Waterfall Enrichment: Ultimate Guide for 2026

You’ve heard the buzz about waterfall enrichment, but you’re not quite sure what it means and how it relates to your business.

Accurate LEAD DATA is the lifeblood🩸of successful sales outreach, and “The Waterfall” approach is what gives you an ace up your sleeve.

It’s not just about having more information; it’s about having accurate information at your fingertips. Waterfall Enrichment via BetterContact transforms your lead generation efforts.

But what exactly makes it a “GOAT TIER” strategy, and how do you even harness its power?

Behold, for we shall impart unto thee the divine wisdom of waterfall enrichment through the sacred tool BetterContact! Dun dun dun!

What is Waterfall Enrichment?

Waterfall enrichment is a data enrichment method that sequentially routes prospect or company data through multiple prioritized data providers until missing fields, such as verified email or phone number, are identified. If Provider A fails, the process moves to Provider B, then to C, maximizing match rates, accuracy, and cost efficiency by stopping only when verified data is returned.

Here’s how it works:

• It starts with your first data vendor
• If it can’t find what you need (Email / Phone Number), moves on to the next provider
• Keeps going through all the data providers until you strike gold! (Verified Email / Number)

You’ve got a lineup of data providers ready to help. You start with Provider A, but they come up empty-handed. No worries! You simply move on to Provider B, then C, and so on until you find that precious contact info.

It’s like being on a treasure hunt for a lead’s phone number or email, but BetterContact makes it super fast.

Why is this so awesome?

It maximizes your email finding rate!

You’re tapping into multiple databases instead of relying on just one source.

Waterfall enrichment is all about persistence and smart resource allocation. You’re not wasting time or money on unnecessary searches you’re efficiently exploring your options until you get results.

That’s where BetterContact comes in. It only charges for double-verified emails (SMTP & Catch-ALL), so you’ never see higher bounce rates.

Should You Use One Contact Database or All Popular Ones?

No, you should not use one contact database. Using multiple contact databases is essential to maximize enrichment rates and data coverage.

Here’s why:

• Boosts enrichment rates by 40% on average
• Maximizes overall data enrichment location coverage
• Increases the rate of email and mobile number discovery

Relying on one contact database limits reach, as each provider excels in different geographies or industries. Combining multiple vendors taps into a broader data pool.

Imagine casting a wider net in the ocean of B2B contacts. That’s what a robust waterfall enrichment strategy does for you!

Here’s how you do it:

1. Choose several reputable data providers
2. Set up API connections with each
3. Run your contact list through the first provider (e.g., Apollo)
4. Send unenriched contacts to the next provider (e.g., Contactout)
5. Repeat until you’ve maximized your data enrichment coverage

Don’t settle for average results. Thou must utilize multiple data providers to increase closing rates!

What Type of Contact Info Can You Get From Waterfall Enrichment?

Waterfall enrichment enables access to work emails, personal email addresses, and mobile numbers, providing essential contact information for client outreach.🎉💡

1. Easily Find Work Emails

With just a name and company domain, you can get a treasure trove of work email addresses.

Imagine having access to over 20+ premium email finders and validation tools, all working together to find that contact info; that’s precisely what AI-powered system BetterContact does.

What makes BetterContact a game-changer:

✔️Connects to 20+ Top Tier data sources like Apollo and Hunter
✔️Boasts a massive 3 Billion+ contact info.
✔️Guarantees the highest email find rate.
✔️Counts a credit only for verified emails & catch-all verified emails.

Here’s how it works:

1. Build a lead list inside BetterContact or upload a CSV containing ICP name, LinkedIn profiles & Company domain.
2. Watch as the system searches multiple databases
3. Voilà! Get the most accurate work email addresses.

You don’t have to waste time manually searching through countless platforms.

This waterfall enrichment tool does all the heavy lifting for you, ensuring you’ll never miss a potential lead’s contact information again.

It’s time to revolutionize your work email search and take your outbound campaigns to new heights!

2. Gather Personal Emails

While work emails are valuable, personal email addresses can be even more powerful for certain types of outreach. Recruiters typically look for personal emails rather than professional ones.

You’ll want to leverage tools like Clay Waterfalls, Leadrocks, or BetterContact to supercharge your lead enrichment process. These platforms scan multiple email providers, giving you access to a treasure trove of personal contact information. 

Here’s how to gather those coveted personal emails:

1. Start with a LinkedIn Sales Nav
2. Scrape data using Scrupp
3. Upload profiles into Clay Waterfalls.
4. Let the magic happen & download your CSV.

Clay will search across providers like Nimbler, Retention.com, and Mixrank. Leadrocks has its own database.

The beauty of this approach? You’re not limited to just one source.

By tapping into multiple providers, you’ll uncover emails that traditional methods miss.

While Better Contact provides double-verified email, if you’re considering other providers, always run your newly found personal emails through an email verification service.

This extra step ensures you’re working with accurate, up-to-date information.

