How to enrich your sales pipeline with contact data from Zoominfo

If your sales pipeline feels thin, you’re not alone. Most B2B teams have the same problem: not enough good contacts, too many dead ends, and a CRM full of bad data. That’s where tools like Zoominfo come in. This guide is for sales and marketing folks who want to use Zoominfo to actually fill their pipeline with real, useful contacts—not just pad their lists with names that go nowhere. We’ll break down what works, what doesn’t, and how to avoid wasting your time (and budget).

1. Figure Out If You Really Need Zoominfo

Before you start, take a hard look at your current contact data:

  • Are you missing key decision-makers?
  • Is your CRM full of outdated or incomplete info?
  • Are your reps spending more time searching for contacts than actually selling?

If you answered “yes” to any of these, Zoominfo might help. But don’t just assume it’s a silver bullet. It’s pricey, and if your team isn’t actually going to use the data, you’ll burn money fast. Free or lower-cost tools might get you 80% of the way there—so check what you really need.

Pro tip: Ask your sales reps for examples of the contacts they wish they had. That’ll tell you if your problem is really about data, or if it’s something else (like bad targeting, or a weak offer).

2. Get Clear on Your Ideal Customer Profile

Zoominfo can give you a firehose of contacts. That’s not always a good thing. Before you even log in, get specific about:

  • Which industries you’re after
  • Company sizes
  • Job titles (be picky here—“VP” means nothing if you’re selling to IT)
  • Geographic regions, if that matters

Write these down. If you don’t, you’ll end up with a list of 10,000 “leads” and no idea where to start.

What doesn’t work: Vague filters. “Decision makers in tech” is too broad. You’ll end up with a bunch of people who don’t care about your product.

3. Set Up Zoominfo (Without Getting Overwhelmed)

When you first open up Zoominfo, it’s easy to get lost. Resist the urge to export giant lists right away. Start with these steps:

  1. Use Advanced Filters
    Zoominfo’s filtering is powerful. Use it. Filter by:
  2. Title (get specific: “Director of IT Security,” not just “IT”)
  3. Company headcount
  4. Recent hiring, funding, or tech stack (if relevant)

  5. Location

  6. Run Small Searches First
    Start with a handful of companies or contacts. Download a sample and check:

  7. Are these people really in your target market?

  8. Is the info up to date?

  9. Spot Check for Duplicates
    Zoominfo claims their data is “fresh,” but there are always duplicates—especially if you’ve bought lists before. Upload a sample to your CRM and see how much overlap you have.

Pro tip: Don’t be afraid to ask your Zoominfo rep for help. They want you to succeed (and to renew). Get them to show you the ropes, not just send you to a help doc.

4. Export Contact Data—But Don’t Dump It Straight Into Your CRM

This is where most teams mess up. They export a huge list and upload it straight into Salesforce or HubSpot. Suddenly, their CRM is a mess of bad data, angry reps, and wasted outreach.

Instead:

  • Export in Batches: Start with 50–200 contacts. Not thousands.
  • Validate Before Importing: Have a human (yes, really) spot-check for:
  • Obvious errors or weird formatting
  • Contacts who don’t fit your ICP

  • Duplicates already in your CRM

  • Tag or Segment Imports: Use a custom field (“Source: Zoominfo 2024-06”) so you always know where these contacts came from.

What doesn’t work: Letting automation do all the work. No tool is perfect—if you don’t check, you’ll end up with junk that annoys your team and your prospects.

5. Enrich, Don’t Overwrite: Updating Existing Records

Your CRM probably has a lot of stale info. Zoominfo can help, but approach with caution.

  • Don’t overwrite everything.
    If you just let Zoominfo update every field, you could lose valuable notes, custom data, or even break integrations.

  • Map fields carefully.
    Decide what Zoominfo should update (email, title, phone) and what it should leave alone (custom fields, lead status).

  • Test with a small segment.
    Try out enrichment on a few records and see what happens. Look for:

  • Broken formatting
  • Data that doesn’t match what you already know
  • Any lost information

Pro tip: Talk to your CRM admin before you turn on any auto-enrichment. They’ll thank you.

6. Actually Use the Data—Don’t Just Collect It

Here’s the part most teams skip. You got new contacts—now what? Make sure your sales and marketing teams actually use the data:

  • Assign contacts to reps. Don’t let them sit in limbo.
  • Personalize outreach. Don’t blast everyone with the same generic email. Use the extra data (job title, recent company news, etc.) to tailor your approach.
  • Track what works. Create a simple report: Which Zoominfo-sourced contacts are converting? Which are bouncing? Adjust your filters and process based on real results.

What doesn’t work: Buying lists and hoping for magic. No contact data—no matter how “verified”—will fix a broken outreach strategy.

7. Keep It Clean: Regularly Audit and Update

Data goes stale fast. People change jobs every year (or more). Here’s how to avoid building a junkyard:

  • Schedule quarterly audits. Pull a random sample and check if emails bounce or titles have changed.
  • Remove or revalidate bad contacts. Don’t be afraid to delete.
  • Update your process. If you’re seeing a lot of bad data, tweak your filters or talk to your Zoominfo rep.

Pro tip: If your bounce rate goes up or your reps start complaining, don’t ignore it. That’s your signal to tighten things up.

What to Ignore (Mostly)

Not every Zoominfo feature is worth your time. Here’s what you can skip, at least at first:

  • Intent data: The idea is cool—showing you which companies might be “in market”—but it’s often too vague to act on. If you’re new, focus on getting your basics right first.
  • Automated workflows: They sound great, but if you haven’t nailed your import and enrichment process, you’ll just automate your mistakes.
  • “All contacts” dumps: More isn’t better. Quality trumps quantity every time.

Wrapping Up: Keep It Simple, Iterate, and Don’t Buy Hype

Enriching your sales pipeline with Zoominfo contact data can work—if you approach it with a clear plan and a bit of skepticism. Don’t let the promise of “millions of contacts” distract you from what really matters: getting the right people into your pipeline, and actually doing something with that data.

Start small, check your work, and keep refining your process. There’s no magic button, but with a little discipline, you can build a pipeline that doesn’t suck.