Enrichments

How Waterfall Enrichment Works

How Waterfall Enrichment Works Waterfall enrichment helps you get better data, fewer blanks, and lower costs than using a single provider. It tries multiple data providers in order until one finds the information you need. What Is Waterfall Enrichment? Instead of asking one data provider for information and accepting "not found" as a final answer, waterfall enrichment keeps asking until it finds a result. You set up a sequence of providers: Primary Provider, then Fallback Provider 1, then Fallback Provider 2, and so on. TexAu queries them in order. The first one that returns a result wins. If that fails, it tries the next, until all providers have been tried. The result: Higher success rates, better data coverage, and smarter credit usage. Instead of enriching 70% of your contacts with one provider, you might enrich 85% or 90% with waterfall. Real-World Example You want to find work emails for 1,000 prospects. You set up a waterfall with three providers: 1. BetterEnrich (searches first) 2. Apollo (searches if BetterEnrich fails) 3. FullEnrich (searches if Apollo fails) Row 1: Sarah Chen, Acme Corp - BetterEnrich finds her email: [email protected] - Done. TexAu does not ask Apollo or FullEnrich. Row 2: John Smith, TechCorp - BetterEnrich has no match - Apollo searches and finds [email protected] - Done. TexAu skips FullEnrich. Row 3: Maya Patel, StartupXYZ - BetterEnrich has no match - Apollo has no match - FullEnrich finds [email protected] - Done. Row 4: Unknown Person, NoDataCorp - BetterEnrich has no match - Apollo has no match - FullEnrich has no match - The field stays blank. All providers were tried. In this example, you got 3 out of 4 emails. Each provider was queried only when needed. Without waterfall, if you only used BetterEnrich, you would get 1 email and have to find Rows 2 and 3 manually. How It Works Step 1: Set Your Primary Source Choose the main provider. This is who gets asked first. Usually the most accurate or fastest for your use case. Step 2: Add Fallback Providers Select secondary and tertiary providers. Order matters. They are queried in priority order. Step 3: TexAu Queries Them in Sequence For each row, TexAu asks the primary provider. If that fails, it asks the first fallback. If that fails, it asks the second fallback. And so on. Step 4: Return the First Match As soon as a provider returns a result, TexAu uses it and stops querying for that row. Step 5: Track the Outcome TexAu logs which provider returned the result and the cost incurred. You can see all of this in your results. Configuration Options Stop on First Success When you set up your waterfall, you can enable Stop on First Success. This tells TexAu to stop querying as soon as any provider returns a match. Why enable it: Saves credits. If the first provider succeeds 70% of the time, you only pay for one provider query in 70% of cases. Example: With Stop on First Success enabled, if BetterEnrich finds an email on Row 1, TexAu does not ask Apollo or FullEnrich for Row 1. This is the recommended setting for most teams. Max Providers to Try When setting up your waterfall, you can limit how many providers TexAu queries per row. For example, you might have 5 providers in your waterfall but only want to try the first 3. Why set this: Balance coverage and cost. If your first 3 providers cover 90% of your audience, the 4th and 5th may be niche and expensive. Set Max Providers to Try to 3 and save the extra cost. Example: Your waterfall is Provider A, B, C, D, E. Set Max Providers to Try to 3. TexAu tries A, then B, then C. If C fails, it stops and does not try D or E. When to use: When you have deep waterfalls (4+ providers) and want to limit querying depth. The COALESCE Formula COALESCE is a formula that picks the first non-empty value from your provider columns. Use it in a Formula column to combine results from multiple providers into a single "final result" column. How it works: After waterfall runs, each provider populates its own column. COALESCE checks those columns in order and returns the first one that has data. Example: COALESCE(BetterEnrich_Email, Apollo_Email, FullEnrich_Email) This returns the BetterEnrich result if it exists, otherwise the Apollo result, otherwise the FullEnrich result. Important: COALESCE does not query providers in parallel. It is a formula that reads values already in your table. The waterfall queries providers sequentially, and COALESCE picks the best result afterward. When to use: When you want a single clean column that shows the best available result from your waterfall