3. Collect Mobile Numbers

Collecting mobile numbers can be a crucial step for call centers and cold calling lead generation. And yes, the waterfall enrichment process shines here as well.

Again, leveraging multiple data providers boosts your coverage. 📱

Here’s how!

1. Start with LinkedIn SN: Use scrapers like scrupp.com to gather profiles
2. Upload the CSV to BetterContact for easy phone number retrieval
3. There’s no step three. You’re done. You already have the phone numbers.

But wait, If you’re using Clay, you should read more.

Their waterfall approach taps into a powerhouse trio:

• People Data Labs
• ContactOut
• Selligence

These providers work together to find anyone’s phone number. Clay doesn’t specialize in finding mobile numbers like BetterContact. We already have API access to two of their best mobile data providers, plus 18 more.

What Are The Benefits of Waterfall Enrichment?

The core benefit of Waterfall enrichment is that it enhances lead generation by enabling hyper-focused targeting and plugging sales-funnel leaks.

Waterfall enrichment expands prospect reach by combining multiple data providers, improves geographic coverage across regions, creates a competitive edge through access to less-used data sources, enables hyper-focused ICP targeting, and prevents sales funnel leakage by filling missing contact data such as emails and phone numbers.

1. Get More Prospects

To expand your reach, waterfall enrichment is all you need for lead generation efforts. 📊

Imagine having a larger, more comprehensive pool of prospect data at your fingertips! That’s precisely what waterfall enrichment delivers.

Tapping into multiple data providers, you’ll get prospect contact lists you might’ve otherwise missed.

Here’s how it boosts your email data coverage:

✔️ Combines data from various sources
✔️ BetterAI helps fill in gaps in your existing lists
✔️ Access hard-to-find contact info in your ICP
✔️ Higher chances of connecting with decision-makers

With a larger, more comprehensive list, you’ll be well-equipped to take your sales and marketing efforts to new heights.

2. Complete Coverage for Any Location

No tool on the market has lead data from every location on Earth. Global data within a single tool is unheard of.

So, how do you ensure your tool specializes in all your ICP’s locations? Enter waterfall enrichment! 🥳

Different tool specializes in different locations. By leveraging multiple providers, you’re no longer limited by geographical boundaries.

Each provider brings its unique strengths to the table:

• Apollo: Your go-to for US prospects
• ContactOut: Dominating the UK market
• Datagma: Excelling in French territory

But it doesn’t stop there!

Some providers shine with larger enterprise companies, while others specialize in specific job titles (e.g. only C-suites).

Why not use them all instead of fretting over finding the perfect provider?

Here’s the magic of waterfall enrichment:

• Comprehensive coverage across different regions
• Access to a broader range of company sizes
• Diverse job title targeting

Imagine casting a net that covers the entire ocean of potential prospects. That’s what you’re doing with waterfall enrichment!

You’re not just 🐾 dipping your toes in but diving deep into a sea of opportunities.

3. Get Competitive Edge

Everyone uses one or two email providers to build their email list. The most popular tools are Apollo, ZoomInfo, etc.

Since everyone can access those emails and phone numbers, how do you stand out in a crowded market?

⚡️ Waterfall enrichment is your secret weapon! That’s how you gain a competitive edge.

Tapping into less popular data providers will uncover hidden gems your rivals haven’t touched. But the fun part is we’re not just tapping into less popular data providers.

Get access to untapped leads by utilizing 20+ premium data vendors, including both popular and non-popular providers.

This means:

✔️ Always access to fresh contact information
✔️ Reach prospects with less-pitched emails
✔️ Encounter less competition & more opportunities

Imagine being the first to reach out to a potential client. You’re not just another voice in the crowd – you’re the trailblazer!

With high-quality data at your fingertips, you’ll:

• Stand out from the pack
• Build stronger connections
• Close deals much muchhhh faster

Multiple data sources create a robust, unique database that gives you the upper hand.

Don’t settle for the same old strategies – be the innovator in your field.

4. Hyper Focused Targeting

You might think expanding your prospect list means casting a wider net, but that’s not always the case!

Instead, you can keep your targeting razor-sharp while still growing your opportunities.

Sounds cool, right? Here’s the secret sauce:

• Analyze your current top-performing clients
• Identify their unique characteristics
• Use those insights to build a hyper-focused ICP
• Use Ocean.io or Clay to build the lead list
• Enrich with BetterContact or Clay or both to find contact info

5. Stop Sales Funnel Leakage

Stopping sales funnel leakage is one of the most significant benefits of waterfall enrichment.

USE CASE: You’ve spent hours crafting the perfect ICPs and building a stellar lead list in Clay or Apollo.

Then bam! you get hit with the bad news: you maxed out your clay credits or can’t export all the contact info using Apollo.

Let’s say you choose Apollo; now, you can’t reach more than 40% of your prospects. If you aim to contact 1000 prospects, but your data is incomplete, and you get only 600 verified emails, the rest 400 potential customers will be left in the dark.

