CIENCE Technologies

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m a sales director for a manufacturer of next-generation sequencing (NGS) products. We also offer next-generation sequencing services.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with CIENCE Technologies?

We wanted to reach more customers. We’re a relatively small company and don’t have a huge sales force. And as a result of the pandemic, we don’t have anyone in the field visiting with customers.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

CIENCE performed research and then sent us an extensive list of new potential contacts. We reviewed the list and noted whether or not their team should contact anyone listed. If we were familiar with a prospect, we told them who to contact within the company. Then, their team reached out to different companies trying to set up appointments for us. We took it from there.

What is the team composition?

We set up the engagement with an account manager. They also had a team member who researched companies that we could target. A different person reached out to companies via email, and then another person actually talked with the customer. While a few other people may have supported the project, I mainly talked with three people.

How did you come to work with CIENCE Technologies?

I wasn’t with the company when we onboarded CIENCE. I inherited the account from someone who moved onto a different company.

How much have you invested with them?

We spent around $16,000 on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started our partnership around March 2020, and our contract recently ended. We temporarily stopped the engagement because their team was more proficient than us. We want to follow up on all the different opportunities CIENCE set up for us and then come back to them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

CIENCE was thorough, and the quality of their work was top-notch. I loved their sales team. It’s incredible to have all of the lead lists that they generated.

How did CIENCE Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

CIENCE regularly followed up, which I appreciated. I wear a few different hats, and their team helped me by keeping lists. They monitored trends and presented their findings. I loved that I was able to reach out and request reports from the previous week, and then their team quickly created them.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I haven’t engaged outside marketing groups frequently enough to draw a comparison. However, there weren’t any gaps in CIENCE’s performance. Their team did everything they could to help us.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, their team was so good that we almost couldn’t keep up with them.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Have a dedicated person on your team to manage the project as well as a plan for following up on their leads.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of construction lending for OneTrust Home Loans. We do mortgage loans and construction loans across the country.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with CIENCE Technologies?

We wanted to market to contractors across the country.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They used three different ways to attract leads for us, creating content for an email campaign, a cold call campaign, and LinkedIn campaign.

What is the team composition?

We worked with four people on their team, and each person worked on a different aspect of the project.

How did you come to work with CIENCE Technologies?

Our marketing director came across CIENCE Technologies and she suggested that they would be a good fit for us.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $15,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in April 2020 and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

We’re running campaigns with about a 9% response rate, which is pretty high. We’ve also converted four builders so far, which is above what we expected.

How did CIENCE Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

Their performance was excellent when it came to communication. We meet with them every two weeks over Zoom and also communicate over email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They performed and did exactly what they said they were going to do. Overall, they were consistent.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Not really.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be organized and tell them exactly what you want to accomplish. They didn’t know our business at all. We needed to explain what we were looking for, so they asked a lot of questions to determine who we were trying to attract.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

NOM is a 3P video ad buying partner with a focus on YouTube. Our company also has capabilities on other social platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, LinkedIn, etc.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire CIENCE Technologies?

Our company's new product launch coincided with COVID-19, a very unprecedented and difficult time for advertising tech companies. We were looking for a partner to help us reach a new base of prospects interested in our new product, allowing our sales team to focus on our company's main offering.

What were your goals for this project?

Reach a new base of prospects interested in our new product, allowing our sales team to focus on our company's main offering.

SOLUTION

How did you select CIENCE Technologies?

Online research

Describe the project in detail.

CIENCE is helping us reach out to a qualified and attentive customer base of brands and advertising agencies that would benefit from our new self-service product offering.

What was the team composition?

We were assigned a very large team. Valery Kravchenko, our CSM Team Lead and main POC, has been extremely attentive and available to us, despite the very different time zones. In addition, the copywriters have done an impressive job conveying our company's very niche offerings and products.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

After only 1 month of working with CIENCE, they have proven their value. In this short period of time, we have booked several meetings and even have a new prospect in the RFP phase of the pipeline.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very smooth & effective

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their organization was impressive despite the different time zones.

Are there any areas for improvement?

The onboarding process was a bit overwhelming because of the size of our team. It was a bit confusing getting to know everyone and figure out who to contact for what. We quickly learned that Valery is our main POC and the rest of the process has been very smooth.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the VP of commercial sales and marketing at Andromeda Systems Incorporated (ASI). We provide software and services in the engineering world.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with CIENCE Technologies?

Our company’s primary background for the past 15 years has been the Department of Defense. We provide software and engineering services to the Navy and Marine Corps, as well as a bit to the Army and Air Force. About a year ago, we decided to start growing the commercial, non-Department of Defense part of our business. We needed help generating sales leads.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

CIENCE Technologies provides sales leads, primarily to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). We sell our services and software to various companies, such as a manufacturer of fire trucks, ambulances, and vehicles for the ground troops in the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps.

What is the team composition?

The way their team is broken down is great. I have a customer service manager.

How did you come to work with CIENCE Technologies?

I started the process by interviewing about a dozen B2B sales lead companies, narrowed it down to two companies, and ended up going with CIENCE. I chose them based on the interactions I’d had with them, the timeliness of their responses, and the quality of their answers.