providers. Credit Cost and Waterfall Efficiency Without Waterfall (Single Provider): You query Provider A for every row. Cost = 1 query per row, regardless of success. - 1,000 rows x 1 provider = 1,000 queries With Waterfall (3 Providers, 70/20/10 Success Rate): Provider A succeeds 70% of the time. Provider B succeeds 20% of the time (when A fails). Provider C succeeds 10% of the time (when A and B fail). - 700 rows x 1 query (A succeeds) = 700 credits - 200 rows x 2 queries (A fails, B succeeds) = 400 credits - 100 rows x 3 queries (A and B fail, C succeeds) = 300 credits - Total: 1,400 credits Waterfall uses more credits total, but you get 1,000 successful enrichments instead of 700. For 400 extra credits, you get 300 more data points. That is usually a good trade. The real win: You get higher coverage (up to 90% success rate) at a reasonable cost instead of 70% with a single provider. Best Practices for Configuring Your Waterfall Order Providers by Your Priorities By Accuracy (Recommended for Most Teams): Put your most accurate provider first. Secondary providers are fallbacks. - Example: BetterEnrich (highest accuracy), then Apollo, then FullEnrich By Speed: Put the fastest provider first, even if slightly less accurate. By Cost: Put the cheapest provider first to save credits. By Coverage: Put the provider with the broadest coverage first. Tip: Most TexAu users order by accuracy. Get the best data first. Use the Max Providers to Try setting to control costs. Test Your Waterfall Do not guess. Test. 1. Set up a waterfall with your chosen providers and order 2. Enrich a small batch (50 to 100 rows) of real data 3. Check the results: How many matches did you get? What was the quality? Which providers did the heavy lifting? 4. Adjust if needed: Reorder providers, remove underperformers, add new ones 5. Run full enrichment once you are confident A small test costs a few credits and saves you from a costly mistake. Real-World Waterfall Examples Example 1: Work Email Enrichment (Sales Team) Goal: Find work emails for prospects Setup: - Primary: BetterEnrich (highest accuracy for this use case) - Fallback 1: Apollo (good coverage, reasonable cost) - Fallback 2: FullEnrich (broad coverage) - Stop on First Success: Enabled - Max Providers: All 3 Result: 85% success rate, lower cost per enriched record than any single provider Example 2: Phone Number Enrichment (Customer Success) Goal: Find direct phone numbers for account managers Setup: - Primary: Apollo - Fallback 1: BetterEnrich - Stop on First Success: Enabled - Max Providers: 2 Result: 72% success rate, cost controlled by only trying 2 providers Example 3: Company Data (Marketing) Goal: Enrich company records with firmographics Setup: - Primary: Apollo - Fallback 1: BetterEnrich - Fallback 2: FullEnrich - Stop on First Success: Enabled - COALESCE formula: Used to create a single "Final" column from all provider results Result: Comprehensive company records with multiple data points per row Waterfall vs. Single Provider: When to Choose Use Waterfall If: - You want high coverage (90%+ success rate) - You can handle data coming from different providers across rows - You have budget for multiple provider queries - You want data quality (multiple sources = more reliable) - You are enriching bulk data (lists, campaigns) Use a Single Provider If: - You need consistency (all data from one source) - You are highly budget-constrained - You are enriching a small batch and do not need high coverage - You already know one provider works well for your use case Most teams benefit from waterfall. The coverage boost and credit efficiency are worth it. Troubleshoot Your Waterfall "I am getting too many blanks" - Add more providers to your waterfall - Check if your input data is good (bad input data leads to bad results) - Verify the providers you chose actually cover your audience (some providers specialize in US data, others in global data) "My costs are higher than expected" - Enable Stop on First Success to stop after the first match - Lower Max Providers to Try to reduce querying depth - Reorder providers to put cheaper ones higher - Test a smaller batch before committing to full enrichment "Some rows have multiple values. Which one should I use?" - Check which provider returned the result (some providers are more trustworthy for your use case) - Use the COALESCE formula to automatically pick the first non-empty value from your provider columns - Manually verify high-value rows What's Next? Now that you understand how waterfall works, explore Running Enrichments to see waterfall in action with your data.

