What is Lead Enrichment? The Guide You Can’t Miss!

Lead Enrichment automation

Assuming you’re a SaaS founder who’s just launched a new product.

You’ve built a list of potential leads, but it’s just names and LinkedIn profiles. How do you get their emails? Or how do you know who to talk to first?

Or, you have tons of leads in your CRM. You can’t talk to everyone all at once, right? So, how do you prioritize them? 

That’s where lead enrichment comes in. It’s the process of turning those basic contact details into comprehensive profiles that can supercharge your outbound lead generation efforts.

Understanding your leads, their needs, and how they behave can help you tailor your approach and close deals faster.

But there’s more to lead enrichment than meets the eye, and mastering it could be the 🔑 to scaling your business effectively.

TL;DR

  • Create detailed prospect profiles for better targeting.
  • Enhance lead qualification and outreach for key roles.
  • Use data like contact details and firmographics.
  • Automate with tools like BetterContact, Clearbit, or Clay.
  • Boost conversion rates and improve ROI.

What is Lead Enrichment?

Lead enrichment is the process of adding additional valuable information to your existing lead data.

Starting with basic details like a name and email, lead enrichment transforms them into comprehensive profiles, including role, industry, location, company size, and funding date—unlocking powerful insights for targeted outreach.

That’s the magic of lead enrichment!

Why is it so important? Well, it helps your sales reps:

✅ Prioritize leads more effectively
✅ Build a new strategy for sales campaigns
✅ Personalize the outreach campaign
✅ Speed up the sales process
✅ Change the way to connect with leads.

Here’s how it works:

  1. Start with basic contact info
  2. Add relevant details (job title, company size, technology, location, etc.)
  3. Update stale information

Lead enrichment can be as simple as manually adding data from LinkedIn or as sophisticated as using real-time software.

The goal?

To fill in the gaps about your leads and identify your best fits quickly.

Keeping your lead data fresh 🍋‍ is crucial, especially in tech, B2B, and healthcare, where people change jobs frequently.

Don’t let outdated info slow down your sales team! Thou must embrace lead data enrichment to watch your sales team hit ARR goals.

Why Is Lead Enrichment Important?

For businesses striving to stay competitive, lead enrichment isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s MANDA….wait for it…TORY!

via GIPHY

It’s the secret weapon to keep B2B lead data fresh and accurate, empowering your sales team to identify high-priority prospects faster and create messaging that hits home. 🎯

Here are some benefits of lead enrichment:

  1. Higher conversion rates 📈
  2. Improved customer retention
  3. Enhanced lead generation
  4. More efficient lead-sourcing strategies
  5. Standardized lead information
  6. Better lead qualification
  7. Craft more persuasive campaigns
  8. Uncover purchase intent
  9. Boost overall performance 🚀

Don’t let legacy data hold you back!

Outdated information can seriously harm your sales and marketing efforts.

Idea icon

Did you know? Organizations spend between 10-30% of revenue on handling data quality issues – Zimplify

Enriching your leads, you’re not just ensuring accuracy—you’re powering your sales strategy. 💪

Types of Lead Enrichment Data:

Wondering, what types of lead data can you enrich? Well, you’ll encounter three main types of data to improve your sales efforts.

Contact data provides the basics, such as phone numbers and email addresses, while demographic data paints a picture of your leads’ personal characteristics.

Firmographic data is a goldmine for B2B marketers. It provides insights into company size, industry, and revenue that can help you tailor your approach perfectly.

1. Contact Data

Contact data, the essential information that enables you to reach your prospects, is at the core of lead enrichment.

It’s the heart of your enrichment toolkit, providing accurate B2B email addresses and other crucial contact details.

Without this data, you’re left with a wealth of information but no way to connect!

So, what contact data should you focus on?

  • Personal email: Perfect for recruiting purposes
  • Professional email: Great for B2B outreach, but watch out for spam filters!
  • Phone numbers: Ideal for cold calls or follow-ups.

Each type of contact data comes with its own pros and cons.

Personal emails are fantastic for recruiters, while business emails are your go-to for professional communication.

Phone numbers are a double-edged sword great for reviving dead leads but potentially intrusive.

It’s always better to cold call leads you’ve already cold-emailed, talked to, or know about your product.

