Revenue leaders Michael Stewart and Cara Brown share their experiences switching from ZoomInfo to SalesIntel, highlighting key reasons such as data quality, industry-specific focus, customer support, and advanced intent data capabilities. They discuss how SalesIntel's personalized service, accurate data, and innovative tools like programmatic intent advertising have positively impacted their go-to-market strategies.
In the competitive landscape of B2B data providers, ZoomInfo has long been recognized as a leader. However, for some revenue leaders, it may not always be the perfect fit. In a recent discussion, Michael Stewart, Director of Partner Marketing and Alliances at ARC, and Cara Brown, CEO of Lead Coverage, shared their insightful experiences and reasons for switching from ZoomInfo to SalesIntel.
Cara Brown leads Lead Coverage, the largest go-to-market consultancy specializing in supply chain and logistics, working with major clients like UPS, Uber Freight, and Amazon Fulfillment. She has also co-authored a book titled The Revenue Engine, focusing on B2B go-to-market execution.
Michael Stewart works at ARC, an experience design and implementation company based in Atlanta, serving Fortune 1000 clients across various industries including travel, hospitality, retail, and commerce. His use of ZoomInfo was primarily to support partner marketing efforts.
During the pandemic in 2021, Lead Coverage experienced significant growth but found ZoomInfo lacking in delivering the specific data needed for their highly specialized supply chain market. Cara needed granular filters and data sets tailored to five ideal customer profiles within supply chain sectors such as shippers, carriers, brokers, and warehouses.
Despite reaching out to ZoomInfo's CTO, the response was that supply chain was not a priority market for them, which led Cara to seek alternatives. She found a willing partner in SalesIntel, which was eager to develop a supply chain-specific data center of excellence and provide the detailed data her clients required.
Michael had been a ZoomInfo customer for eight years but noticed data quality issues, with accuracy hovering around 75-80%. This was problematic for outbound sales teams who needed reliable contact information to avoid wasting time. The rising costs and lack of integration capabilities with their new CRM also motivated Michael to explore other providers.
Human Element and Customer Support: Cara emphasized the importance of having a responsive and supportive partner. SalesIntel's team was accessible and willing to collaborate closely, unlike ZoomInfo, where customers often felt like just a number.
Industry-Specific Data and Granularity: SalesIntel was able to incorporate unique supply chain data sets, such as NMFTA driver accident records, and customize filters to meet the precise needs of their clients.
Data Quality and Usability: Confidence in the accuracy and usability of data was paramount. SalesIntel's data enabled Lead Coverage to provide clients with reliable total addressable market (TAM) insights and better CRM enrichment.
Intent Signals: Michael valued the ability to leverage intent data to identify opportunities and threats within their partner ecosystem.
API Integration: Seamless integration with their CRM (HubSpot) improved workflow efficiency by over 30%, reducing time spent on data cleansing.
Customer Support: Having a dedicated account executive and responsive support team ensured any issues were promptly addressed.
Both Michael and Cara highlighted the growing significance of intent data in modern sales and marketing strategies.
Triangulation of Intent: Combining first-party, second-party, and third-party intent data helps create a more accurate picture of buyer behavior.
Programmatic Media on Intent: SalesIntel enables executing programmatic advertising targeted at specific individuals showing intent, significantly improving ROI and engagement.
Defensive and Offensive Intent: Using intent data defensively to retain customers and offensively to identify new opportunities is a powerful approach.
Cara shared a case study where programmatic ads targeted at specific companies resulted in highly cost-effective engagement, demonstrating the value of aligning content with intent signals.
Michael's team uses SalesIntel primarily for highly targeted, one-to-one outreach to Fortune 1000 companies. They rely on accurate contact data to build trust and relationships, favoring phone calls and personalized emails over mass marketing.
Lead Coverage uses SalesIntel extensively for building and refining ideal customer profiles (ICP) using demographic, firmographic, and technographic data. Their team conducts workshops to help clients identify their true ICP and uses SalesIntel to pull accurate records for marketing and sales campaigns.
They also emphasize continuous data enrichment and validation to combat the high rate of data decay, which can be as much as 25-30% per quarter.
Typically, the marketing team manages SalesIntel, with sales having access to intent data. Cara stresses the importance of treating sales and marketing as one unified go-to-market team to use intent data judiciously and avoid awkward sales outreach.
Make a prioritized list of what matters most to your business—data integrity, intent capabilities, integration, cost—and evaluate providers against these criteria. He believes SalesIntel compares favorably, especially on cost and quality.
Consider stacking multiple data providers to cover different needs and avoid over-reliance on a single source. Invest time in understanding intent data and programmatic media buying, as these are becoming critical for effective go-to-market strategies.
The experiences shared by Michael Stewart and Cara Brown illustrate that while ZoomInfo is a strong player in the market, SalesIntel offers distinct advantages for companies needing industry-specific data, superior customer support, and advanced intent data capabilities. Their insights underscore the importance of choosing a data partner that aligns with your unique business needs and supports your go-to-market execution effectively.
Revenue leaders looking to optimize their sales and marketing efforts should consider these factors carefully when evaluating data providers.