Managing Providers

Managing Providers Data providers are the backbone of enrichment. They're the external services that actually supply the information you're enriching into your tables: emails, phone numbers, company data, social profiles, and more. This guide shows you how to find, evaluate, configure, and manage them. What Are Data Providers? A data provider is a third-party service that maintains a database of information. When you want to find someone's work email or verify a company's technology stack, you're querying a data provider. TexAu integrates with dozens of them, so you don't have to juggle multiple platforms. Examples of popular data providers: - Email Finders: RocketReach, Apollo, Hunter, Clearbit - Phone Finders: TrueCaller, Apollo, RocketReach - Company Data: Clearbit, Apollo, ZoomInfo - Social Profiles: Apollo, Hunter, SimilarWeb - Job Data: Apollo, RocketReach, ZoomInfo - Technology Stack: Clearbit, BuiltWith, Apollo Each provider has strengths, weaknesses, costs, and coverage. TexAu makes it easy to mix and match them. Viewing Available Providers in Your Workspace Provider Directory Head to Settings → Data Providers (or Integrations → Providers, depending on your workspace layout) to see all providers available to you. You'll see: Provider Name : The official name and logo (Apollo, RocketReach, Hunter, etc.) Status : Whether it's connected, active, and ready to use. (Some providers require setup; some come pre-configured.) Category : Email finders, phone finders, company data, etc. Coverage : How much of the global population or company database does this provider cover? (Example: "85% of US tech companies") Accuracy : Historical accuracy rate. How often does data from this provider actually match reality? (Example: "94% email match accuracy") Cost : Credit cost per query. Different providers charge differently for each lookup. Last Updated : When the provider's data was last refreshed. Fresher is usually better. Filtering by Category Providers are grouped by data type: - Contact Information (emails, phone numbers, names) - Company Data (firmographics, size, industry, revenue) - Technology & Tools (what software companies use) - Social Profiles (LinkedIn, Twitter, personal websites) - Compliance & Verification (background checks, identity verification) - Custom Data (anything specialized or niche) Click a category to see all providers in that category. Understanding Provider Metrics Before adding a provider to your enrichment workflow, understand its performance. Accuracy & Confidence Scores Accuracy : The percentage of data this provider returns that is correct. If Provider A has 92% accuracy, roughly 92% of their results will be valid and correct. Confidence Score : When a provider returns a match, they often include a confidence score (0-100%) saying "we're X% sure this is right." Higher is better. Use confidence scores to filter or prioritize results. Reality Check: No provider is 100% accurate. Data decays, people change jobs, emails bounce. Choose providers with accuracy you trust for your use case, and accept that 5-10% of results will be imperfect. Coverage Global Coverage : What percentage of the world's population or companies does this provider have data on? Example: "RocketReach covers 95% of US tech companies but only 20% in developing markets." Coverage by Segment : Some providers specialize. Example: "Apollo has great coverage for US startups but weaker coverage for legacy enterprises." Why it Matters : If you're enriching a list of UK companies and your primary provider only covers 30% of UK companies, you'll get lots of blanks. Check coverage before committing. Freshness Data Refresh Rate : How often does the provider update their database? Real-time vs. weekly vs. quarterly? Last Updated : When was this provider's data last refreshed in TexAu's system? Why it Matters : If you're enriching email addresses, freshness matters hugely. Stale email lists have high bounce rates. Providers with weekly or daily updates are better than quarterly. TexAu updates provider data regularly, but check the last-updated date. Provider Categories Explained Email Finders What they do : Find work email addresses for people at specific companies. Use cases : Cold outreach, lead enrichment, prospect research, sales enablement Popular providers : RocketReach, Apollo, Hunter, Clearbit, ZoomInfo What to look for : High accuracy (90%+), US coverage (if targeting US), freshness (daily or weekly updates) Phone Finders What they do : Find phone numbers (work, direct, mobile) for people and companies. Use cases : Sales outreach, customer support, verification, skip tracing Popular providers : Apollo, TrueCaller, RocketReach, ZoomInfo What to look for : Coverage in your target region, accuracy, ability to distinguish work vs. personal numbers Company Data & Firmographics What they do : Enrich company records with industry, size, revenue, funding, technology stack, etc. Use cases : Account-based marketing, sales targeting, research, competitor analysis Popular providers : Clearbit, Apollo, ZoomInfo, Crunchbase, SimilarWeb What to look for : Breadth of company database, freshness (companies pivot constantly), accuracy of firmographic data Social Profile Data What they do : Find and enrich social media profiles (LinkedIn, Twitter, GitHub, etc.). Use cases : Prospect research, talent sourcing, background checks, person verification Popular providers : Apollo, LinkedIn (via API), Hunter, RocketReach What to look for : Profile completeness, verification badges, LinkedIn integration quality Job & Title Data What they do : Verify job titles, find job changes, track career moves. Use cases : Sales targeting (find decision makers who just got promoted), recruiting, talent intel Popular providers : Apollo, RocketReach, LinkedIn Recruiter, ZoomInfo What to look for : Job change detection speed, title normalization, coverage in your target roles How Provider Credits Work TexAu charges credits for each provider query. Different providers cost different amounts. Basic Model: - Each enrichment column is configured with providers - When TexAu queries a provider, it costs X credits - Waterfall means you might query multiple providers per row (more cost, but higher success rate) Credit Examples: - Querying Apollo for an email: 1 credit - Querying RocketReach for phone: 2 credits - Querying Clearbit for company data: 3 credits - (These are examples; actual costs vary by plan) Waterfall Impact: - If your waterfall has 3 providers and the first one succeeds 70% of the time, your average cost is lower than querying all 3 every time - Example: 100 rows with 3 providers, stop-on-first-success enabled - 70 rows: 1 provider query each = 70 credits - 20 rows: 2 provider queries each = 40 credits - 10 rows: 3 provider queries each = 30 credits - Total: 140 credits for 100 rows - vs. 300 credits if you queried all 3 providers for every row Check Your Plan: Your TexAu plan specifies how many credits you get per month. You can see: - Current credit balance - Credits used this month - Cost per provider (varies by plan tier) - Usage trends Pro Tip: Use the cost estimator before running enrichment. TexAu shows estimated credits before you commit. Start small to see real costs, then scale. Configuring Provider Priority in Waterfall Groups When you set up a column with multiple providers (waterfall), order matters. How to Reorder Providers 1. Click on any enrichment column 2. Find the Providers or Waterfall section 3. Click Edit Waterfall (or similar) 4. Drag providers up or down to reorder them 5. Save Ordering Strategies By Accuracy (Most Common) : Put your most reliable provider first. - Pro: Highest quality data - Con: Might cost more (premium providers usually have higher accuracy) - Best for: Teams that prioritize data quality By Cost : Put cheaper providers first. - Pro: Lowest total cost - Con: Lower quality data - Best for: Budget-constrained teams enriching low-value lists By Speed : Put fastest providers first. - Pro: Faster enrichment - Con: Might sacrifice accuracy - Best for: Time-sensitive enrichments (real-time lookups) By Coverage : Put providers with broadest coverage first. - Pro: Highest success rate - Con: Might not be most accurate - Best for: Enriching diverse audiences (global, mixed industries) Mixed Strategy (Recommended) : Order by accuracy, but adjust if you notice one provider outperforming others for your specific use case. - Example: RocketReach (accurate for tech) → Apollo (broad coverage) → Hunter (fallback) Enable Stopping Rules - Stop on First Success: As soon as any provider finds a match, stop querying for that row - Max Providers to Try: Limit querying to the first N providers, even if more exist These save credits while balancing quality. Adding Providers to Columns When you create or edit an enrichment column, you'll add providers. How to Add a Provider 1. Click the enrichment column you want to configure 2. Find the Select Providers button or section 3. A list of available providers appears, filtered by data type - (Looking for