ZoomInfo connects you with your target audience, giving you access to millions of contacts and company profiles. But it’s more than just a database filled with potential prospects. Let’s talk about what ZoomInfo offers customers and ZoomInfo best practices to kick you off on the platform confidently.
About ZoomInfo
When you’re working in sales enablement, your goal is always to provide your sales team with the tools they need to close more deals, build better relationships, and increase revenue. With a platform like ZoomInfo, you can ensure your sales professionals have access to all the contact information they need, as well as in-depth data, insights, and other tools to help them utilize this contact information best.
Here are some key ZoomInfo features:
- Utilize Advanced Segmentation: ZoomInfo’s Segment tool lets you group together data and create custom roles to connect with different segments of your target audience.
- Update and Clean Your Lists: ZoomInfo filters out bad, outdated data through an automated data cleansing tool or using the ZoomInfo Enhance self-serve feature.
- Seamlessly Integrate with CRMs: ZoomInfo works with many third-party tools, including CRMs, so you can keep ZoomInfo’s customer data where you need it most.
- Leverage Intent Data for Lead Prioritization: With ZoomInfo’s intent data, you can see who is already looking for businesses like you and products and services like yours.
- Utilize Training Resources: With ZoomInfo University, the company offers sales professionals resources to utilize the platform more effectively.
- Analyze Your Interactions: ZoomInfo’s Chorus is a conversation intelligence platform that analyzes all customer calls, meetings, presentations, and emails.
- Predict Your Next Customer: Using AI, ZoomInfo takes your customer data and tells you who your best prospects will be.
- Automate Your Next Sales Play: Create Salesflows, including automated emails, calls, or social connections, that are triggered based on market signals.
- Direct Prospects Through Chat:ZoomInfo Chat is a chat tool that can talk with prospects and direct them to the next step in your sales pipeline.
ZoomInfo Best Practices Guide
Before you dive into using ZoomInfo and its vast technologies and capabilities, let’s talk about some of the best practices for using this sales engagement platform. For more help, Spekit has built a handy ZoomInfo template for users to refer to when using the platform.
You can also check out Spekit’s other templates for more ZoomInfo and other platform assistance.
1. Create your Ideal Customer Profiles
Your ideal customer profile (ICP) is a detailed description of your target audience. It includes demographic and firmographic information, like age, geography, what type of company they work for, and what their position is. But it also contains other information, including behavior patterns that tell you how many times they’ve visited your website and what they’re looking for, as well as their needs and pain points that you’d want to address when selling.
By creating an ICP before you start using ZoomInfo’s database of contacts and companies, you can better segment your audience on the platform and ensure that you’re contacting the right prospects at the right stage of their buying journey.
2. Maintain data accuracy
Bad data costs companies money, to the tune of $12.9 million per year, according to Gartner. But it affects more than revenue. It also affects your reputation and relationships. If you have outdated or incorrect data on your prospects, you may target them in a less effective or even frustrating way. Imagine if your prospect was a CFO at a SaaS company. You send them content that doesn’t apply to SaaS or refer to them as a CMO during a conversation. That prospect’s trust level in you may decline enough to make them think twice about making a purchase from your company. Maintaining data accuracy, such as by frequently cleaning and updating your contact lists, ensures that you avoid those unfortunate mistakes and keep your reputation pristine.
3. Understand intent
It’s not just about targeting the right audience. It’s about connecting with your prospect at the right time in their buyer journey. Intent data helps you understand where your prospect is in the sales pipeline. Are they researching? If so, a helpful blog post might be what they need. Are they comparing you to your competition? You might want to point them toward your case studies or offer to set up a demo for them to see how your service or product works. Are they checking out your price page? Now might be the right time to hop on a call to negotiate, talk through their concerns, and walk them toward converting. Your prospect needs different interactions depending on where they are in the sales pipeline. By understanding intent, you’re making connections when and how your prospects need them most.
