Google Don’t Know Diddley About People

We’ve been using ZoomInfo.com almost as much as Google these days. Yup, it’s true. Sheryl has a saying that goes, “Don’t look in the sock drawer for ice cream.” In this case, don’t look for your sales leads and contact information in Google.

For a salesperson (yeah, that would be most of us), the problem with Google is that it finds too much. Instead, ZoomInfo is so powerful because it finds a lot less.

These Zoom guys specialize in finding people. In fact, they specialize in finding the people who might be your next customers - and then in giving your their phone number, address and some juicy details.

If you are trying to find out where your great-great grandfather is buried, you don’t need ZoomInfo. If you are pining for your high school sweetheart and wonder if she is likewise thinking of you, again, ZoomInfo is not the right site.

However, if you make sales or business calls, ZoomInfo is worth a million bucks.

Here’s a secret, though - it doesn’t cost a million bucks. The basic version of ZoomInfo, which is one of the fastest growing business reference sites on the web, is free.

Yes, FREE. Our friend Steve Lishansky has been using the “free Zoom” now for some time for his coaching business. “In many cases with just a click I can get the information I need and prepare me for my call - everything in one place.”

ZoomInfo will find companies and even find you a new job (not kidding), but in this case we’ll concentrate on their people finding powers.

It works like this. You have a name, but no contact or background information. Let’s say a friend told you that Clyde Thomas might need your service for his new company in Scottsdale .

If you searched Google for Clyde you’d come up with over 2 million results. If you knew enough to put Clyde’s name in quotation marks (”Clyde Thomas”) you’d still get over 14 thousand results.

If you use ZoomInfo.com to find Clyde, you’ll get 62 results, so it might take you some time to figure out which Clyde is your Clyde. But, pssst, you already know where he lives - and over there, yes, up in the left hand corner, you will see a box that says, “Filter Your Results.” So, go ahead, click on the state of Arizona.

Now you have only one Clyde Thomas - and he’s your guy. Try this on Clyde - and then try it on a few people you’d like to get your grubby hands on.

What do you get from ZoomInfo for free? You get his company name, web site, phone number, address, previous employment and even that he is on the Technology Advisory Board of the University of New England.

One name - one sort by state - and you’re pretty prepared to dial Mr. Thomas up. That’s almost always much faster than wading through a search Engine’s vast results.

Oh, by the way, just in case you’re wondering, ZoomInfo doesn’t know diddley about Bo Diddley, either. But then, Bo hasn’t worked for a corporation in, oh, about… well, never. He is still singing, however, wonderful as ever, at age 78.

Note: ZoomInfo.com offers more power in several paid versions. Their paid versions are examples of “Pay a Little, Get a Lot.” Look for more on that soon. And, as always, ZoomInfo does not pay us referral fees. We write about ZoomInfo (and all other resources we feature on this blog) because they offer true value, not because we’re getting paid for it. We call ‘em like we see ‘em.