Best Crowd Sourced Data Provider
November 08, 2017
Best Crowd Sourced Data Provider
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with Data.com
I have used Data.com over the past five years. Currently I use it individually as a resource to find contacts. Even if the exact person you are looking for is not in their database many times you can get an email of another person at the organization and use the email syntax to get the person's direct email.
- Robust crowd sourced database that generally provides accurate information. This is a great help for general searches looking for specific titles.
- Easy to add companies and contacts to earn points. The ability to earn points by adding either a .csv or individual contacts is a great feature for individuals who want to be able to find new contact info for free. I've never spent a cent on data and have been able to get thousands of contacts.
- Using Data.com is very intuitive. They did a good job with site layout and even a new user should be able to easily navigate the site and features.
- Bad data. As with any crowd sourced database, the quality degrades over time. While you can mark a contact as having left the company, if you purchase contacts in bulk it can be cumbersome to go back in and mark them all as bad data to get your points back. Perhaps allowing to mark numerous contacts at bad at once would be helpful.
- Manipulated data. People adding bad data or editing existing contacts intentionally to get points. I come across this a lot, and have had contacts I've added marked as no longer with company when they are. I always go back in and fix it, however not all users are vigilant about this which means there are a lot of non-searchable contacts that are actually still viable.
- As I have never spent money on data.com the positives far outweigh the negatives of the site and I have been able to generate a ton of leads with the good data I've found.
- Obviously if you are investing money into the site and bulk downloading large numbers of contacts having anywhere from 25-40% bad data isn't ideal. It's acceptable when you are using it on a smaller scale and for free but I would not spend money building lists off of the site.
The other crowd sourced data provider I've used is ZoomInfo. ZoomInfo generally has more direct numbers, however it appears as if they've done away with their free tier. The other downside of Zoom was you give them access to your email for them to data mine contacts. On the free tier you only got 10 contacts a month while they could add every contact in your email to their database.
Data.com is far superior in that on the free tier you get out what you put in, as well as earn points based on other users buying the contacts you've added in. So to compare the two, although ZoomInfo had better phone numbers, you were extremely limited in what you could get out of it compared to what they took and access they require. Data.com blows it out of the water for free users, and I'm not even sure ZoomInfo has a free tier anymore.
Data.com is far superior in that on the free tier you get out what you put in, as well as earn points based on other users buying the contacts you've added in. So to compare the two, although ZoomInfo had better phone numbers, you were extremely limited in what you could get out of it compared to what they took and access they require. Data.com blows it out of the water for free users, and I'm not even sure ZoomInfo has a free tier anymore.
Data.com (discontinued) Feature Ratings
Evaluating Data.com and Competitors
- Prior Experience with the Product
- Positive Sales Experience with the Vendor
The ability to get data for free is huge, and they give back not only what you put in pointswise, but also give you points based on other users buying your contacts. So there is a ton of potential to earn a lot of free data simply by uploading contacts and companies you have information on.
I wouldn't change anything. Based on my experience Data.com gives you far more than other "free" data providers and doesn't require granting them access to your email. Data.com has far and away been the best provider for free data and is not at all intrusive. You get at least what you put in, if not more. There was no other provider out there that came close.
Data.com Support
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Quick Resolution Good followup Knowledgeable team Problems get solved No escalation required Immediate help available Support understands my problem Quick Initial Response | None |
Truly any time I've had a question their support team has been phenomenal at giving me a good answer quickly. Especially when you compare Data.com's support to the support for parent platform Salesforce who has terrible support. If they could have even a fraction of Data.com's thoroughness and speed on support issues it would increase it's value so much more.
Using Data.com
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
Like to use Relatively simple Easy to use Technical support not required Well integrated Consistent Quick to learn Convenient Feel confident using Familiar | None |
- Searching for companies or contacts
- Adding companies or contacts
- Editing existing contacts or companies
- None I've experienced