4. Review customization opportunities
Selling isn’t one-size-fits-all. In fact, 71% of consumers expect personalization during the sales experience, and 76% get frustrated when they don’t receive it, according to McKinsey. From conversations to content, it’s important to customize your interactions with prospects.While ZoomInfo can provide sales analytics and insights that help you learn more about your prospects, you need to take the next step of utilizing that information to personalize your prospect’s buying experience. For instance, Spekit can function as a sales content management system that enables you to customize your content. Spekit AI offers you personalized content recommendations based on your prospect’s data and previous interactions. It can also revamp content based on your prompt or write entirely new content at the press of a button.
5. Provide ZoomInfo training
As a part of sales training, sales professionals need to learn how to use all the tools in their arsenal, including ZoomInfo, to get the most out of each platform. ZoomInfo enhances platform training through ZoomInfo University…but ZoomInfo also integrates with Spekit, which provides just-in-time learning to your sales team. With Spekit, you’ll get bite-sized bits of learning delivered right into your workflow, helping your sales team to learn while doing, one of the most effective ways to learn. Spekit users have been able to significantly cut down on training time and ramp up their employees faster with the help of just-in-time learning.When your sales team starts using ZoomInfo, Spekit can help them learn to use the platform while they’re using it, saving them from having to rely on massive manuals and hunt down answers to their questions. They’ll get information delivered right to them, as well as short quizzes that test their knowledge and provide you with insight into where they need more training.
Spekit’s Best Practices for Using ZoomInfo for 2024
As a sales enablement software tool, Spekit’s goal is to empower sales enablement as they empower their sales team. Spekit’s ZoomInfo best practices can help sales enablement teams ensure they’re giving their sales teams all the info they need to thrive on the platform.
Advanced Searches with Keywords in ZoomInfo
When doing Advanced Searches in ZoomInfo, you can utilize Keywords searches. This allows you to search for specific keywords for these fields that might not be available as drop-down or categories pre-loaded in ZoomInfo.
Keyword searches are available for:
- Job Title under Contact Filters for Job Title
- Company Industry Keywords under Companies Filters for Company Industries
- Company Description Keywords under Companies Filters for Company Industries
- Scoops Description Keywords under Sales Signals for Scoops
Pro-Tip: Keyword searches use Fuzzy logic to get the best match for companies and contacts related to the Keyword you searched. Utilize NOT, AND, OR & Double Quotations (” “) in your searches to get better results for what you are looking for.
1. Navigate to your Advanced Search Page
2. Choose which type of Keyword search you would like to perform based on the available options (listed above).
Pro-Tip: Combine multiple Keywords across multiple objects to refine your search ie. Job Title keyword and an industry keyword, combining NOT & AND as you see fit.
3. Add other non-Keyword filters to further refine your search.
Pro-Tip: Combining Job Title Keywords with Management Level and Departments & Job Function can be a powerful way to ensure the contacts you are reaching out to are exactly what you want. In the same way, you can combine Company Industry Keywords with ZoomInfo’s segmented Company Industry and/or NAICS codes to guarantee those companies are a perfect fit for your search.
4. Now that you’ve used Keyword searches in tandem with other ZoomInfo filters to get your desired Advanced Search outcome, Tag and Export your list
Events in ZoomInfo
ZoomInfo has access to upcoming Events and what companies will be attending. This can allow you to create Advanced Searches based on company attendance and create actionable contact lists based on this information.
Click on the Events tab on the top of the ZoomInfo navigation bar
2. On the Events page, select an event you would like to dive into
Pro-Tip: When viewing a specific event it will give important details such as a description of the event, where, when, and what companies will be attending.
3. Once you’ve found the event you want to pull a company and/or contact list for, click into the event and then click Show in company search
4. You will be redirected to the Advanced Search page with the search filtered to these companies. Add other contact and/or company filters to further refine your search to the exact companies and/or contacts you would like to see
5. Tag and Export the list
Contact Info in ZoomInfo
ZoomInfo allows you to have hundreds of millions of contacts at your fingertips. Ensure you are only sorting by those who have contact information pertaining to your outreach efforts.
