175% increase in pipeline
Challenge
Historically, Ascent’s 5-person sales team had relied heavily on tradeshow and industry lists to fuel their prospecting efforts. However, when the pandemic hit and in-person events came to a halt, they were forced to reevaluate their existing strategy and find new ways to fill their pipeline.
“Prior to the pandemic, our sales team didn’t have the most robust tech stack or outbound strategy in place. They relied solely on incomplete lists that marketing passed over from tradeshows and they were using disparate systems for reaching out and tracking activity,” explained Katie Mahon, a Program Manager at Ascent Risk Management Group.
“When the time came when there were no more events, and no more lists, we realized we needed to do something before our pipeline disappeared.”
“Bringing on ZoomInfo and Engage has helped our company as a whole better identify best-fit prospects, serve our existing customers, and create a much more streamlined process. Our entire Sales team on average finished at 173% to our revenue goal, which is a direct result of our partnership with ZoomInfo. Since we started leveraging ZoomInfo, we’ve seen a 175% increase in our pipeline”
Katie Mahon
Program Manager
Solution
Ascent turned to ZoomInfo and its comprehensive suite of sales solutions to power their sales team with the tools and insights needed to identify, connect, and engage with their target market.
“With ZoomInfo, we can easily find prospects who fit within our ideal customer profile. The depth and breadth of the database is truly impressive. We’re able to get insights on companies that we wouldn’t be able to find anywhere else,” explained Mahon.
Not only is Ascent’s sales team leveraging ZoomInfo’s B2B database to identify the right contacts at the right fit accounts, but they are also scaling their communications with ZoomInfo’s sales engagement platform, ZoomInfo Engage, which was designed for smarter and more efficient prospecting and selling. Engage integrates with ZoomInfo’s B2B database, so users can prospect and reach out to customers and prospects from a single platform.
“Engage enables us to be smarter and more efficient with our prospecting. With automated emails, auto-dial capabilities, and the ability to set up multi-touch prospecting campaigns, we can reach more prospects in a fraction of the time,” explained Mahon. “Now we have more time to focus on selling activities.”
Additionally, with real-time analytics and reporting, Ascent’s leadership team has been able to analyze and maximize the effectiveness of their team’s prospecting efforts. “With Insights from Engage we’re able to identify optimal ways to reach out to prospects, narrow in on specific times of the day that have the highest response rates, and test different messaging to see what resonates best with potential buyers.”
The Results
With access to ZoomInfo’s portfolio of solutions, Ascent’s sales team now has the data, intelligence, and technology needed to identify, connect, and engage with the right contacts from key accounts. “My goal is four meetings a week, and currently, I’ve been averaging 6.2 meetings a week thanks to intelligence and automation from ZoomInfo and Engage,” said Mahon.
As any lean sales team knows, there’s never enough time to conduct outreach, nurture, and document email and call activity without the help of an automation tool.
“Bringing on ZoomInfo and Engage has helped our company as a whole better identify best-fit prospects, serve our existing customers, and create a much more streamlined process. Our entire Sales team on average finished at 173% to our revenue goal, which is a direct result of our partnership with ZoomInfo. Since we started leveraging ZoomInfo, we’ve seen a 175% increase in our pipeline.
