affiliated with Microsoft.

Official references

Last checked against Microsoft docs: Oct 21, 2026.