Yikes!

USE CASE: You have a lead list in Hubspot. You need to call them to follow up, but your old lead gen app can’t find your leads’ mobile numbers. BetterContact goes through their 20+ data and gets you their phone number so you can follow up.

Your sales funnel is a precious resource. Every lead without contact info is a leak, draining your potential revenue.

But here’s the good news: BetterContact plugs those holes! With waterfall enrichment, you’ll supercharge your outreach efforts:

✅ No more time wasted on unreachable leads
✅ Maximum coverage of your target audience
✅ Improved efficiency in your sales process
✅ Hubspot CRM integration to get phone numbers
✅ Make.com integration to enrich contact data at will on any CRM.

By ensuring you have accurate, up-to-date contact information for your leads, you’re maximizing your reach and your close rate.

Don’t let bad data hold you back. Embrace the change. The waterfall enrichment is the way.

How Does Waterfall Enrichment Work?

Waterfall enrichment works by sequentially running prospect or company data through multiple prioritized data providers to fill missing fields such as emails, phone numbers, or intent signals. The process starts with a primary provider and automatically cascades to secondary providers only if data is missing, stopping once verified information is found or all sources are exhausted.

In case of contact information, here’s how it works:

1. Start with your existing contact list
2. Run it through the first enrichment provider
3. Valid emails and new data are added
4. The remaining contacts flow to the next provider

This process continues through subsequent providers, each adding more valuable information.

Why is this so awesome? Well, it maximizes your data quality and quantity.

You’ll end up with:

• More valid emails
• Higher engagement rates
• Better-targeted outreach

Imagine your outreach tools working with turbo-charged data! You’ll see improved response rates and more meaningful conversations with prospects.

Why Should You Avoid Building A Waterfall Enrichment?

You should avoid building a waterfall enrichment system yourself because it is expensive, time-consuming, and fragile to maintain. DIY setups require ongoing engineering time, multiple paid data subscriptions, constant API maintenance, and manual data handling, often resulting in lower enrichment rates, higher costs, and increased risk to email deliverability compared to using a purpose-built platform.

You might think you’re saving money, but the reality is far from it.

Here’s why you should think twice:

1. Time sink: Expect to spend at least a week developing and days each month maintaining your system. That’s thousands in employee salaries!
2. Hidden costs: Waterfall enrichment tools can rack up hundreds in monthly bills for automation platforms alone.
3. Subscription chaos: Managing multiple data providers means juggling subscriptions, credits, and billing headaches.
4. Constant breakdowns: Your system can crash anytime a provider updates their API, or you hit rate limits.
5. Lower quality: You’ll see lower enrichment rates without access to as many data providers as specialized platforms.
6. Manual data sorting nightmares: Prepare for endless hours of tedious work.

Opt for a built solution that works instead of risking your domain reputation with a DIY approach. You’ll save time, money, and sanity while achieving better results.

How to Do Waterfall Enrichment the Right Way?

We have already talked about the technicalities of waterfall enrichment.

Now, let’s talk about how it can work for you to generate leads using BetterContact.

Mastery of waterfall enrichment requires a strategic approach. You’ve got three awesome ways to nail it, each with its own perks!

Let’s check it out:

✅ Type 1: Direct Method 🤌

1. Build your lead list in BetterContact.
2. Upload data to BetterContact.

This method has the highest prospect-finding rate and the highest contact-finding ratio!

✅ Type 2: Indirect Apollo 🤌

1. Build your lead list in Apollo.io.
2. Use ExportApollo for scraping.
3. Upload data to BetterContact.

This method’s easy on your wallet but still gets the job done!

✅ Type 3: The LinkedIn Sales Nav Route🤔

1. Build your ICP in Sales Navigator
2. Scrape with Scrupp.com
3. Upload data to BetterContact

This option balances cost and accuracy, giving you solid results without breaking the bank. To achieve greater accuracy, you’ll need a LinkedIn Sales Navigator account. Making this the middle ground.

✅ Type 4: The Clay Route 💲

1. Create your ideal customer profile Lead List (ICP) in Clay
2. Utilize BetterContact
3. Leverage Clay’s email enrichment (if you miss any)

It’s pricier, but this is the no-stones-unturned path to get top-notch results!

Choosing the suitable waterfall enrichment method pretty much boils down to your budget, time constraints, and accuracy needs.

To Wrap It All Up

Even Jim agrees that waterfall enrichment is your secret weapon for 2025! 🚀

via GIPHY

You’ll unlock a treasure trove of valuable contacts by tapping multiple databases.

Why bother wasting time building your own system? Instead, invest in a pro solution for maximum results.

In the end, it’s all about quality data and targeted outreach. With waterfall enrichment, you’ll stay ahead of the competition and watch your sales soar.

So, what are you waiting for, Harry? Spin your 🪄 wand, whip up your lead list, and push those leads in BetterContact for a 98% email find rate.