Produced $2M in revenue
Challenge
Finding the best prospect contact data
When The Focus Group spun off Focus EduVation, it appointed Ryan Patenaude to build a sales organization from the ground up. The only problem was that he had no customers, no prospects and no business! He needed to get the phone ringing, fast.
Patenaude shopped for prospect contact data from a number of B2B business information providers. The options he found were too expensive, too outdated and lacked a critical piece of information for prospecting in the modern age: accurate email addresses. As he put it: “Who cold calls or sends direct mail anymore? The old-school data providers just don’t have the details and depth of information we need to target major players in the publishing arena – many of which have thousands of employees.”
Using ZoomInfo, I can always find email addresses and reach everyone I need to. It just blows all other data providers away.
Ryan Patenaude
Senior Director of Sales and Business Development, Focus EduVation
Solution
ZoomInfo’s deep contact data and accurate email address
Patenaude learned about ZoomInfo Pro from a friend and instantly tested it, creating targeted lists of decision makers at various levels in publishing and then sending email message to those people. He found that the quality, flexibility and affordability of ZoomInfo surpassed any providers he’d tried before.
He especially benefits from ZoomInfo’s one-of-a-kind detailed profiles of people and the links between them and their company profiles. “I need to segment by roles, title, company size and many other criteria,” he said. “When I have my list, I love being able to get a glimpse into the whole organization – from the executive suite all the way down to the individuals in the sales force.”
According to Patenaude, Focus EduVation also tried a list of 71,000 contacts from another B2B data provider, for which they paid $10,000. Not a single one of the contacts from that vendor responded to Focus EduVation’s email campaign. Afterwards, Focus EduVation sent the same email message to a list of 250 targeted leads created with ZoomInfo. Response rates were high and Focus EduVation closed four deals, including a contract with one of the largest education publishing companies in the United States.
“With ZoomInfo, we can always reach who we need. It just blows all other data providers away,” Patenaude said.
The Results
Pipeline heaven and game-changing partnership
The quality and quantity of ZoomInfo’s data meant spot-on contact lists for Patenaude and his team to email and bounce rates below five percent.
During its first year of operations, ZoomInfo’s data helped one Focus EduVation division produce $2 million in revenue. Another division went from zero prospects to a “gigantic pipeline” of more than 5,000 highly qualified prospects.
ZoomInfo helped Focus EduVation get contracts with “premier, top-ranked companies” in its markets. “Our Online Tutoring Solutions Division is growing exponentially and we are targeting and penetrating new verticals with the help of ZoomInfo,” Patenaude explained. He credited ZoomInfo for the division’s aggressive revenue goals, new products and new partnerships in new areas.
As a result of Focus EduVation’s success with ZoomInfo, it is now a recognized name in the education market, Patenaude said. Using Zoominfo, Patenaude was able to identify major decision makers of top organizations. He used ZoomInfo’s advanced search tools to pinpoint exactly the right companies and people — information he could not have found anywhere else. Thanks to ZoomInfo, he made in roads and forged important partnerships.
“ZoomInfo’s technologies for collecting vital B2B data are a total game changer. I couldn’t have done this without ZoomInfo — there’s no way!” he said. He’s a ZoomInfo believer. “Anyone who is not using ZoomInfo is making a big mistake!