emails? You'll see email-finding providers) - (Looking for company data? You'll see company-data providers) 4. Click Add next to the provider you want 5. It joins your waterfall in order Removing a Provider Click the X or Remove button next to the provider name. It's removed from your waterfall. Safety Note: Removing a provider from a live enrichment table doesn't affect rows already enriched (they keep their data). It only affects future enrichments. Setting Provider-Specific Options Some providers have configurable settings: - Confidence Threshold: "Only return results 80% confidence or higher" - Coverage Filter: "Only try this provider if it has data for this country" - Matching Strictness: "Require exact match vs. fuzzy match" - Timeout: "Wait max 5 seconds for a response before moving on" Click the provider name to see if configuration options are available. Provider Status & Health Monitoring Provider Status Indicators Connected (Green) : The provider is active and responding normally. Good to use. Degraded (Yellow) : The provider is active but slower than usual. May take longer to get results. Still usable. Offline (Red) : The provider is down or unresponsive. Don't use until it recovers. Pending Setup (Gray) : You haven't configured this provider yet. Check if you need API keys or approval. Monitoring Provider Performance TexAu tracks how each provider performs in your enrichments: - Success Rate: What % of queries return results? - Average Confidence: What's the average confidence score? - Average Response Time: How long does each query take? Check these stats in Settings → Provider Performance to see which providers are working best for your use case. What to Do If a Provider Is Down 1. Check status: Is it showing as offline? (If so, wait for recovery or contact support.) 2. Check your waterfall: If you have fallback providers, your enrichment should continue (just slower, fewer results). 3. Switch providers: Temporarily remove the offline provider from your waterfall. 4. Re-run enrichment: If you were in the middle of enrichment when it went down, resume or restart (TexAu tracks progress). Pro Tip: This is why waterfall matters. One provider being down does not stop your enrichment. You have backups. Choosing the Right Providers for Your Use Case If You Work in Sales (Prospecting) Best providers: RocketReach, Apollo, Hunter Why: High accuracy for B2B contact data, good coverage for tech/sales roles Setup: Email (waterfall: RocketReach → Apollo → Hunter), Phone (Apollo → TrueCaller) If You Work in Recruiting Best providers: Apollo, LinkedIn (via API), RocketReach Why: Good job title data, social profile integration, candidate sourcing Setup: Email, Phone, Job Title, LinkedIn Profile in waterfall If You Work in Customer Success Best providers: Clearbit, Apollo, ZoomInfo Why: Strong company data, existing customer context Setup: Company data (Clearbit → Apollo), Phone (Apollo), Account information If You Work in Marketing (Account-Based Marketing) Best providers: Clearbit, SimilarWeb, Crunchbase Why: Deep company data, firmographics, technology stack, funding Setup: Company (Clearbit → Apollo), Tech Stack (BuiltWith), Industry, Revenue If You Focus on Data Quality and Verification Best providers: ZoomInfo, Clearbit, Apollo Why: High accuracy, good for validation Setup: Verification column with strict confidence thresholds Tips for Managing Multiple Providers 1. Start Simple, Build Complex Don't add 10 providers right away. Start with 2-3 that cover your primary use case. Test them. Add more as needed. 2. Test Providers on Small Batches Before committing to a full enrichment run, test a provider on 50-100 rows. See how it performs. Then decide if it's worth adding to your workflow. 3. Monitor Cost vs. Coverage Track your enrichment results. If your most expensive provider only succeeds 10% of the time and costs 5 credits, but your cheaper provider succeeds 60% of the time and costs 1 credit, reorder your waterfall. 4. Use Confidence Scores Enable confidence score filtering. You might accept 80% confidence for non-critical data but require 95% for high-value leads. 