Re-Acquainting With an Old Friend - ZoomInfo

Re-Acquainting With an Old Friend-ZoomInfo

I had an opportunity a short time back to get re-acquainted with an old friend.  I am sorry to admit that I had not kept up the relationship and learned that my friend had gone through quite a few changes over the last few years.  Lesson learned: Stay in touch with past friends.  My old friend is ZoomInfo.

ZoomInfo LogoBack in the “day”, ZoomInfo was a primary source of  information.  Just getting the name and title of someone that I was interested in was considered a win. Making that dreaded cold call was a bit easier with Zoom.

Quite a bit has changed since I last used Zoom. They still are a quality source for names and phone numbers. There is a whole lot more available now that you should be aware of.  ZoomInfo provides an impressive library of information.

Here is what is available from ZoomInfo:

  • Breadth, depth and freshness are the key components and the foundation of ZoomInfo.  They gather data from across the web via company websites, news feeds and tens of thousands of additional online sources.  As of September of 2009, they now have over 45 million people within their system and over 5 million companies.  They update over 70,000 profiles every night!  In addition, millions of people visit their site every week and thousands register to create or claim their profile.
  • From there, Zoom applies their patented semantic search technology, and then compiles the data into profiles for either a company or an individual contact.  That is the data that is available to you for researching your prospects, learning about your customers and ensuring that your online profile is accurate.
  • The ease of access and the intuitive user interface is what has gotten me excited to be using ZoomInfo once again.  You can zoom in on your target companies or those individuals that are important to you and your efforts.

Here is what you have visible from the Company Screen:

  • You are able to search by either Company or by Individual within the company.  You have an extremely flexible set of search criteria.
  • From this screen you can add the company or individual to your Prospect List, forward the information to a colleague, find competitors and more.
  • Key summary information including Employee count, Revenue, Fortune ranking, Industry and top competitors, along with the standard contact information.
  • You can also add your own notes to the file as you develop your plan.

Here is an example of the Company View screen

Zoom Company Screen

From an individual Contact screen, only ZoomInfo provides deep information to discover leads, identify and evaluate potential prospects and that hard to find information that will help you establish rapport and add relevant value to the conversation when that time arrives.  A key advantage of using ZoomInfo is that all of the information is available within this WebTool.  No need to be moving from site to site, copying and pasting useful information from each site into your sales platform tool of choice.  For me that means Salesforce.com and another benefit that is now available from ZoomInfo is Salesforce.com integration.

Here is an Example of the Contact View Screen

Zoom Personal Screen

For me that platform is Salesforce.com.  ZoomInfo now provides seamless integration into Salesforce.com via the App Exchange from Salesforce.com.  For those of you enjoying a Salesforce.com platform, ZoomInfo is now capable of being viewed in a mashup from within Salesforce.  Your activity, communication and information are available to view and act upon directly within Salesforce.com.

Here is an example of the Salesforce.com Mashup screen

Zoom Salesforce screen

For me that platform is Salesforce.com.  ZoomInfo now provides seamless integration into Salesforce.com via the App Exchange from Salesforce.com.  For those of you enjoying a Salesforce.com platform, ZoomInfo is now capable of being viewed in a mashup from within Salesforce.  Your activity, communication and information are available to view and act upon directly within Salesforce.com.

The following is a creative example of the power, flexibility and value of ZoomInfo in use:

I am a Harley rider when I get the chance.  When planning a trip to Denver, Colorado, I went to Zoom and entered search criteria that included:

  1. Industry type
  2. Employee size
  3. Location
  4. Title that I prefer to meet with
  5. Next, I entered the word “Harley” as one of the criteria.

What comes back from the search is a list of 53 executives in the Denver area that have an executive title in the industries that I have an interest in talking with.  In addition, they also have “Harley” mentioned at least once in their profile.  As an aside, the first individual record that I clicked on was that of a CEO who mentions that “when not mountain climbing, I can be found riding my Harley FLHX…”  Just so happens that I ride the same model.  Do you think I will be able to carry an early conversation further if I happen to mention that I ride an FLHX Harley?

ZoomInfo is gaining customers and new friends in great numbers.  Here is a quote from a customer that really sums up the impact Zoom Info can deliver:

“ZoomInfo is brilliant for us.  For the first time, we can go to one single location to get everything we were accustomed to getting from multiple sources, PLUS quite a bit more.  And, with Salesforce, it really is a one-two punch.”  Tom Flynn, VP Marketing at Lavante.

I have become re-acquainted with my old friend ZoomInfo.  With the breadth, depth and freshness of the information they are able to provide, I will not be losing contact any time soon.

The team at ZoomInfo wants to show off their amazing webtools to you.  They are graciously offering to provide a special offer exclusively for readers of Fill the Funnel.  Click here and start receiving the benefits of your ZoomInfo subscription today.

