Most companies gravitate towards B2B data providers based on the sheer volume of their records. But a bigger database doesn’t necessarily equate to better B2B data quality. Additionally, you could end up locked into a year-long contract with not-so-transparent pricing models and hidden fees.
Today, B2B data degrades by an average of 2.1% every month. As a result, data that was accurate during your initial evaluation can quickly become outdated. This can drastically slow down sales and marketing, lead to missed opportunities, and ultimately erode customer trust.
Before you arrive at a decision, look beyond the number of records and ask the following questions to evaluate your B2B data provider accurately.
Data Quality & Accuracy
1. How accurate is the data for your specific ICP?
General accuracy rates don’t tell you enough or are too broad for your ICP. Ask for accuracy guarantees specifically for your ICP. For instance, if you are targeting 50 specialized professionals across New Jersey, your vendor’s ability to identify relevant accounts within the segment matters more than the overall accuracy percentage of the database. Ask your B2B database provider if they can match the exact criteria, such as:
- Name
- Email ID & Phone number
- Job title and seniority
- Industry
- Company size
- Annual revenue
- Location
- Technology usage
- Department or job function
2. How often is the data refreshed?
B2B contact information regularly changes. Companies close, get acquired, or merge; employees receive promotions; and people switch jobs or move offices. This means contact information that was valid a few months ago isn’t as useful as it is today. Ask how often the B2B data provider updates its information on email addresses, phone numbers, job titles, etc.
3. How is the data aggregated?
A B2B contact data provider who cannot explain where they source their data is a red flag. Ask if the vendor relies on a single source or consolidates information from multiple sources. Ask whether they verify records prior to delivery.
Validation can involve cross-checking from sources such as publicly available business information, business directories, company websites, email & phone verification, and human research. Understanding this process helps you determine if you are purchasing a thoughtfully maintained database or simply receiving records.
4. What happens if you find incorrect or outdated data?
Well-maintained B2B databases may still include expired records since their last verification. Notice how the vendor responds and what data-cleansing guarantees they can offer for invalid email addresses, wrong phone numbers, incorrect job titles, duplicate contacts, and defunct companies.
Check whether they can replace outdated contacts with fresh ones or offer a refund policy. Most importantly, ensure that the provider takes responsibility after making a deal.
5. Can you test the data against your own records before committing?
The most effective way to gauge the quality of a business data provider is to check their contacts. Request a sample based on your ICP. Assess the sample for contact accuracy, ICP relevance, field completeness, email verification, and data you already know. Subsequently, calculate the match rate. If they are unable to identify contacts for an acceptable benchmark of your known accounts, they’ll likely run into similar deficiencies.
Coverage, Relevance & Compliance
6. How much of your actual target market is covered?
Large databases and big volumes seem appealing and look good on paper, but sometimes you miss out on the fact that these contacts might not be useful for your business at all. Give the database provider a clear definition of your target market. Now see how many companies and contacts you have available in that case. It will show you how realistic the database coverage is for you.
7. Which data fields are available for the accounts you care about?
Check if B2B providers can provide the data fields that you require:
- Firmographic data: Company size, location, industry, and revenue.
- Demographic data: Job title, seniority, and direct contact info.
- Technographic data: Software applications, platforms, and tools the company uses.
- Intent data: B2B intent signals, which companies are actively looking for solutions like yours.
Ask whether the provider can provide the specific data fields you need for your target accounts
8. Where is the data sourced from?
Ask the provider to share an explanation regarding the categories of sources from which they’ve collected the information for curating a B2B database and how the process of gathering information takes place, right from sourcing to validation till it reaches the end user in the form of a database.
9. How are GDPR, CCPA compliance, opt-outs, and data deletion requests executed?
Compliance should be a part of the purchasing discussion prior to data ingestion into your system. Ask the B2B data provider about the legal basis for processing the sourced data. Enquire how they handle GDPR & CCPA requirements, data access requests, data correction, data deletion, and opt-outs.
You can reasonably expect a good data vendor to explain how requests, suppressions, and removals are handled. Ultimately, your organization is liable for assessing the legal requirements that apply to your specific campaigns and use of purchased data.
10. How is data quality and coverage proven for your target market?
A provider may perform well for law firms in the USA but have limited coverage or lower data quality for European health organizations. Each market should be evaluated independently. Ask for evidence in the form of a custom sample, record counts per segment, geographic coverage, fields available, and the replacement policy to assess the quality and coverage of data.
Integration, Cost & Vendor Risk
11. How easily will the data integrate with your existing sales and marketing stack?
Before purchasing the data, think about how you intend to use the data and confirm whether the B2B data provider can deliver it in formats compatible with your current process, such as CSV, XLS, or TXT. Ask them if the data can be imported into Salesforce, HubSpot, Marketo, an email marketing system, or your own CRM. You want to ensure that you can sync your data smoothly and use it without hassle.
12. How are duplicate and conflicting records prevented?
Ask how the B2B provider identifies and eliminates duplicate data. Check whether they standardize the data, assign unique identifiers, and verify it from multiple sources. This is important for businesses purchasing data on a recurring basis. Effective data acquisition helps ensure CRM hygiene, prevent conflicting records, and boosts sales rep confidence in their leads.
13. What will you pay per usable record?
Not all B2B data providers that offer the lowest rates provide the best value. Take, for instance, Vendor A and Vendor B.
Vendor “A” offers services at affordable rates but provides a high volume of irrelevant and invalid data.
Whereas Vendor “B” is more expensive but provides accurate, relevant contacts that match your ideal customer profile.
In other words, your cost per record should be based on usable contacts.
14. What guarantees do you get if the data doesn’t meet your expectations?
Ask this question before signing the agreement: what if the received dataset is filled with multiple invalid records?
The B2B data provider must be able to provide deliverability guarantees, record replacement or refund credits, data correction, and account assistance. Review the terms and conditions thoroughly. Know what fields are guaranteed, what an invalid record is, how soon you should notify them of a problem, and what will be done about it. Ensure you have a guarantee in writing.
15. What happens if you decide to leave?
Before signing up for subscriptions and agreements, review the terms that apply when you decide to terminate the relationship. Check whether you retain access to or full usage rights for the data you have exported, and whether any restrictions apply after termination. Also check if you have to pay hefty cancellation fees once you decide to terminate the contract early and whether there are any auto-renewal clauses buried in their contracts. Ask your vendor for a simple opt-out process.
This is very crucial, as your prospecting processes shouldn’t rely on a vendor whom you cannot work with.
Conclusion
Choosing a B2B data provider is more than the size of the databases or the number of contacts on a pricing page. It boils down to how accurate and fresh your data is, if it covers your target market, and if it complies with GDPR policies. Asking these 15 questions can help you determine a provider that fits your ICP, supports your sales and marketing goals, and delivers reliable data you can actually use. This can help sales reps spend less time searching for prospects and focus on converting them.