1. Navigate to the Advanced Search page and begin your search.
2. Add all of the company and contact filters.
Pro-Tip: Don’t forget about Scoops and Technologies & Attributes if they apply!
3. Once you’ve added all your desired filters, under filters, click Contacts
4. Under Contacts, click Contact Info
5. Select the dropdown under Contact Info and check the type of contact info you want to narrow your search by
NOTE: The options for contact info are below. You can choose any number of these
- Any info (If Any Info is chosen, they only need to contain one of the below)
- Mobile Phone
- Direct Phone
- Phone
- Supplemental Email
- Business Email
6. Once you’ve added your desired Contact Info for your search, Tag & Export
Exclusions in ZoomInfo
Part of the power of Tagging in ZoomInfo is the ability to exclude prospects with specific tags from future Advanced Searches.
1. Navigate to the Advanced Search page and begin your search.
2. Add all of the company and contact filters.
Pro-Tip: Don’t forget about Scoops and Technologies & Attributes if they apply!
3. Once you’ve added all your desired filters, under My Accounts/Tags filters, click Exclusions
4. You will have a list of things you can now exclude from your Advanced Search results, including the ability to add specific Tags you have used for Company and Contact searches
Pro-Tip: The exclusions aren’t restricted to just tags. If you are trying to exclude any Companies or Contacts you or anyone at your Organization have exported before, you can do that by choosing the appropriate options.
5. Once you’ve added your desired Exclusions for your search, Tag & Export
Tags Best Practices in ZoomInfo
Tags are a feature in ZoomInfo that are simple but powerful. Below are a few Best Practices for using Tags to their full potential.
1. Using Tags for Exclusions in Advanced Search and List building.
2. Tagging your existing accounts so you can easily find them and/or exclude them from future searches.
3. Tagging your competitors so you can keep an eye on how they are doing, and/or exclude them from future searches.
4. Tagging labels you suggested an update for so you can easily check back later to see if an update has been applied.
5. Any record or search you think you will want to refer to or easily find at a later time.
Scoops Best Practices in ZoomInfo
Utilizing Scoops during Advanced Searches can ensure that you are reaching out to the exact desired audience. Below are a few Best Practices for using Scoops to their full potential.
1. Scoops is information gathered by ZoomInfo directly from the prospective companies. This means that this information is much more useful and reliable than most “insight” data provided from other sources.
2. When using Scoops, it is important to remember that even if this information was volunteered by the organization, it could still be sensitive. This means that when using information from Scoops, be mindful of how the client might react to someone knowing this information and using it to position a sale. So, it is advised not to blatantly state Scoop; instead, use the Scoop to inquire.
Example: “Hey, PROSPECT, I was recently talking to someone in a similar space to you, and they voiced SCOOP PAIN POINT. I was curious if you were experiencing something similar? If so, I’d like to learn more about SCOOP PAIN POINT if this is something you are also experiencing.”
3. Use Pain Point Scoops under Opportunity Scoops in tandem with a Topic. These are the perfect buyer signals for when a company might be the perfect fit for your solution.
4. Use Executive Moves Scoops under Personal Scoops. These track the executive moves for companies. One stat of interest when using these Scoops in particular – Incoming executives spend upwards of 70% of their budget in the first 90 days of assuming their new position.
5. At the bottom of the Scoops filter, there is a Scoops Description Keyword search. If you can’t find the exact topic or information you are looking for, attempt to use the Scoops Description Keyword search to potentially find them.
Pro-Tip: Don’t forget you can use Boolean search functions like AND, OR, NOT and double quotes “”. Example: Searching for “Cloud AND Migration” will return Scoops containing BOTH the keywords Cloud and Migration.
6. If you create a Scoop search that you want to keep your pulse on, Save & Subscribe to that search and set up Email alerts for when new records are added or updated. This allows you to be updated Daily or Weekly based on this specific Scoop search, leaving you as one of the first people to potentially know about this company insider information.