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Robert Lesser, Direct Impact Marketing - 13 years ago

Hi Miles,

A good review of ZoomInfo’s capabilities.

We have used and favor ZoomInfo for many of the reasons that you have noted.

ZoomInfo’s strength is that it is both automated by crawling the web for information and manually updated by those contacts profiled on ZoomInfo.

As Annie pointed out, crawlers are only as accurate as the information that is posted on the web. The key to ZoomInfo is that folks like Annie who have concerns can manage or restrict their profile through ZoomInfo.

Robert
http://www.twitter.com/RobertLesser

Viveka von Rosen - 13 years ago

Yes – using social media for reputation management can save they day – and your Google listing. It also means there are some nefarious folks who will “steal” your identity on Social Media. Branding yourself by name of brand (I’m “LinkedInExpert”) is crucial.

Get on as many sites as you can and brand your name!

As I like to say in my classes: User Generated = User Regulated. If someone is abusing your name or your brand REPORT THEM!

LinkedIn and Twitter – and I’m sure Facebook as well are very good at “guilty until proven innocent” on people who abuse other people’s identities.

Nigel Edelshain - 13 years ago

All,

Agreed. Claim your identities and control them. There’s no way to hide now. Society has crossed that chasm. We’d rather have convenience than anonymity. I’m not trading in my EZ-Pass any time soon.

Nigel

Shannon Evans - 13 years ago

ZoomInfo and other social media and professional networking platforms are all there to be taken advantage of…either by yourself or by someone else. I do NOT work for any social media group; however, I wholeheartedly recommend that every professional go take their “handle” on the internet before someone else does. There are those who grab personal and brand names for commercial or nefarious reasons that are less than honorable but in the grand scheme of things those people are few and far between for the “common man,”
I advocate claiming your name on all levels so YOU maintain control of what goes out that represents you or your brand. So Annie, go claim that ZoomInfo listing and update it to contain accurate and up to date information that benefits you. While you are at it go to local search sites and “claim” your business listing. After you do that claim your Twitter handle and then if you don’t want to Tweet set it to “private” and let it sit…do the same for LinkedIn. If you don’t take it, someone else will and they may not be as professional in their behavior as you are and people might get confused about who you are and what you represent. If you don’t, someone else might…and then it will be a costly oversight to rectify. Just ask Coca Cola!

Mike Damphousse, Green Leads - 13 years ago

Annie,

Although I can feel your pain, most data sites such as Jigsaw, ZoomInfo, etc, provide a means for you to police your data. If you can’t find the link on their site, contact their 800 number.

That said, I’m with Miles. Manage your online presence as best you can. Manage it daily. Companies such as Zoominfo crawl the internet. If you keep yourself up-to-date online, they will keep you up-to-date in their system.

For some tips on managing your online presence, check out this blog article. It’s not 100% applicable, but it might help: http://www.damphousse.org/2009/09/lead-generation-tip-make-your-social.html

Annie - 13 years ago

You obviously work for Zoominfo. They had an unauthorized profile of me up at their site, all of the info there old or incorrect. Worse, it was up for grabs by anyone who wanted to claim it, so anyone could have assumed it and my identity in the process. I am going to do my best to have them shutdown, starting with a massive campaign on Facebook to make people aware of their underhanded tactics.

    Miles Austin - 13 years ago

    Annie, Thank you for your comments. I do NOT work for Zoominfo. i receive no compensation from them in any form. I do use and recommend their services frequently to sales organizations and individuals.

    Your reaction is becoming less common as more people come to understand the web and it’s many capabilities. Most of us engaged in business in any meaningful capacity are going to have information about us on the web. That is why I recommend that everyone “Googles” their name. Drill down past the first page or two. Click on page 57 of the results and you might be surprised (sometimes shocked) to see what information about you is available.

    I wrote a post a while back Titled “Claim your Name to Protect Your Online Presence” (http://budurl.com/zs9c) that lists sites and webtools to help you do just that. Zoominfo and others provide a professional service. They provide a process that allows you to claim your profile and make sure that it is accurate, or even to have it made unavailable if you so choose. It is important to note that Zoom did not make this information up on their own, they search public websites and simply gather, aggregate and organize what is ALREADY out there into an informative presentation.

    If you want to eliminate any and all information about you on the web, it is too late, that train has already left the station.

    My recommendation, don’t waste time with your massive campaign on Facebook. Rather, use that time and work WITH Zoominfo, LinkedIn and the thousands of other reputable companies to help you MANAGE your web presence. Embrace these capabilities and use them for your benefit.

    I am curious what others have to say on this topic?

Tweets that mention Re-Acquainting With an Old Friend - ZoomInfo -- Topsy.com - 13 years ago

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