Waterfall enrichment, explained
Waterfall enrichment asks several data providers for the same phone number or email, one after another, and stops at the first one that finds it. You get the combined coverage of all your providers while only paying for the lookups you need.
- No single provider has everyone, so a waterfall covers the gaps one provider leaves
- It stops at the first find, so later providers are only paid for when earlier ones miss
- Order providers by what works for you, then check which ones' numbers actually get answered
How a waterfall works
Imagine three providers, A, B and C. For each person missing a number, the waterfall asks A first. If A finds a mobile, it's written and the waterfall stops: B and C are never asked, and you spend nothing with them. If A misses, B is asked, and so on.
Phone and email usually have separate waterfalls, because the best provider for mobiles is often not the best for emails.
Why teams use one
- Coverage. Each provider is strong in different regions, roles and company sizes. Together they find people any one would miss.
- Cost. Because it stops at the first find, you can put a cheaper provider first and keep a pricier one as a fallback.
- No manual lookups. Started automatically, for example when someone joins a cadence, it needs no rep effort.
How to order your providers
There's no universal best order. Two common starting points:
- Cheapest first, when you're watching spend and your providers are similar.
- Best first, when quality matters more, for example mobiles for senior people.
Then measure. The useful question isn't "who found a number?" but "whose numbers got answered?". A provider can have a high hit rate and a poor connect rate, and the same provider can do differently at step 1 and step 3.
What to watch for
- Overwriting. By default a waterfall should only fill empty fields.
- Paying twice. Someone on two cadences shouldn't be looked up twice, and a no-match should wait before it's tried again.
- Markups. Some tools sell their own credits for a built-in waterfall. With "bring your own keys", you pay each provider directly at your own price.
- Running dry. Keep an eye on each provider's balance; an empty one quietly stops finding anything.
Pulsar Enrich builds phone and email waterfalls from 19 providers on your own keys, stops at the first find, waits 30 days before retrying a no-match, and shows every provider's balance. See Pulsar Enrich
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