Pro-Tip: ZoomInfo is sending out hundreds of thousands of surveys every day to collect this Scoop data, so I recommend setting the email alerts to daily; this is relative and actionable data you can leverage every day. And, if there are no new Scoops on a certain day, you won’t get an email, so it won’t crowd up in your inbox.
Scoops Best Practices in ZoomInfo
Utilizing Scoops during Advanced Searches can ensure that you are reaching out to the exact desired audience. Below are a few Best Practices for using Scoops to their full potential.
1. Scoops is information gathered by ZoomInfo directly from the prospective companies. This means that this information is much more useful and reliable than most “insight” data provided from other sources.
2. When using Scoops, it is important to remember that even if this information was volunteered by the organization, it could still be sensitive. This means that when using information from Scoops, be mindful of how the client might react to someone knowing this information and using it to position a sale. So, it is advised not to blatantly state Scoop; instead, use the Scoop to inquire.
Example: “Hey, PROSPECT, I was recently talking to someone in a similar space to you, and they voiced SCOOP PAIN POINT. I was curious if you were experiencing something similar? If so, I’d like to learn more about SCOOP PAIN POINT if this is something you are also experiencing.”
3. Use Pain Point Scoops under Opportunity Scoops in tandem with a Topic. These are the perfect buyer signals for when a company might be the perfect fit for your solution.
4. Use Executive Moves Scoops under Personal Scoops. These track the executive moves for companies. One stat of interest when using these Scoops in particular – Incoming executives spend upwards of 70% of their budget in the first 90 days of assuming their new position.
5. At the bottom of the Scoops filter, there is a Scoops Description Keyword search. If you can’t find the exact topic or information you are looking for, attempt to use the Scoops Description Keyword search to potentially find them.
Pro-Tip: Don’t forget you can use Boolean search functions like AND, OR, NOT and double quotes “”. Example: Searching for “Cloud AND Migration” will return Scoops containing BOTH the keywords Cloud and Migration.
6. If you create a Scoop search that you want to keep your pulse on, Save & Subscribe to that search and set up Email alerts for when new records are added or updated. This allows you to be updated Daily or Weekly based on this specific Scoop search, leaving you as one of the first people to potentially know about this company insider information.
Pro-Tip: ZoomInfo is sending out hundreds of thousands of surveys every day to collect this Scoop data, so I recommend setting the email alerts to daily; this is relative and actionable data you can leverage every day. And, if there are no new Scoops on a certain day, you won’t get an email, so it won’t crowd up in your inbox.
Salesforce Sync Best Practices with ZoomInfo
ZoomInfo can sync directly with your Salesforce once it has been set-up by your ZoomInfo Admin. This allows you to save hours of comparing what ZoomInfo has to what your Salesforce does. Below are a few Best Practices for using the Salesforce sync to its full potential.
1. When looking up an Account, if there is the blue Salesforce cloud next to the account name, this indicates this Account is already in your Salesforce. It will also include the Account Owner in Salesforce and the date the last time this accounts data has been synced in Salesforce.
2. Very similar to Accounts having the blue Salesforce cloud, Contacts already synced in your Salesforce will also have the blue Salesforce cloud. Just as with the Accounts, you will be able to see who the Contact owner is in Salesforce, and the last time that contacts information was synced with your Salesforce.
3. Combine the power of Company Profiles and the Org Chart to find decision makers within your target accounts who’s contact information isn’t already stored in your Salesforce (those missing the blue Salesforce cloud).
4. With the Salesforce sync you can Include or Exclude your (or others) Salesforce Accounts from your Advanced Searches by selected Account Owners under the Salesforce Accounts filter.
Pro-Tip: If you are responsible for a territory, you can add a Location filter with your target location, and then Exclude ALL Accounts that are in your Salesforce. This will create a search in your target territory, of only net new accounts that your org does not have in Salesforce.
5. Just like how you can exclude or include Salesforce Accounts that exist in your Salesforce, you can do the same for Leads and Contacts.