PS: BetterContact is one of the waterfall enrichment tools you can connect via make.com to your CRM, Airtable, or Google Sheets to get professional emails or phone numbers at scale.

2. Demographic Data

Moving beyond contact details, demographic data paints a fuller picture of your leads.

It’s like adding vibrant colors to a blank canvas! Demographic data enrichment reveals crucial information about your prospects:

  • Age
  • Location
  • Job Position

These details are gold for your sales teams!

They help you understand who you’re talking to and how to approach them.

But don’t get too caught up in demographics – they’re just the first layer of your enrichment process.

  • Use reliable enrichment tools to gather accurate contacts and company details.
  • Combine demographic data with other enrichment sources for a 360-degree view.
  • Regularly update your data to keep it fresh and relevant.

Demographic data sets the stage for more advanced segmentation criteria.

3. Firmographic Data

The firmographic data uncovers business-specific insights about your leads.

Want to tailor your pitch like a pro? These goldmines of information is crucial for B2B sales teams looking to increase their close rate.

🟣 Start by identifying your lead’s industry and sector. This knowledge allows you to address specific challenges and opportunities they face.

🟣 Next, dig into company size and revenue.

These details give you a peek into their budget and decision-making processes, helping you craft the perfect approach.

🟣 Don’t forget about the location!

It’s not just a dot on a map – it’s your key to localizing marketing efforts and understanding regional dynamics.

  • Industry and Sector
  • Company Size
  • Revenue
  • Funding
  • Location
  • Technology Stack

Speaking of tech, knowing your lead’s technology stack can help tailor your pitch in ways you typically wouldn’t have imagined.

It helps you showcase how your product can seamlessly integrate or enhance their existing processes.

How Does Lead Enrichment Work?

Ready to uncover the magic behind lead enrichment?

You’ll find it’s a four-step process that starts with data collection and lead distribution.

From there, you’ll focus on converting leads and nurturing them, often simultaneously, to maximize your chances of success.

1. Data Collection

Companies must first gather essential data about their prospects to kick off the lead enrichment process.

You’ve got two main options: collect data in-house or purchase it from external sources.

In-house methods involve your own CRM and data collection processes, while external sources offer a wealth of information without breaking the bank. ‍

Ready to supercharge your lead generation?

Company websites, names, sizes, and locations are crucial data points. AI-powered lead enrichment tools can streamline the process, and real-time data enrichment keeps your information up-to-date.

Once you’ve gathered this treasure trove of customer data, it’s time to put it to work!

Lead scoring and segmentation are your secret weapons. Scoring assigns points based on job title and location, while segmentation group leads by specific criteria.

Together, they create a standardized system for qualifying and measuring leads as they move through your sales funnel.

Want to take your lead enrichment game to the next level?

Consider incorporating company organizational data to get a crystal-clear picture of your ideal customer profile.

With these enrichment data sources at your fingertips, you’ll be unstoppable!

2. Lead Distribution

Once you’ve gathered and enriched your lead data, it’s time to distribute those valuable leads to your sales team.

This process, known as lead distribution or lead routing, is crucial for maximizing your team’s potential and closing more deals.

3. Conversion

Now that your lead distribution system is in place, it’s time to focus on the ultimate goal: conversion.

  • Follow up with the client.
  • Set up a call
  • Prepare before attending the call
  • Prepare your pitch deck
  • Close

To ensure the highest closing rate, you should learn objection-handling skills. Jeremy Miner and Chris Do offer great courses on sales tonality and objection handling.

If they don’t attend the call, send one follow-up email and call them two days later.

4. Lead Nurturing

Sales cycles aren’t always linear—potential customers can hop in and out of your sales funnel like a game of hopscotch!

That’s where lead nurturing comes in to save the day!

Here’s a kicker: your sales teams can nurture leads by focusing only on decision-makers.

  • Lead nurturing keeps your brand top-of-mind
  • It helps guide potential customers through the sales funnel
  • Personalized communication is critical to successful nurturing

Implementing a solid lead nurturing strategy builds customer relationships at every stage of the funnel. Here’s a few pointers on what to email them –

  • Follow up with the lead without annoying them
  • Answer their questions
  • Share your case studies
  • Share any relevant lead magnet asset

Or you can just toss them into your newsletter. It’s like tending to a garden – you’ve got to water those leads to help them grow!

