Holistic AI, the AI risk management software solution, uses Cognism’s B2B data to:
- Increase connect rate by 8% and have at least 23 connections per week using Cognism’s phone-verified Diamond Data®.
- Go from sending only 5-10 emails per week to having 1,500 weekly activities with calls and emails.
- Generate 20 opportunities in under two months from just 3 reps.
- Identify prospects with high buyer intent signals for AI compliance technology using Intent Data.
- Drive a fifth of total webinar attendees.
- Seamlessly integrate with HubSpot and SalesLoft.
Teams using: Sales
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The company
Holistic AI was co-founded in 2018 by Dr Adriano Koshiyama and Dr Emre Kazi, thought leaders in AI ethics. The AI risk management and auditing platform allows its clients to monitor and evidence AI compliance with changing regulations and standards.
Their mission is to harness AI ethically and safely for customers, which include Unilever, Cisco, and Adecco, to name a few.
The challenge
We interviewed Jordan Humphrey, SDR at Holistic AI, about his experience with Cognism.
As a relatively new start-up, they had no previous lead generation tools in place to fuel their outbound pipeline. He explained more:
“I was the first SDR hire in January 2023. Most sales were sourced via inbounds, word-of-mouth and referrals. The only way I received outbound leads was through people that downloaded our whitepaper. We quickly needed a tool that we knew would work and could provide solid ROI.”
How did Jordan discover Cognism?
“I was the initiator behind this whole process. At my previous company, I received multiple paid adverts on LinkedIn about Cognism because I often looked at sales content on there. Cognism was always on my radar.”
“In my former role, I used Lusha and LeadIQ to source outbound leads, but the mobile phone connect rates were abysmal. When I joined Holistic AI, I had a big interest in helping pick the best SDR tools to fill our sales funnel with top-quality data.”
Did they consider any other sales intelligence tools in the sales process?
“I compared Cognism against LeadIQ, Lusha, ZoomInfo and Apollo with a large emphasis placed on connection rate and data accuracy. We tested email and mobile phone quality in EMEA and the US across all databases.”
What was your reason for choosing Cognism?
“Cognism’s phone-verified Diamond Data® which is 87% accurate. This feature verifies people by calling the mobile numbers and direct dials of contacts to ensure the end-user connects with the right person.”
“The Diamond verification feature and the platform’s ease of use were the determining factors for signing with Cognism.”
The solution
Jordan, another SDR and an account executive are regular users of the platform.
What is Holistic AI’s target market?
“Any global commercial and enterprise business with an AI function is our ICP. In the smaller bracket, we speak to technical C-Suite and Director level individuals. In the larger segment, we speak to Mid-level decision-makers in the AI or legal counsel departments first, to help push the sale to the top.”
How was the onboarding with Cognism?
“The Chrome Extension LinkedIn plug-in is very self-explanatory so the set-up for this was swift. We were also trained on how to use the Sales Prospector platform for building contact lists. Being shown how to use SIC codes to narrow down the search to specific industries was super helpful.”
Jordan explained how the sales team use the platform in a few ways:
“Our AE has a 360 role and is very outbound focused. We all use the Chrome Extension to access high-quality mobiles and emails of contacts on LinkedIn. These details are automatically synced to SalesLoft sequences to take action.”
“As SDRs focused on finding pipelines for our AE, we are the main users of Sales Prospector. We build lists related to our ICP and export these contacts to SalesLoft”
“I regularly use Cognism’s Intent Data, a service to help identify accounts actively searching for our product or service online. This is built inside the platform and I use it to help prioritise accounts that are actively searching for AI compliance technology. I’ll often advise the AEs to reach out to certain companies that are showing buyer intent.”
“Occasionally we use Cognism’s B2B email addresses to drive webinar sign-ups. In our latest webinar, a fifth of the attendees stemmed from Cognism generated emails.”
What outbound channels do the sales team use to contact prospects?