Pro-Tip: When performing Advanced Contact Searches, excluding Leads and Contacts you already have in Salesforce can help with reducing the frequency of duplicates. This prevents a problem that many Salesforce orgs struggle with data integrity and duplicates.
Integrating ZoomInfo with Spekit
As a sales engagement platform and a sales enablement platform, ZoomInfo and Spekit combine to make an efficient, effective sales machine. While ZoomInfo gets you connected with your target audience and provides you with insights into their intent data and demographics, Spekit ensures that you’re customizing every buyer journey.
Spekit enables you to reach out with the content and conversations your prospect needs at the right time to close that deal. With Spekit’s AI-powered content recommendations, your sales team will get the content and information they need to convert their prospect delivered right to them, wherever they are and when they need it most.
Spekit’s just-in-time learning also helps your team learn to use ZoomInfo most effectively. While they’re using ZoomInfo, they’ll get answers to all their questions on how to integrate it into their sales strategy, helping them to learn while doing so. They’ll also get short quizzes that help them and you understand where they need more training.
Sign up for a demo with Spekit.
Common ZoomInfo Questions
What does ZoomInfo actually do?
ZoomInfo is a B2B sales engagement platform. In addition to storing and maintaining the contact information for hundreds of millions of people and companies, ZoomInfo also provides you with information to make you more likely to connect with the right people, offering you behavior and demographic information, intent data to tell you who is ready to buy, predictive modeling to tell you who your next customer will be, integrations to move prospects through the sales pipeline, and more.
What is the best use of ZoomInfo?
ZoomInfo enhances your sales engagement experience. ZoomInfo is best used as a way to research and connect with prospects, with the platform providing you not only the contact information you need to reach out but also data on your prospect and their buying journey to ensure more productive, personalized conversations and communications.
What is the accuracy rate of ZoomInfo?
ZoomInfo aims to provide users with a 95% accuracy rate.
What are some basic best practices for maintaining data accuracy with ZoomInfo?
To maintain data accuracy on ZoomInfo, particularly if data has not been recently updated, you should frequently standardize your data across your sales platforms, creating consistency in your sales messaging. You should also utilize ZoomInfo’s enrichment features, which automatically standardize, deduplicate, normalize, and segment your data.
How can I use ZoomInfo’s features to improve sales prospecting?
ZoomInfo helps you build your ICP and uses predictive modeling to help you paint a picture of your next customer. Utilizing intent data, ZoomInfo can give your lead qualification a boost, which ensures that you’re spending time and effort in the right places.
From there, ZoomInfo provides you with hundreds of millions of profiles filled with contact information, but the platform also offers you segmentation options, ensuring that you’re never dealing with information overload. With ZoomInfo’s Salesflows, you can also automate pieces of the sales experience, giving your sales team back valuable time during the prospecting stage.
What are the best ways to integrate ZoomInfo data into my existing CRM system?
ZoomInfo integrates with several CRM systems, including Salesforce, HubSpot, and Zoho. You’ll integrate ZoomInfo into your CRM differently depending on which CRM you use. For an in-depth walkthrough on how to integrate ZoomInfo into your CRM, ZoomInfo offers a helpful guide to all their major integration options.
If your CRM is not on the list of integrations, you can contact ZoomInfo, which may be able to help you through a call with one of their integration engineers.
Are there any recommended frequency guidelines for updating my saved ZoomInfo searches or lists?
Saving your searches or lists is a helpful practice when using ZoomInfo. But issues can arise if you’re saving them and never returning to them. It’s generally a good rule of thumb to revisit your saved searches and lists once every 90 days.
You should also use that time to remove any searches or prospects from your lists that are no longer needed. Otherwise, your searches and lists can quickly become disorganized and filled with unhelpful information.
Remember that your prospect may not be your prospect for long. Without moving quickly, your potential buyer can move on to your competition. Especially if you’re seeing buyer intent data moving positively in your direction, you want to reach out to your prospects soon. Buyer journeys can move quickly, and you can lose out on a prospect if you simply add them to your saved list and never reach out.
