Selecting the perfect data provider for your unique needs must adhere to only the best features - features that we will tell you about right now.
Following are the 10 most important features of company data providers that would help you choose the best one for your business.
1. Data accuracy
First and most important criteria for choosing a data provider is its trustworthiness and where exactly they source their information from.
The risk of using unverified data from an unreliable provider is too high, and the effects can be drastic - from sales’ decrease and clients’ loss because of a purely targeted campaign to severe reputation damage. The main thing that matters for evaluating the reliability of a data provider is its data accuracy.
How does one know that the data is in fact accurate?
The most reliable B2B data market players are absolutely honest about their datasets as well as the sources and ways of collecting information.
Most accurate data is supplied by a combination of:
- Carefully vetting out information by human analysts & specialists.
- Official and governmental sources (such as registration offices and commerce houses).
- Technologically enhanced and processed information via each b2b data providers system.
These points supply a level of confidence for each data field, account or contact record, as well as are open at disclosing the maintenance policies.
And it’s the foremost aspect any data provider must focus on!
2. Information completeness
The next pivotal criteria that usually determines the choice of a company data provider is the regional coverage of its database. Leading a business to success is a complex process, including several directions, such as product or service creation, development and improvement, sales, marketing, customer service and more, and performant functioning of each of them depends on qualitative data.
So why not save time and money instead of purchasing information from different sources for every department and further coordination thereof? The solution is to buy full access to an overall database, fully covering the market of your interest and providing information for all the departments of your company.
In the best case scenario, you can source them by your prospect’s location, revenue and turnover, industry, company hierarchy, technologies used and many other details.
3. Company insights
A performant business development strategy starts with the creation of a so-called “buyer’s persona” that covers every important detail about your future customers, such as their interests, pain points and hidden motivating factors.
This helps a lot when it comes to selecting the types of information a business would need about its prospects. The focus here would be on grandeur and comprehensiveness.
A high-caliber company data vendor will provide you with the smallest details on the most important aspects of a company’s activity. For example, comprehensive financial insights could help you correctly assess a merger and acquisition deal or other investment possibilities.
Some of the company intelligence providers, e.g. Global Database, feature such data as digital insights, revealing the technology stack used by a particular company - a definite advantage against competitors.
4. A broad range of capabilities
All data, similar or taken from the same source, are used in many different ways depending on the goals of a certain department. Product, marketing or sales teams might want to get and apply them in a vast number of totally different ways.
The recognised providers’ product usually meets the needs of all of them and suits an assortment of use-cases, combining advanced filtering systems with multiple criteria, accurate data, predictive analytics, and tracking of the prospect company’s most important moves.
You can be aware both of the current state of the company of your interest, and its perspectives. You can also have the option to get notified about its actions that are important to you, such as, for example, lawsuits.
5. Database’s usability
One of the goals of a company database purchase is to ease and enhance sales, marketing and production processes as much as possible, which is achievable through the automation brought in by such database.
This, in its turn, means automatically and timely data enrichment, as well as manual data collection procedure’s replacement. Imagine how much time (read: money) it saves you every day!
Moreover, established B2B data vendors provide instant downloads of datasets in many formats and allow fuelling your CRM systems, marketing automation and sales development tools with a continuous flow of fresh data. This way, once purchased access to a database provides you with up-to-date information source for all your tools till the end of your subscription.
6. Expenses
Of course, the price is a very influential factor for any enterprise when it comes to a final choice, but let’s not neglect such aspects as total ROI and the relative value of meeting the previously described requirements.
When negotiating the best price deal, don’t forget about the goals a particular product could help you meet and evaluate it accordingly. It’s often more profitable to pay a little bit higher price for advanced functionality and perspectives in return, so don’t hurry to judge by the price.
7. Datasets complexity
As long as saving time and money along with getting maximum value is one of the primary goals of each business, there is no interest in addressing multiple data sources in an attempt to build and use your own database reflecting your company's needs. You’d probably prefer to find an all-in-one company information provider serving all the departments of your organisation without having to train users for every platform and manage multiple contracts.
This is possible when the provider meets several criteria: multiple data sources, each of them carefully verified; an intuitive and multifunctional interface; a wide variety of data types the dataset contains and the possibility to create, download, and use customisable datasets, compiled according to your requirements and expectations.
8. Customisation possibilities
Each business has both: (1) unique goals and requirements for data and (2) ways of managing them. That is why it’s a common practice among reliable company data vendors to provide flexible products - a vast and detailed, highly-customisable database. Check the options offered with the product and make sure they go hand in hand with your needs.
The more filtering criteria, such as location, SIC code, company size, revenue, digital insights, and others the database has on tap, the more likely you’ll be able to use those data in multiple ways, according to your business needs. In case the data provider uses a system of credits, you can save money by downloading datasets created according to your unique needs, and not the whole database.
9. Customer service
Another point we’d advise you to keep in mind before making the purchase is the customer service level. Company databases usually are big and complex, and most of the times you’d need to closely interact with your B2B information provider, at least until your employees master all the platform options.
In a situation when the customer service is mediocre, the provider’s representatives are not helpful, even the best price offer means very little. A decent agent usually does his best to help you choose the options, that would perfectly suit your needs, answer all your questions and assist you with customising the platform according to your intentions.
10. Deliverability and accuracy guarantee
A quality and extensive database is a serious investment, and it is natural to expect those data to work and not just spend money on a useless set of numbers and letters. The last but not least feature a good data provider should have is a guarantee that their product is accurate boosting the chances of accomplishing the goals you’ve set.
Another thing a solid data provider offers is the guarantee in case, for any reason, you encounter something like obsolete data. For example, Global Database guarantees a 95% email deliverability rate - the highest rate on the market and substitutes the inaccurate information with new data for free.
