In business-to-business sales and marketing, information is a valuable resource. Any inside knowledge you can gather on potential clients could make the difference between winning a deal or losing out to your competitors. For this reason, many teams use specialized solutions to access and collect B2B company information.

There are literally hundreds of platforms and tools that claim to deliver B2B data on demand. But which of these options is actually worth your money?

In this roundup, we’re going to look at 11 of the best sources of company information — from budget-friendly solutions to services made for multinational corporations.

What Is a B2B Company Information Provider?

In simple terms, a B2B company information provider can be defined as any service that can unveil key data and insights about potential customers.

This can mean company size, news about funding rounds, buying intent, or information about individual decision-makers, such as job title and contact data.

Much of this information is scraped from the web, although it is commonly stored in a proprietary database. Salespeople can then access the data through search, an online dashboard, and sometimes even a browser extension.

Why Business Data Is the Key to Success in B2B Sales

The most successful salespeople are great listeners. As quickly as possible, they try to establish whether a prospect needs the product they are selling and has the budget to purchase it.

A good sales rep also tries to uncover the pain points and goals of their prospects — all while building some friendly business rapport.

While it’s definitely possible to get through all of this during an outreach call, wouldn’t it be easier if you had this information in advance? Instead of spending the first 5–10 minutes trying to understand your prospect, you can simply jump straight into establishing credibility and delivering your pitch.

Background information can also massively improve your returns on cold emailing, and help you further down the sales funnel. A good slice of data is sometimes all you need for converting a hot lead into a valued customer.

The Best B2B Information Sources

So, where’s the best place to get access to company information? We looked high and low for the best data providers around. Here’s a selection of our top picks both for sales and marketing teams:

1) Datanyze: Best for Contact and Company Intel

Datanyze: Best for Contact and Company Intel

If your main aim is to find contact details and background information for potential leads, Datanyze should be high on your shortlist.

Based around a user-friendly Chrome extension, this tool can deliver a direct dial phone number and email address from any LinkedIn profile or company website profile. At the same time, you can see company information for your contact and personal details.

All the intel you collect is saved in a single online repository which can be accessed by everyone in your sales and marketing departments. Search makes it easy to track down the high-quality leads, and you can export your enriched contact list to your CRM.

Datanyze’s database contains 120 million professionals, with 63 million matched phone numbers and 80 million email addresses. Just as importantly, the data is sourced ethically — Datanyze meets the requirements of GDPR and CCPA.

It’s also a very affordable solution that works for startups, SMEs, and larger companies.

Pricing: Free to try for 90 days, then from $21/month

2) Clearbit: Data for Account-Based Sales

While some providers on this list focus on individual decision-makers, Clearbit is for sales and marketing teams that use ABM (account-based marketing) or TAS (target account selling).

The platform offers a database of 200 million professionals at 20 million companies, with information gathered from 250 sources (both public and private).

In addition to providing information, Clearbit helps you to interpret it. The platform can sniff out prospects who fit your ideal customer profile, and you can connect the rest of your B2B marketing stack for personalized outreach and advertising.

Pricing: On request, free trial available

3) LinkedIn Sales Navigator: Harnessing Social Media

No roundup of information vendors could be complete without including the LinkedIn Sales Navigator.

With 810 million users, LinkedIn is probably the world’s biggest professional database. And of course, many profiles hold a wealth of information.

Sales Navigator offers a set of tools that help you leverage this data for your own sales and marketing efforts. Advanced search lets you track down executives of interest, and LinkedIn can provide recommendations based on your ideal customer profile.

The only downside? Your target leads have to be on LinkedIn.

Pricing: Starts at $99.99/month per seat

4) Owler: Inside Information From Professionals

While most company data providers aim to gather data only from online sources, Owler takes a different approach.

The platform has a community of five million professionals, who provide valuable insights from within their respective companies. This includes financial estimates, staffing changes, and more. Owler says they receive more than 500,000 contributions every month.

Owler also offers tracking on 14 million companies, and information on 40 million “relationships” between businesses.

Pricing: Limited free tier, then from $99/month

5) Leadfeeder: See Who Is Visiting Your Website

Leadfeeder: See Who Is Visiting Your Website

The main purpose of Leadfeeder is to unveil the potential leads who are visiting your company website. It’s a bit like the “Who’s Visited My Profile” section on LinkedIn. The data isn’t real-time, but it’s close — Leadfeeder updates every 5–60 minutes.

