Increasing Conversion Rates by 3x With Cognism

durhamlane, the revenue acceleration specialists, uses Cognism’s premium B2B data to:

• Increase conversion rates by 3x
• Power 50-60 calls per day on average
• Fast-track access to accurate contact details with the Chrome Extension and WebApp
• Support the satisfaction and retention from their clients

The company

durhamlane ignites demand, drives sales and accelerates revenue by providing demand generation, strategic marketing and inside sales services to some of the world’s most ambitious businesses such as, PWC, Aviva and HP. 

Their unique methodology, ‘Selling at a Higher Level’, enables customers to focus on the ​right opportunities, accelerate revenue growth and realise high-performance sales.​

They’ve helped high-growth start-ups explode, guided ​US enterprises to break ground in Europe and nurtured ​challenger brands to outperform the expectations of their size. ​

The team is passionate, ​collaborative and pioneering - dedicated to sales excellence.

The challenge

We interviewed Laura Quinn, Senior Team Leader, Ryan Iddon, Team Leader and Wiliam Nsieyanji, Sales Development Representative (SDR) at durhamlane, about their experience with Cognism. 

Ryan explained the B2B lead generation tools they used before Cognism. 

“We used a variety of different providers for data lists. In hindsight, they weren’t GDPR compliant as the information was often scraped from Companies House containing a mixture of personal and business email addresses.”

“Prior to Cognism, we predominantly used Lusha. While we had some success with the platform, we did notice some gaps which prompted us to look elsewhere.” 

“We discovered Cognism a few years ago at a SaaSGrowth Live event. After the demonstration, we noticed that Cognism had a vast array of features compared to any tool we’ve seen before. The ability to enhance data and pull data lists in one platform was a game-changer.” 

“Cognism’s functionality combined with the superb sales process made our decision to move from Lusha to Cognism an easy one!” 

The solution

At durhamlane, the SDRs use the Chrome Extension for daily prospecting whereas the sales managers build and enrich the data in the WebApp on behalf of the SDRs.

Laura described her core role with Cognism. 

“At durhamlane, the SDRs book meetings with prospects on behalf of the client. Our clients provide us with data lists which naturally have their own limitations - stale contact data and an insufficient amount of prospect information available.” 

“Through using Cognism, I can now supplement these data lists with direct dials, email addresses and any additional information to ensure our prospect lists are as in-depth as possible.” 

Laura revealed which search filters she finds most valuable.

“Here’s an example: Deloitte is one of our clients. A branch of the business is Propel, targeting start-ups and SMBs. We use the funding trigger to determine what businesses have received funding in the last 12 months. In addition to this, we also use the hiring trigger to establish if they are growing.”

“The event triggers are the cornerstone to finding highly qualified leads for our clients.”

Laura explained the seamless integration between the platform and their CRM.

“We use VanillaSoft CRM - a sales prioritisation tool. The contacts are synced from Cognism to the CRM. Within the software, the SDR can prioritise what filters they require. For example, they can select the  contacts that only have a mobile number which is generated from Cognism.”

Ryan explained how reliant he is on Cognism to do his job. 

“I’m pulling data from the platform all the time! Once I generated all of our credit allowance two days before the end of the month. This naturally caused havoc for the sales executives as they had no data to work with on the most important days of the sales month.” 

Laura added: 

“This shows how influential Cognism is for our business. We can’t do our job without it!” 

Once Laura and Ryan build the lists, the SDRs start actioning the leads. As an SDR, Will explained his day-to-day activities using Cognism. 

“My role is very cold call led. Alongside prospecting with the lists embedded in our CRM, I also use the Chrome Extension daily to find prospect mobile numbers and email addresses.” 

“The personas are very broad as it varies from customer to customer. However, the majority of our target audiences are based in the UK with some exceptions in Europe. I’ve used Cognism’s French data for mobile numbers and I was really impressed!” 

Will has seen some impressive results from Cognism’s mobile numbers.

“On average, I make about 50-60 calls per day. Cognism’s made a huge impact on my output as I skip the gatekeepers and get straight through to the decision-maker. Cognism makes my job a whole lot easier!” 

Overall, Cognism has hugely helped lift the team’s efficiency levels. Ryan explained why: 

“We used to manually trail through Excel spreadsheets and call office numbers one by one. WIth hybrid working, it’s almost impossible to get any results from ringing office numbers. Cognism’s automated functionality combined with its exceptional mobile numbers has transformed the way we do business at durhamlane.”

Laura concluded: 

“We encourage our sales team to prioritise calling mobile numbers first because we have Cognism.” 

The results

Will told us about the advantages durhamlane has seen since using Cognism.  

“It’s reduced the number of touchpoints to get past the gatekeeper. This is especially useful when prospecting to the larger organisations as there are more stakeholders involved in the sales process. Cognism’s direct dials are crucial for achieving success in this segment as I get more results from fewer touchpoints.” 

Ryan described how their conversion rates have expedited since using Cognism:

“Previously, we were generating opportunities after 10 to 12 touchpoints. With Cognism, opportunities are created after 4.”

“In July 2022, we booked 249 meetings across 40 clients averaging 6 meetings per month for each client using Cognism’s data.”

The top reasons why durhamlane would recommend Cognism

1. World-class data enrichment

Ryan said:

“Cognism is the one place where you’re able to source your data but also enrich it. In my mind it’s the only B2B data provider I’ve come across that does this.”

2. Huge time saver

Will explained: 

“At the click of a button, I’m able to generate a list of highly targeted prospects to reach out to. I no longer have to trail through Excel sheets guessing mobile numbers.” 

Ryan added: 

“When I was a sales executive 4 years ago, I built the data one-by-one and mainly rang office numbers, wasting an enormous amount of time. It’s astonishing I even had any success then compared to what we gain now.”

3. Client satisfaction and retention

“Our goal is to renew contracts and achieve high customer satisfaction scores. Our clients are happy because we’re winning a consistent stream of new business for them as a result of booking meetings from Cognism’s highly accurate database. This has a ripple effect on the success of our business.” 

Laura concluded that: 

“Cognism is a one-stop-shop of all the B2B data providers in one succinct platform. The tool has revolutionised the output of our sales team, making prospecting easier and more fun!”

Try Cognism’s sales intelligence solution

Over 3,000 revenue teams around the world trust Cognism to:

✅ Build qualified B2B contact databases

✅ Plan and launch their outbound campaigns

✅ Power up their social selling

✅ Meet and beat their revenue targets

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