Henderson Scott, the award-winning digital and technology recruitment firm, uses Cognism’s B2B data to:
- Leverage Diamond Data® for outbound prospecting.
- Narrow down target audiences using the hiring, company events and funding triggers.
- Achieve optimal product adoption amongst the sales team.
- Work in conjunction with LinkedIn Recruiter and Bullhorn CRM.
Teams using: Sales
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The company
Henderson Scott is an international provider of award-winning talent solutions, delivering outstanding results to clients and candidates in the UK, Europe, USA and APAC regions. They operate across 6 offices, employing over 100 staff and with turnover in excess of £25 million.
The agency specialises in placing digital, technology and commercial professionals globally and is a sister company to Search (www.search.co.uk), a multi-national organisation which delivers to over 20 disciplines.
The challenge
We interviewed Richard Caldicott, IT Director at Henderson Scott, about his experience with Cognism.
What outbound lead generation did Henderson Scott carry out before Cognism?
“We were early adopters of Lusha and used the platform for at least five years. While it served a purpose at the time, we outgrew the product and soon realised that we needed a B2B data provider more centred around compliance.”
How did they discover Cognism?
“One of our recruiters was aware of the company and told me: “We’ve got to try Cognism, it’s epic.”
Richard explained the main reasons why they pivoted from Lusha to Cognism.
1. Superb trial results
“In the evaluation stage, we trialled Cognism’s Diamond Data®. This is phone-verified mobile data with 87% accuracy.”
“We tested the data using three different parts of the business to vet the consistency and quality of data. The trial went the extra mile and surpassed our expectations.”
2. Ease of use
“As an IT Director, my role is managing the IT systems and being the catalyst between the technology and business processes. I’ve always tried to understand people's job roles and assess how technology can be used to make their day-to-day work more efficient.”
“The platform’s ease of use ticked this box, which is why we went down the Cognism path.”
3. Leading compliant B2B database
“We expanded as a business a few years ago. This meant we were speaking to different parts of the world and dealing with different compliance laws more regularly.”
“We promote ourselves as a high-quality, ethical business, and it’s important that our investments with external vendors follow this mantra. Investing in a leading compliant B2B database like Cognism simply fits the bill.”
“When I was tasked to find a B2B sales software for the SDRs, I knew what I was looking for and Cognism ticked every box. There was no need to evaluate any other provider.”
“After an initial successful trial and some due diligence, we signed and the rest is history.”
The solution
As Henderson Scott’s IT Director, Richard oversees the strategic relationship with Cognism while ensuring the UK sales team is adopting the tool as much as possible.
How did Richard find the technical implementation and onboarding setup?
“We’re cloud-based, so deploying the extension via Microsoft Intune was easy peasy. This meant the transition from Lusha to Cognism was painless. It was simply a case of switching one off and one on.”
“The team was up and running within a week. The rapidness of the onboarding was fantastic as the sales team experienced no delays in their workload.”
What Cognism products do the sales team use?
“Our entire UK sales team uses Cognism every day.”
“When I rolled out the platform, I ensured they all had the Diamond feature turned on. This is because the functionality allows them to work with verified data so they can prioritise outreach and cold call prospects who are more likely to pick up the phone.”
“The accuracy of the data means I receive next to no complaints from the team, which makes my life easier!”
What is their target market?
“As a recruitment company, we have two different audiences. Firstly, we use the platform to find the hiring managers to recruit into. Secondly, we use the database to source candidates to fill open job roles.”
“While the sales team is based in the UK, they operate internationally and use Cognism to target a global audience.”
Richard explained the sales team's workflow with Sales Prospector.
“The team uses the platform to source contact information. Typically, they’ll build a list, export the CSV, send it to me, and I use the Bullhorn Upload Tool to map the fields and import the data to our Bullhorn CRM.”
What Cognism filters have facilitated Henderson Scott with laser-focused targeting?
“Within Cognism, you can see if a company is hiring, has been recently acquired or has received a round of investment.”
“Additionally, filtering company size in the platform is great for understanding how business hierarchies are laid out. These are all fantastic buying signals for us.”
The sales team also uses the Cognism Chrome Extension daily in Edge. Richard told us:
“The Cognism browser extension is part of the standard deployment package of any new sales starter that joins the business. This is because they use the Chrome Extension with LinkedIn Recruiter and Bullhorn.”
“The ability to use all three technologies at once allows them to fulfil roles and get clients faster.”
What channels do the sales team use to start conversations with prospects?
“LinkedIn InMails is the main method of communication. When this doesn’t work, they’ll pull an email address from Cognism and email them directly. We insist they add a Candidate Record in Bullhorn first so we have that email tracking piece.”
“This ensures that any messages that go in and out of our environment are stored and documented.”
Richard praised how much Cognism has made his life easier.
“Internal departments are very vocal when a technology doesn't go well. In the IT world, the fewer complaints I get, the better the product is.”
“Having Cognism’s verified data piece saves the team a colossal amount of time and embarrassment when they know they aren’t contacting the wrong person.”
“Cognism is hassle-free and I get no criticisms about the platform, which means the investment was the right decision!”
The top reasons why Henderson Scott would recommend Cognism
1. Remarkable customer support
“It’s very easy to sell a SaaS product and not engage with the customer until the renewal date.”
“With Cognism, we have regular customer success meetings. These are invaluable as we review the team’s usage statistics and assess who could benefit from some assistance. This saves me from investigating this myself as Cognism already does the legwork for me.”
2. High product adoption
“It’s very easy to spend an extortionate amount of money on tech and flog it off after a year due to low product adoption.”
“The swift onboarding has set the tone for the rest of the Cognism relationship. Close contact with our customer success manager means that the team has regular bespoke training and is getting bang for their buck.”
3. Buy-in from senior management
“Technology investments have to get buy-in from the key stakeholders within the business before purchasing. They could be huge product advocates but also can detract your investment.”
“Whenever we do trials with vendors, I always carefully handpick the people I want to include because they’re the ones I need on-side for when we roll out the product. After the trial's success, the entire senior management team was bought into Cognism.”
“I don’t want to spend a shedload of money on tech that isn’t going to be used. Cognism is more than just another piece of tech; it’s a worthwhile investment.”
What advice would Richard give to other IT Directors considering Cognism?
1. Do your research
“There is a ton of tech out there, so it’s important to ensure that the product you’re investing in matches your brief. Do your due diligence and you won’t be disappointed.”
2. Partner with a compliant B2B data vendor
“It’s critical to cover your back when it comes to compliance to protect yourself and the business.”
“When we first invested in a lead generation tool six years ago, Lusha was the main, if not only, player on the market. It was great at the time because not many other companies had tech like this. But over time, we realised its non-compliant data had the potential to get us into a lot of hot water.”
“Cognism is our comfort blanket when it comes to compliance.”
“Whenever a prospect asks where we get their data from, we can confidently say that we’ve sourced their information from a reputable ISO 27001 and SOC Type II certification data company.”
“With Cognism, you aren’t snowing yourself under with ICO complaints. I couldn’t recommend it enough.”
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