Finding the Best B2B Contact Database – What You Need To Know

Have you been experiencing issues with your B2B data? 

Is it inaccurate or insufficient and hurting your bottom line? Did you have a bad experience with an earlier B2B lead database and want to switch to a reliable B2B data partner? Do you have that gut feeling that your sales team could more easily find B2B leads if they had better information available to them? 

Whatever the reason, you’re on a mission to find the best B2B contact database. We’ve got you covered with all the information that you need to know and have all your questions answered. 

Data Quality Matters

It doesn’t matter as much how large a database is if it doesn’t have the data coverage and quality that you need. Quality data helps you make the most effective outreach to the right decision-makers at organizations that are ready to make a purchase. To maximize the value of your sales team’s time, you’ll want to find B2B leads as quickly and efficiently as possible. No one wants to waste their time on dead ends and chasing down the proper decision-maker. 

Many data providers offer machine-verified data that uses automation to provide their best guess at contact information. For instance, they may assume the common email pattern of  “first.last@company.com” and use this rule for emails across the entire organization without verifying the data individually. Sometimes this works, sometimes it’s way, way off track.  But it’s not worth that risk to have un-usable B2B email data. 

Try to understand their verification process. Does the provider go the extra mile and run all data through human verification before publishing it to your portal?  Employees change jobs, get promotions, or change departments frequently– especially in the “Great Re-Shuffle.”. This can change their contact details, designations, and position in the company hierarchy and make locating the proper decision-maker more difficult. 

So, is the data getting re-verified after a certain number of days to maintain the highest level of reliability? At SalesIntel, our data is human-verified and is re-checked every 90 days so you can be confident in the quality of your data. 

Compare The Costs

There are a lot of costs to consider when it comes to selecting a B2B lead database. A great first step is comparing the cost of outsourcing your B2B contact data with the cost of data research using your in-house team – however, that will likely take extensive time and effort. 

When all is said and done, pricing is going to play an important role in making your decision. Differentiating data providers based on pricing might look simple, but there’s more that you need to consider besides the dollar amount – you also must account for the value it brings to your sales team’s productivity. 

Be sure to have all your questions answered: What are the pricing models? Do they offer any additional benefits or discounts if you sign a long-term contract? 

NOTE: Be careful of contracts, though! There have been countless instances where customers have felt trapped by contract clauses they never realized existed. Whether it’s extensive advance notice to prevent auto-renewal or the requirement to delete your CRM data after license cancellation, it may feel like you are left at the mercy of the fine print. 

Once you have all your information, examine it carefully and weigh your options. It often makes more sense to pay a reasonable premium cost for higher accuracy instead of getting more contacts for less or the same price while compromising the data accuracy. 

You should onboard a B2B lead database that gives you the freedom to access the data you need without any dependencies, rather than simply providing you with a database of contacts.

Analyze Available Features

A B2B lead database is often more than just data. Each offering is loaded with other features that make them distinguishable in the market. Integrations, extensions, in-platform features – you name it. Be sure to take the time to explore what they have to offer. 

A select number of data providers offer a platform where you can use the data instantly with integrations that include CRM, email marketing systems, and more. Having a native integration enables you to export the contact list directly to your existing tools, preventing human errors while entering the data manually. 

Another notable feature is automatic enrichment. Auto-enrichment ensures that you are using accurate, complete, and unique data. Manual data enrichment requires human effort and stretches the sales conversation. Automated data enrichment cuts down the time needed to collect important data at the later stages of the sales cycle. Additionally, it allows marketers to keep their forms minimal, asking only for names and email addresses. The rest of the information will auto-populate in your CRM through the provider’s enrichment tool.  

Check if the data provider has a browser extension to perform real-time prospecting. A browser extension is used to extract email addresses from LinkedIn and company websites so that your sales reps can find B2B leads, get the email addresses of their prospects in real time, build a list of contacts, and execute email campaigns. Having an extension as a feature reduces the need to obtain email addresses by automating the process manually. 

Ultimately, focus on how easily you can search and get the data you want. That’s what’s most important. If they offer a demo, take it for a spin and put it to the test. How conveniently you can apply the filters you need? Are you seeing the results you expected? Remember that you are investing in a data intelligence tool to get accurate data in less time. The ability to search data and pull lists should be swift and smooth. 

Hear Their Customer’s Experience

Your relationship with a B2B lead database should be a partnership, not a transaction. A partnership should not end once your data partner gives you access to their data. 

There should be expectations to deliver upon, and they should be accountable, innovative, and transparent. A partner needs to have a clear and accountable plan for working to improve its data quality consistently and be committed to maintaining transparency, including direct and honest communication and offering exceptional after-sales support. What do other users have to say about them– good or bad? 

SalesIntel has always been committed to delivering on our promises. We’ve taken great care to ensure we deliver the best customer support, and that’s reflected in the outstanding ratings we receive. One of the most prevalent topics in our G2 reviews is our exceptional customer service.  

Regardless of your individual need or request, our dedicated Customer Success team is committed to answering your questions promptly and accurately. We treat our customers how we would like to be treated ourselves – with respect and understanding. 

Check Out SalesIntel

Once all is said and done, we’re confident that SalesIntel will be your go-to B2B lead database. Why? 

• SalesIntel offers 95% human-verified data– every contact is verified every 90 days by our team to avoid data decay and maintain accuracy.
• SalesIntel offers the highest number of direct dials to ensure your sales team can directly speak to the decision-makers bypassing the gatekeeper.
• You can integrate SalesIntel with your CRM, which enables you to export data directly to the CRM. 
• You can install our RevDriver Chrome extension to pull prospect data from their LinkedIn profile and company websites. 
• SalesIntel offers a free research-on-demand option for our clients. So, if you need data on a specific industry or contact that’s not already in our database, just submit your request, and we’ll find the data for you. 

When you’re trying to find B2B leads, we’ve got you covered. Schedule a demo today.