Precoa, the national leader in pre-need sales and marketing in the US, uses Cognism’s B2B data to:
- Compile target company lists and power individual prospecting through the Chrome Extension.
- Successfully book meetings using Diamond-verified phone numbers Leverage SMS as an effective outbound strategy.
- Reduce email bounce rates.
- Comply with GDPR.
Website: www.precoa.com
Number of employees: 350
Industry: Advertising Services
HQ: Portland, Oregon
Teams using: Sales
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The company
Founded in 2004, Precoa is a visionary leader in the pre-need funeral and advanced planning industry. Through their innovative approach and unwavering commitment, Precoa has quickly expanded its reach, serving families and funeral homes in over 35 states across the United States.
Precoa’s mission is to empower families to make informed, compassionate decisions during challenging times, ensuring a more secure and comforting future for all.
The challenge
We interviewed Cody Federmann, Regional Director of Business Development at Precoa, about his experience with Cognism.
Cody explained the workflows Precoa were using prior to Cognism:
“Previously, we’d just Google search ‘funeral homes’ in an area. We’d pull up their website, try to see who the owner was, and call off that. But if they didn’t have everybody listed on their website, then we were just shooting in the dark.”
“My team are like the tip of the spear; we do all the upfront first introductions. Then we put together the strategic plan for our prospect marketing.”
“Once the funeral home signs on, we hand it over to our Field Management and Support Team. They cover day-to-day operations, whereas we’re solely responsible for finding new business and bringing it on board.”
What prompted Precoa to seek a sales prospecting tool like Cognism to facilitate the US Business Development team with their prospecting?
“A consistent challenge for any of us in business development is getting past the gatekeeper. Funeral homeowners are notoriously busy because they’re often understaffed, and if they’re not understaffed, they’re overworked. So, you’ll normally get the receptionist and never get a call back.”
“So, we needed a platform where you could find their LinkedIn details or pull their mobile number and contact them directly.”
Cody added:
“My boss originally discovered Cognism. Having spent over a decade doing the same job as me, he knew the challenges.”
"So, when he had the opportunity to identify decision-makers and cut out the time-consuming work of identifying who so speak to, he told us we’d be implementing this great application that would make that process far more efficient."
The solution
What is Precoa’s target market?
“Our company is US-based and our sales team is split out regionally. I primarily cover the West Coast, so Idaho and West California.”
“We look for funeral home owners or decision-makers within the funeral home. Whether that be a general manager, owner, even the advanced funeral planner because pre-need specific is what I’m looking for.”
Six members of Precoa’s Business Development Team use Cognism.
Cody explained how they use the platform in a few different ways:
“We use a mix of web filtering for ideal customer profiling and using a preset list of companies to identify contacts efficiently.”
“I focus on using the web to pinpoint specific regions, like within California or the states I cover. I love that I can narrow it down to the state and find all the funeral homes in the area, upload their domains into Cognism, to then identify the right people to connect with on LinkedIn and start building a relationship.”
“Plus, with their contact information, I can message them in advance to let them know I’ll be visiting the area, avoiding any surprises when I walk in.”
How does Cody use the Chrome Extension?
“It's incredibly helpful. When I find someone on LinkedIn, it automatically provides me with their contact information.”
“What’s especially helpful is having their email as many people don’t have their email on their websites. Having that as a direct point of contact feels less intrusive than sending a text.”
“I can then send an email saying, ‘I stopped by a few weeks ago,’ even if they don’t recall the visit, given they interact with numerous people daily. Having their direct contact information allows me to re-introduce myself and plan a visit to spend more time with them."
How was the onboarding with Cognism?
"Our CSM provided us with a clear, step-by-step walkthrough of how best to use Cognism, making the process of adopting the tool extremely easy for us. He is readily available for any further training or assistance needed."
"The Cognism CSM was incredibly helpful and easy to work with, which made it an excellent onboarding experience."
The results
We asked Cody what success Precoa has seen since using Cognism.
“Since using Conism, I’ve definitely seen higher engagement rates. It’s opened a lot of doors and put me in front of more people to start and build a business relationship with.”
“It’s had a very positive impact overall, and just last week for example, it helped me connect to a funeral homeowner that we had never been able to reach before. Generally, the emails on a funeral home website are generic and will divert to the receptionist who are typically not responsive to sales emails, so having the owner or decision-maker’s email and contacting them directly makes a huge difference.”
He added:
“Our emails aren’t bouncing as frequently. This is definitely down to the quality of the verified emails Cognism provides.”
How effective has the Diamond Verification feature been for Precoa?
“We’ve seen good returns on the requests for Diamond Verification we’ve submitted. A lot of the time, the information is already Diamond verified, but if not, the ability to request it for a specific contact and have the Cognism team Diamond verify it, is truly great.”
“I’d probably say I’ve requested and had verified 15 to 20 direct dials. Cognism has been amazing with supplying these on demand.”
“The same goes for emails.”
Cody told us about a win:
“There was someone I’d been prospecting for two years. My colleague and I stopped by the funeral home 15 to 20 times and the owner was never in.”
“When we got Cognism, she was the first person I requested Diamond verification for. Once I got her mobile number I texted her and she immediately texted me back. Now the relationship’s actually progressing.”
“Prospecting via text has proven successful for me. Because it’s a different way for them to engage rather than the usual emails and InMails they get, and since it’s a quick and easy way for them to reply, it generates more engagement and helps me gauge their interest.”
How many meetings has Cognism helped Cody book?
“I’d say with Cognism’s emails and mobiles, I’ve booked at least 10 meetings.”
“Although our deal size varies, we generally prospect accounts with an average deal value of $ 1 million. So Cognism has been a huge success for us to help scale our business.”
The top reasons why Precoa would recommend Cognism
1. Results!
“I’d 100% recommend Cognism. I think it’s a great tool, especially for anyone in Business Development or any B2B representatives out there.”
"We all struggle getting hold of decision-makers. Cognism is such a unique tool and makes it so easy to get in front of the right people, or at least get in contact with them."
"For any company not using it, it’s definitely worth the investment. Without Cognism, you’re working so much harder than you need to. It will help your sales reps get in touch with the right people."
2. Highly-compliant Diamond Data®
"Being able to request Diamond verification and use readily available Diamond Data® is a huge benefit as you can be sure the person you’re trying to reach will be the one to pick up the phone."
"Cognism takes the burden of guessing and hunting around for someone’s direct number off your shoulders."
Cody added:
“It’s also helpful to have the ‘do not call’ list alongside verified emails, so you know their preferred method of communication and can be sure you’re remaining GDPR compliant.”
3. User-friendly and intuitive platform
"Overall, Cognism is very easy to use, which is a huge benefit. I’ve used loads of platforms in the past that’ve been so confusing, it gets to a point where there are six different steps you need to do to pull or export information."
"Cognism has done a phenomenal job of making it foolproof to utilise."
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