The platform allows you to sort your visitors through a range of filters, making it easier to see the hot leads. When you find a suitable target, Leaderfeeder can usually offer contact information and a few other details.

Thanks to strong CRM integrations, you can easily import detected contacts into your outreach workflow.

Pricing: Basic version is free, upgrade from $79/month

6) Adapt: A Whole Heap of Data, Aimed at Enterprise

This information provider holds data on over 200 million contacts in a range of industries. The data is verified by human checkers, and Adapt says that it makes one million updates every week.

While the data is mostly restricted to contact and company information, sales and marketing teams can create smart filters based on a good range of data points. You can also access information through a Chrome extension or an API.

Aimed at both sales teams and marketing teams, Adapt generally leans towards enterprise and well-established startups.

Pricing: On request

7) UpLead: Focused on Data Quality

With a focus on B2B prospecting, UpLead aims to provide accurate contact data. The company claims that 95% of records are on the money, and there is a built-in search function for finding qualified leads.

UpLead supplements contact data with extra information, such as the company name and address of each prospect. The site also offers a dedicated prospecting tool, which takes into account technographics and buyer intent.

Just be aware of the pricing model: you pay per month, but it’s a system based on credits rather than unlimited use.

Pricing: Free “test drive”, then from $74/month

8) Seamless.ai: Harness Artificial Intelligence

Providing a B2B database of contacts at 157 million companies, Seamless.ai is essentially a search engine for potential leads. The platform also offers a Chrome extension, allowing you to view contact information as you browse the web.

The USP of this information provider is “10-point” artificial intelligence, which is used for real-time data verification. According to Seamless, this means that email addresses and direct dial phone numbers are always kept up to date.

Another use for AI is lead recommendations, based on your set preferences.

Pricing: Limited free tier, then from $147/month

9) Segment by Twilio: Tools for Gathering Your Own Data

Segment is a little different from the other solutions on this list. Rather than giving you access to an existing database, this tool helps you to collect your own data through an API.

In the main, that means customer data. Segment lets you combine information from multiple touch points to get a unified overview, and it works seamlessly with over 300 platforms.

Marketing teams will particularly like this platform, because it allows you to offer very personalized engagement.

Pricing: Free for up to 1,000 visitors/month, then from $120/month

10) Lake B2B: Find a Match for Your ICP

Another alternative approach to company information is provided by Lake B2B. The platform offers to match you with potential leads that fit your ideal client persona, searching through a database of 450 million business executives.

You can use this data for building a B2B marketing list, or dive into 75 data points for B2B sales intelligence.

While some solutions in this roundup have a distinct tech leaning, Lake B2B covers a wide range of industries — from healthcare to oil and gas. The platform itself is relatively simple, but it allows you to buy and manage an impressive variety of lists.

Pricing: On request

11) Sonar: Buying Intent Data Made Accessible

If you want to know what your hottest leads are up to, Sonar may be able to help. Buyer intent data is the focus here, with a range of data points that should prove useful for any sales team.

For instance, Sonar can tell you when a potential buyer signs up for a demo with your competitor, starts a new round of funding, or hires a new executive. There are many more events you can watch for, as well.

If you prefer, you can monitor entire segments using Sonar alerts. Just as importantly, all the data you collect can be exported to your favorite CRM.

Pricing: On request

Which B2B Information Source Is Right for You?

As we have discovered during the course of this roundup, B2B company information providers come in many different flavors.

Which B2B Information Source Is Right for You?

Some solutions, like Datanyze, can help you with all forms of sales and marketing. Good contact data assists your team with outreach and prospecting, while background information helps you win deals. Using a Chrome extension makes the whole process much more intuitive, as well.

Other solutions, like Sonar and Leadfeeder, are more specific. For instance, buyer intent can be really helpful when you’re chasing high-value leads. Knowing who has visited your website also gives you a massive advantage in the prospecting game.

And then you have pure data platforms, like Lake B2B. For big companies, being able to buy vast amounts of data off the shelf may be a good investment — but smaller companies might find this to be overkill.

Improve Your Sales Workflow Today

If you want to discover how company information can transform your sales fortunes, why not take a 90-day free trial with Datanyze? Sign up today to take our platform for a commitment-free test drive.