5. Keep Your Team in the Loop If you change providers or reconfigure waterfall, let your team know. Different providers might return slightly different data. (Email format varies, company names have variations, etc.) 6. Archive Underperforming Providers If you have a provider in your waterfall that hasn't had a successful query in months, remove it. Simplify your workflow, save costs. Common Provider Scenarios Scenario 1: Email Enrichment, Global Audience Providers to use: - Primary: RocketReach (excellent global coverage) - Fallback 1: Apollo (great for Asia & Europe) - Fallback 2: Hunter (broad coverage, lower cost) Why this order: RocketReach is most accurate, but Apollo fills gaps in regions it's weak. Hunter is the safety net. Scenario 2: B2B Company Enrichment, US-Only Providers to use: - Primary: Clearbit (best US company database) - Fallback: Apollo (fills gaps, provides alternate views) Why: Clearbit dominates US company data. Apollo is fast and covers what Clearbit misses. Scenario 3: Budget-Conscious Email Enrichment Providers to use: - Primary: Hunter (cheapest, broad coverage) - Fallback: Apollo (higher accuracy, moderate cost) - Stop on First Success: Enabled Why: Hunter gets 60% coverage at low cost. Apollo catches the rest without breaking the budget. Scenario 4: High-Value Lead Enrichment (No Budget Limit) Providers to use: - Primary: RocketReach (most accurate) - Fallback 1: Apollo (backup) - Fallback 2: Hunter (final fallback) - Confidence Threshold: 90%+ Why: You want the best data possible. Multiple attempts, high threshold, cost is secondary. What's Next? Now that you understand providers, put them to work. Head to Using a Template to see how templates use providers. Or explore How Waterfall Enrichment Works to master the sequencing and configuration. Want to set up a custom enrichment workflow? Start by picking 2-3 providers from this guide, test them on a small batch, then build your waterfall. Curious about a specific provider's coverage or accuracy for your use case? Reach out to our team. We can help you choose the best combination for your needs.

Read and Use the Provider Dashboard

Read and Use the Provider Dashboard This article explains what the Provider Dashboard shows and how to use it to manage your enrichment providers. What the Provider Dashboard is The Provider Dashboard gives you a central view of all the data providers connected to your workspace. For each provider, it shows how many rows were processed, how many returned results, how many failed, and how many credits were consumed. Use it to compare provider performance and make decisions about your waterfall configuration. Open the Provider Dashboard 1. Go to Enrichment in the left sidebar. 2. Click Provider dashboard. Read the dashboard Each row in the dashboard represents one provider (integration). The columns show: - Provider name: the integration used - Rows processed: total rows this provider ran on - Found rate: percentage of rows where the provider returned a result - Credits used: total credits consumed by this provider - Last used: when this provider was last called in an enrichment run Sort the table by any column by clicking the column header. Filter by date range 1. Click the Date range dropdown at the top of the dashboard. 2. Select a preset range or enter custom dates. 3. Click Apply. The metrics update to show data for the selected period. Compare providers for the same data type If you run waterfall enrichment for email or phone, multiple providers attempt to find the same data. Use the dashboard to compare: - Which provider finds data most often (highest found rate) - Which provider costs the most per result - Which provider you should place first in your waterfall To calculate cost per successful result: divide Credits used by the number of rows where the provider returned a result. Troubleshoot low found rates If a provider consistently returns a low found rate: 1. Check whether the input data is clean. Missing or malformed LinkedIn URLs are the most common cause of low results. 2. Open the affected table and review the input column. Look for rows with empty or invalid values. 3. If input quality is good, the provider may not have data for your audience segment. Consider moving it lower in the waterfall order or replacing it with a different provider. Troubleshooting No providers appear on the dashboard. You have not run any enrichments yet, or no enrichments have been run in the selected date range. Change the date range filter or run an enrichment first. Provider Dashboard is not visible in the sidebar. This feature may be on a specific plan. Check Settings > Billing or contact support to confirm. The found rate looks lower than expected. Check if the input data includes many rows with incomplete inputs (empty LinkedIn URLs, malformed domains). Rows skipped due to empty inputs do not count toward credit usage but may be reflected differently in the found rate calculation.