How to Automate Lead Enrichment?

Businesses seeking to streamline their lead management process can benefit significantly from automating lead enrichment.

By leveraging powerful sales tools and integrating them with your CRM, you’ll supercharge your contact list and boost sales velocity in real time! 🚀

Want to automate lead enrichment?

✔️ BetterContact + Hubspot: Perfect for mobile phone number enrichment, though not for email addresses.

✔️ BetterContact + Make: Connect to your personal CRM or Airtable for more control over enriching work emails, personal emails, and phone numbers.

Alternate way:

Cognism Instant Enrich: Set up smart lead enrichment queues based on specific criteria, instantly enriching new data in your CRM.

Automating lead enrichment delivers impressive results:

  • Improved conversion rates
  • Supercharged lead grading
  • No more manual data verification

Ready to take your lead enrichment to the next level?

Consider Cognism, trusted by 3,000+ companies! 🚀 Even Drift, after testing 5,000 MQLs across various databases, chose Cognism for its superior performance in providing actionable contact data, especially mobile numbers.

Don’t let manual lead enrichment slow you down – automate and watch your sales soar!

5 Best Lead Enrichment Tools

When selecting the best lead enrichment tools, it’s crucial to consider your specific business needs and budget constraints. You’ll want to find a solution that offers real-time lead enrichment, seamless integration with your existing systems, and automated workflows to streamline your sales outreach strategy.

Let’s explore some top-notch options:

  1. BetterContact
  2. Clearbit
  3. Clay
  4. Apollo.io
Lead Enrichment SoftwareDescriptionDatasizeConsPrice
BetterContactWaterfall enrichment tool with 20+ Data providers.3 Billion B2B contact info.No scraping tools to get leads from LinkedIn.$15/month for 200 credits
ClearbitEnterprise Real-time lead enrichment tool with advanced search and filtering capabilities.389 million contact records.Steep learning curveOperates on a custom pricing model, which can get very expensive .
ClayNo code automation tool that aggregates data from various sources, allowing users to have a higher enrichment rate.Fully real time.Easily burning through the credits can be deal breaker.$149/month for 2000 enrichment credits.
Apollo.ioCloud-based sales engagement platform with access to accurate sales intent data.400 million contact recordsTrouble exporting the lead list.$49/month for 1000 exports.

🚀 BetterContact is an AI-powered waterfall enrichment tool perfect for agency owners, GTM engineers and SDRs. With access to over 20 top-tier data sources and three billion+ contact data points, you’ll fill your calendar with meetings! Plus, you only pay when an email is successfully found—talk about value for money!

They’ll help you gather more accurate data, qualify leads faster, and boost your conversion rates. Remember, the right enrichment solution can make all the difference in your sales success!

To Wrap It All Up

Lead enrichment is the secret weapon for better sales! 🚀 It’s like giving your sales team an x-ray vision, revealing hidden gems in your contact list.

By automating this process, you’ll transform basic leads into goldmines of opportunity.

More enriched data is your key to unlocking sales success. So, explore the tools, check which one fits your needs and watch your conversions soar. Your leads are waiting for you to close them—go get ’em tiger!

FAQs

  1. What is the best waterfall enrichment lead generation software for getting email addresses?

    BetterContact provides waterfall enrichment to secure email addresses efficiently.

  2. Which lead generation software is best for building phone number lists?

    BetterContact, Cognism, and Kaspr are effective for building phone number lists.

  3. How can AI enhance the capabilities of lead generation software?

    AI enhances lead generation by automating tasks, analyzing data patterns, and personalizing outreach. It improves targeting, saves time, and efficiently generates higher-quality leads.

Share

Frédéric Bonnand

Frédéric Bonnand, co-founder of BetterContact, is a tech enthusiast from France with a knack for automation and APIs. He created BetterContact to simplify lead generation for agency owners, connecting to 20+ data sources so they can find accurate leads without the hassle of multiple subscriptions. Outside of work, Frédéric enjoys camping and testing out new tech tools.

All Authors Posts

Share

CTA Blog