5 things to consider when choosing your next B2B data provider

So you’re looking to replace or choose your first, B2B data provider. It’s a huge decision and can have a major impact on the success of your outbound sales team.

But how do you choose the right provider?

There are so many different options to choose from, ranging from the very large like ZoomInfo to the smaller niche providers.

Data accuracy might seem like an obvious factor when making your decision, but it can be one of the most difficult to assess. Because of that, we've compiled some other factors you should consider the next time you are looking for a B2B data provider.

When do you need a new B2B Data Provider?

Outbound selling is an integral part of any organization to hit revenue goals. With 69% of sales reps saying they don’t have enough leads in their pipeline to hit quota, having the right B2B Data Provider can mean the difference between reaching those goals and falling short.

There are a variety of reasons you might decide to find a new data provider, such as:

• Inaccurate or unavailable hurting your pipeline and brand reputation
• You have a convoluted prospecting process that takes time away from selling
• You’ve outgrown your current plan and are looking at a big price increase
• Issues with downtime or general unhelpful customer support

Once you’ve decided that you need a provider, you next need to decide which provider to go with. You should run a Proof of Concept (POC) with each to review data accuracy, but here are some other factors you should consider during that period.

5 Tips for choosing your next B2B Data Provider

#1: Workflow and operational process

Data accuracy is always #1 on sales teams' minds regarding B2B data providers. But while data accuracy varies based on the geography, personas, and heck, even the day of the week sometimes, prospecting workflow is something that can deliver hidden ROI.

Your team will be using this tool every day to find and capture prospects. So if your workflow looks like this, it will cause some problems and headaches:

Choosing a B2B data provider that can make the prospecting workflow seamless will have a major impact, especially when we consider that 41% of sales reps' workday is spent on non-revenue generating activities.

#2: Data controls

It might seem counterintuitive to restrict and put guardrails around what data your reps can capture. The whole point of having a B2B data provider is so they can outbound prospects right

There are a variety of reasons you should consider a provider who offers data controls for your admins. From data hygiene to compliance, there are certain restrictions you should want control over before a rep sends data to your CRM or Sales Engagement tool and starts prospecting.

#3: Integrations

You probably are already considering integrations, but don’t just make it a check box in your decision criteria. Not every integration is the same so consider:

• How easy is it to set up and manage these integrations? Do only admins control it, or do individual sales reps?
• Is the integration only pulling in contact data, or does it actually push data from your CRM/Engagement tool to the extension?
• Can you control bad data from getting to your system?
• Can your data provider honor existing rule sets in your systems?
• Can a user send a prospects data to my CRM and Sales Engagement tool at the same time, or does that take multiple clicks?
• Can a user assign a prospect to a sequence or cadence while capturing?
• How will these different tools work together? Will they work seamlessly together?

Most B2B data providers can integrate with the most popular CRM and Sales Engagement tools. It’s important to go a layer deeper and assess what integrations really work best for your team.

#4: Customer support

Don’t overlook how important customer support is. Your B2B data provider is the lifeblood of your outbound prospecting. If there is an issue or poor training, it can have severe consequences for your team's prospecting effort. Remember, this is software we are talking about, something is bound to go wrong eventually.

An easy way to get a glimpse of what customer support is like is to read customer reviews. Check a site like G2 and search for “customer support”. It’ll give you a good sense of if a provider will have your back when you have questions or if something isn’t working correctly.

#5: Additional features

B2B data providers have long done just one thing; provide outbound sales teams with data. But selling has changed, the economy has changed, and modern sellers need more than just accurate data to hit their quota.

Choosing the right data provider for your sales team can help you tidy up your tech stack by replacing redundant or underused tools. Many data providers are building new capabilities and functionality into their platforms to make it easier for sales teams to capitalize and take action on the data they provide.

Take job change notifications, for example. Instead of paying for a separate solution like UserGems or ClearBit, see if your potential data provider can track contacts or accounts. These insights are a great way for SDRs to be notified about warmer leads so they can time their outreach for a better response.

With the explosion of new AI tools like ChatGPT, many B2B data providers also incorporate their own artificial intelligence into the mix. Adding something as powerful as a generative AI writer into your seller’s tool kit can help keep your entire team on message and improve your seller's personalization and cold email writing abilities.

When you add additional features on top of accurate contact data, you’ll be well on your way to improving outbound prospecting efforts across the board while simplifying your tech stack and saving money.

Both your sellers and finance department will be happy with that one!

Conclusion: Finding the right B2B data provider has never been more important

With only 3% of sales teams having 75% of reps hitting quota, finding the right data provider has never been more important.

There is no right size fits all solution, so you’ll need to determine what is most important to your team and which provider will help you reach your goals.

Remember, any B2B data provider can supply your team with valuable information, it’s important to choose a partner who can provide more than just email addresses and phone numbers.

LeadIQ is an easy tool that allows sales teams to find, capture, and sequence prospect data in just one click. On top of that, we’ve got the admin control, integrations, and customer support you need. Schedule a demo today to see how it works!