“All prospecting is managed in SalesLoft using a blend of cold calling, emails and LinkedIn. I’ve found that there isn’t one channel that has more success than the other. Here’s an example: in one day I booked three meetings supported by Cognism’s data. One was booked on the phone, the other from an email and the third from a sixth follow-up email in the cadence.”
Jordan explained why he finds Cognism’s Diamond feature so impactful for cold calling:
“At my former role, I’d be on tenterhooks because I wouldn’t know if the numbers in my contact list were completely false or not. It really knocked my confidence as an SDR.”
“Cognism’s phone-verified Diamond Data® is the cream of the crop for successful cold calling. If a contact is diamond verified before I call, I’m eventually guaranteed a connection. Last week, I booked a meeting straight away on the phone from a diamond verified number. Having access to a surplus amount of valid mobiles at your fingertips gives me a lot of trust in the database.”
Compliance is very important to Holistic AI given the nature of its value proposition. How important has Cognism’s GDPR compliant B2B data been when talking to prospects?
“When I was previously using them, Lusha and LeadIQ didn’t flag if a contact was from the DNC list. Understandably, these individuals were very irritated when we called them. Cognism’s database marks all the contacts under the DNC and these are updated very frequently which gives us reassurance.”
“Cognism’s GDPR compliant reputation was proved when I booked a meeting with a prospect who was initially annoyed about being cold called. When I told them that I sourced their mobile from Cognism, they changed their tone and wanted to find out more about Holistic.AI.”
The results
We asked Jordan what success Holistic AI has seen since using the tool.
“We are seeing the most traction in the US. A core reason for this is because we have a law coming in place in July that is pushing that urgency. We are also seeing a lot of interest with well-known brands in Europe.”
“In under two months, as a team we have generated 20 opportunities from Cognism data. The tool has enabled us to scale outbound weekly actions (calls and emails) from near 0 to 1,500.”
Jordan explained the impact connect rates have had on team output:
“In the commercial segment, I have a connect rate of 8% or at least 23 connections per week. In the Enterprise market, most of our team are receiving 6.5% or at least 15 connections per week. This has made a colossal difference to overall efficiency and effectiveness.”
The top reasons why Holistic AI would recommend Cognism
1. Reduced sales cycle
“Our sales cycle varies depending on the size of the company, but Cognism helps speed up the process. Having access to a plethora of mobiles means we can multi-thread and have a better chance of securing the deal by speaking to multiple stakeholders.”
“Cognism’s mobiles have enabled us to generate more opportunities that would’ve otherwise been ignored by emails alone.”
2. Increased outbound velocity
“Cognism’s 95% email deliverability rate has ramped up outbound activity in SalesLoft. With next to no bounce rates, I’m not getting myself into sticky situations of sending 100 emails that all end in spam. To paint a picture, on average 5-10 emails were sent each week before Cognism. Now our weekly email and call activity rate is around 1,500.”
“The sterling data combined with the automatic SalesLoft integration means I can add a mass number of people in a cadence at once. Nor am I not wasting time manually exporting inaccurate contact details to the CRM.”
“Cognism allows SDRs to get on with what they are being paid to do - sell!”
3. Tip-top connect rates
“I used to make 100s of dials a day in my past job. I’d be clicking and re-dialling only to get through to a handful of people. It was not only demoralising, but I earnt less money as a result.”
“Cognism’s connection rates are night and day. As a team, we’ve seen a remarkable increase in connection rate over LeadIQ, Lusha and ZoomInfo. I’ve personally doubled the connections with significantly less dials needed.”
We asked Jordan to sum up his thoughts on Cognism:
“If you can’t get through to people on the phone, it’s nearly impossible to practise your sales pitch. With Cognism, you can speak to more people and improve your craft at the same time. This in turn, helps you, if you’re in Sales, to book more meetings and earn more money!”
“If you don’t have the right B2B data provider in your tech stack, your job will become a drain and you’ll earn less commission as a result. Cognism is a must-have!”
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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