SUB1, a data centre developer with a difference, uses Cognism to:
- Improve mobile data quality by 80%.
- Increase email open rates by 38% and reply rates to 29%.
- Maximise pipeline revenue to 6-7 figures.
- Save 5-7 hours per week in manual work.
- Gain access to accurate mobile numbers with Diamond Data®.
- Create 4 opportunities in month 1.
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The company
SUB1 is a data centre developer whose mission is to transform how technology companies access high-performance infrastructure.
Unlike traditional colocation providers that operate on multi-year development timelines, SUB1 focuses on delivering AI-ready capacity in the near term - both faster and more cost-effectively.
By redeveloping suitable brownfield sites in industrial estates and business parks, SUB1 can rapidly deploy high-performance data centres. These facilities are designed for single-occupier use, available for purchase or exclusive lease, enabling companies to establish dedicated infrastructure without the long wait or high costs associated with greenfield developments.
Which teams use Cognism?
SUB1 has a small sales team. Initially, they used low-cost data providers, including Apollo and TAMI, to gather prospect data.
Now, they maximise sales with Cognism’s more effective data and tools.
The challenge
We interviewed Stevie Howlett, Director of Business Development at SUB1. He is responsible for creating prospecting lists.
We discussed how Cognism’s services have significantly improved the company’s sales efforts.
How did you first find out about Cognism?
“There was a lot of noise on LinkedIn about Cognism, and I also purchased Alice de Courcy’s book (The Diary of a First-Time CMO).”
“I first used Cognism when I managed a 20-30 person SDR team at a large tech company and had a good experience with them.”
“When I joined SUB1, we needed to reduce our costs, so we used TAMI as our data provider. They were very good with ecommerce, so unfortunately, Cognism lost out.”
What problems was SUB1 trying to solve?
“I wanted to keep costs down at SUB1, so I was happy to get good deals with TAMI and Apollo. However, they both lacked accurate contact data.”
“I needed instant access to mobile numbers so I could reach VPs of Real Estate, CTOs, CEOs and owners to close multi-million-pound deals each year. Neither Apollo nor TAMI could give me that.”
“TAMI was only strong on email addresses but not on mobile numbers. With a mobile number, you can connect to a person pretty quickly. When you don’t have that phone number, it becomes difficult to run searches and contact the right people.”
“It took me 6 months to realise that I should have implemented Cognism straight away.”
The solution
How does SUB1 use Cognism?
“At SUB1, we use Cognism’s Browser Extension and Diamond Data®. I can’t recommend Diamond Data® highly enough - it helps us find phone data, test it, and check its accuracy without relying on AI. This is a significant USP that none of their competitors offer.”
“Pipedrive is our main CRM. We use Cognism’s data for sales outreach and intent-based marketing through an AI SDR tool. This is a very handy feature as it enables us to run specific intent signals, meaning we can target data centre requirements.”
Who is SUB1’s ICP/target audience?
“Our audience is primarily colocation operators, cloud providers, AI companies, cyber security companies and tech companies.”
“Since using Cognism, we can now get hold of VPs of Real Estate and C-suite executives in our target industries. Previously, it was a huge challenge getting access to these people.”
In terms of geography, Stevie said:
“Our focus is on the UK, but we target locations in Europe and the US as well.”
How does Cognism perform against its competitors?
Stevie explained:
“By using Cognism’s data tools, we can now obtain direct access to key mobile numbers that we couldn’t get hold of before.”
“Apollo gave us inaccurate data, especially in the EU. You can have a decent email address with a good reply rate, but with a mobile number, you can connect to a person immediately.”
The results
How has Cognism helped SUB1?
Stevie outlined the role Cognism has played in delivering data-driven value:
“Cognism’s data and features like its Browser Extension and Diamond Data® have helped us massively. Since using Cognism, we’ve seen an 80% increase in mobile data quality compared to Apollo. We reach key decision-makers like VPs of Real Estate and CTOs, boosting our email reply rates from 2-5% to over 20%.”
“We’re incredibly grateful to Cognism for helping us generate 7-figure opportunities.”
“In the last 30 days, we’ve booked 4 meetings that have turned into qualified opportunities, all thanks to using Cognism’s data. Given that we typically close 1 or 2 deals per year in this industry, that is a brilliant result.”
Stevie described how Cognism has generated significant time savings for SUB1:
“Thanks to Cognism, we’ve saved an estimated 5-7 hours per week that were previously spent searching for the right contact information.”
“With Cognism, what used to be a time-consuming manual process is now instant with just a few clicks.”
Have there been any intangible benefits to having Cognism?
Stevie told us:
“Since I’ve had good experiences using Cognism in the past, my team are now huge supporters of the tool. It’s reassuring to know we have direct access to high-quality data, especially mobile numbers, so we can reach the right people quickly.”
“We’ve found the sales process runs seamlessly for us!”
How did SUB1 find Cognism’s onboarding process?
Stevie talked us through his onboarding experience:
“The onboarding process at Cognism has been very smooth, especially because I had prior experience with the tool. Throughout the entire time, I’ve found the team to be very friendly and helpful.”
“We are big fans of Cognism’s data and the people, too!”
Why SUB1 recommends Cognism
Stevie told us why he would recommend Cognism:
“Would I recommend Cognism? Yeah, I absolutely would! I’ve already referred Cognism to another company in Europe that lacks data. They’re particularly interested in Cognism’s European coverage.”
Stevie concluded:
“Cognism is working really well for us!”
