PerformanSe, a specialist in soft skills and assessment sciences, uses the Cognism platform to:
- Obtain targeted contacts.
- Detect new opportunities and expand lead generation.
- Create lists of prospects for international markets such as France, Italy, Spain and the Benelux countries.
- Support Account Managers in prospecting for key accounts.
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The company
PerformanSe was founded 35 years ago in Nantes and specialises in soft skills assessment. It now has an international presence and specifically targets HR, recruitment, and skills assessment agencies, as well as schools.
By assessing current and future employees’ soft skills, PerformanSe aims to get to know current and future employees better so that they can make informed decisions on recruitment, individual or group skills development, assessment, and career management.
They offer 100% web-based solutions, with behavioural assessments, 360° feedback and assessment centres. The company stands out for its ISO 27001 certification, which guarantees the quality of its information management.
The challenge
We interviewed Corentin Guillet, Account Manager and Sales Manager, who has been with PerformanSe since 2015.
Corentin manages sales development in the Nouvelles Aquitaine and Occitanie regions and heads up the 3-strong Lead Generation sales team. Working closely with marketing, this team:
- Receives incoming requests via the website.
- Generates meetings for the account managers in the various territories.
- Handles the sales process directly for companies with fewer than 500 employees.
- Manages magnet leads.
- Organises the promotion of physical events to acquire new prospects.
Corentin also manages the cross-functional part, which involves the tools, processes and procedures for increasing lead generation and appointments and extending the acquisition funnel.
What challenges led to the need for a new tool?
Corentin has been managing the Lead Gen team since the beginning of 2023. When he joined he had the opportunity to ask the team what could be improved.
Corentin said:
“By asking ourselves what might be missing from the lead gen team and the account managers, we were able to highlight the need to have direct links with the people we were targeting.”
In addition to this objective, Corentin told us that he wants to:
- Broaden the scope of prospecting and detect new opportunities.
- Identify contacts for highly targeted objectives, such as completing a trip to a specific town, etc.
What tools did PerformanSe use before Cognism?
Corentin explains that there were no suppliers in place before Cognism, apart from Kaspr, which was only used by one member of staff.
Corentin adds that the teams were already using Lemlist for prospecting.
The solution
PerformanSe uses Cognism in all the markets it covers: France, Italy, Spain and the Benelux countries.
In France, Corentin uses it in several ways. He has invested in:
- Generating lists of targeted prospects.
- Enriching LinkedIn contacts and obtaining direct numbers.
- Integration with Lemlist to feed prospecting sequences.
- Integrating AI to quickly generate contact lists or find the details of a particular prospect.
How does PerformanSe use Cognism?
Corentin said:
“Cognism allows us to have direct links to targeted people, such as the HR Manager of a specific company, and to broaden our range of possibilities in terms of prospecting.”
In addition to more traditional lead generation processes, PerformanSe also uses Cognism to organise events. The team organises lunches for clients and prospects alike. With around fifteen places available, the Lead Gen team also offers this event to Cognism contacts, with the aim of refreshing the contact base.
PerformanSe also uses Cognism during prospecting challenges organised by Corentin. Every month, teams from all countries get together to carry out cold calling sessions.
The prospects contacted during these challenge days can come from lists already built up (webinar registrations, content downloads, etc.) or from lists created with Cognism. The tool provides the raw material needed for these internal competitions to run smoothly.
The results
PerformanSe has been using Cognism since April 2024. Corentin told us:
“I don’t have any specific KPIs yet, but one thing’s for sure: we’re getting contacts that we wouldn’t have been able to obtain otherwise.”
“We’ve had conversations with targets that weren’t accessible by any other means. We focus on the quality of our contacts, not the volume. In that respect, it’s a success!”
Why PerformanSe recommends Cognism
Corentin highlighted the quality of Cognism’s customer support:
“We’re very happy with the follow-up provided by the Cognism team. The business relationship is very smooth and straightforward. The team is responsive, transparent and we have regular updates.”
The decisive reason for PerformanSe choosing Cognism was opting for a tool that was compatible with its ISO 27001 certification. The company is committed to a quality approach to its information security management system.
Data compliance was assessed by the company and its quality manager. Cognism complies with the level of prospecting quality that PerformanSe wishes to maintain.
Try Cognism’s sales intelligence solution
Over 3,000 sales and marketing teams around the world trust Cognism to:
✅ Build their ICP and discover their ideal buyers
✅ Connect with decision-makers in accounts that are ready to buy
✅ Plan and launch their outbound campaigns
✅ Power up their social selling
✅ Meet and beat their revenue targets
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