How much have you invested with them?

The contract is for $30,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

Our start date was July 6th, 2020. We signed a six-month contract, so we’re only about a month-and-a-half into it with them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

As of right now, I’m extremely happy with them. The quality has been great. I was a little bit worried at first, but the research that they’ve done to get up to speed with what our quality lead or client would be has been good. We filled out a lot of paperwork for them to do the research and learn, and they’ve done a really good job. I have zero complaints.

How did CIENCE Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

They’ve met every deadline up to today, and they seem pretty strict in following protocol and standard operating procedures (SOPs) within their company. I don’t really see that changing, and I hope it doesn’t. They’ve done everything they said they were going to.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The number one thing I’m happy about is that they communicate really well. They’re not shy about asking for help. All of the team members are in constant communication with myself and the other individual within ASI working on this. I’d say their attention to detail and communication have been very nice to see and experience.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, not yet. When we started this project a month-and-a-half ago, I would’ve told you I had reservations because of the industry we’re in, as well as their lack of experience in it. I can honestly say I’m pleasantly surprised.

Any advice for potential customers?

I’ve never worked with a B2B company, so I asked a lot of questions. My advice would be to vet the company. Every time I got on a call with them, as they were trying to sell me on their services, I asked a litany of questions. Of their answers, I didn’t find a reason not to use them. Just do your homework and ask every question; there are no stupid questions, except for the ones you didn’t ask.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I work for Rubicon, a software company that supports enterprise businesses with their waste, recycling, and sustainability efforts. I’m the manager of demand generation.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with CIENCE Technologies?

We were looking to prospect for our key accounts team. Key accounts include large enterprise companies, and we specifically target companies that spend over $1 million on their waste and recycling. 

We were looking to reach executives, as well as heads of facilities and procurement at these large companies. We hired CIENCE Technologies as a business development representative.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

CIENCE Technologies selected the team, and we trained them and explained our business, customers, call scripts, and email templates. They spent quite a few days going over that initially.

The team does the research using the parameters that we give them of what kind of prospects we’re looking for, and each week, they’ll present us with a list. We then sign off on which individuals we want them to contact, and they proceed with emailing and calling. 

What is the team composition?

We work with one executive who does the prospecting and two teammates who do the research.

How did you come to work with CIENCE Technologies?

We’ve been working with them for a long time.

What is the status of this engagement?

I began working with them in June 2020, but my organization had worked with them previously. Our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

We’ve been working with CIENCE Technologies for a while, so they’ve improved the longer we’ve worked with them because they understand our business better and are able to ask good questions and deal with pushback.

It’s a nice supplemental piece to our sales and marketing operations to have these leads coming in consistently every week. We see a better return when we give them a target list than when they do the prospecting.

In general, we are very happy with them and it’s a nice cushion for our marketing each week. It also helps that we don’t have to put much effort in while still getting a good return.

How did CIENCE Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

They send us a list of titles, names, and companies that we sign off on. They send lists each week which allows us to know what they’re doing each week, and they forward us emails when they get responses. If CIENCE Technologies runs into issues, they reach out to us and ask how they should handle it.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The team’s clarity and transparency are impressive. We’ve worked with other companies where we didn’t know what channels they were using for marketing. With this team, if we want the data, we can get it very quickly. Additionally, if we have questions, the team is very quick to respond and communicate.

Are there any areas they could improve?

CIENCE Technologies could dig deeper into accounts. It gets harder to find accounts that fit all of our criteria the longer we work with them, but the team could take their time to find qualified leads even if the number is less than what we want. 

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CMO of Cloud Cover Music. We’re a digital music streaming service that allows businesses to play music on site like in retail stores, restaurants, and hotels. 

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with CIENCE Technologies?

Until mid-2019, we’d primarily sold our services to small businesses. We wanted to grow to larger accounts, targeting larger businesses with at least five locations. To do that, we needed someone who could help us take more of an account-based marketing approach into targeted verticals.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement? 

They mostly provide lead generation services. We direct CIENCE Technologies’ team to go after specific verticals. They do all of the research to create contact lists. Then, through email, calling, and LinkedIn, they reach out to those contacts to secure sales appointments for us.

What is the team composition? 

Week to week, there are 3–4 people that we work with, but it seems like there’s an army behind the scenes who do the research.

How did you come to work with CIENCE Technologies?

I wasn’t on board when we decided to bring CIENCE Technologies on. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with them in August 2019, and it’s an ongoing project. We’ve actually expanded our relationship with them over the last couple of months.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

The quality of their research and list building is good. I like that they have a strong methodology that tracks metrics around everything. For instance, we know exactly how many emails are sent out every week, how many are opened, our bounce rate, our response rate, and so on.

That also means we have an exact count of the number of leads that they’ve delivered us. On our end, we keep tight metrics on how many of those leads have converted into business for us and the size of the account.

How did CIENCE Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

The communication and follow-up have been excellent. I email their account manager almost every day, and we have a weekly account call to review our metrics.

What did you find most impressive about them?

At the end of the day, when hiring a company to help with lead generation, it’s all about whether they can deliver high-quality prospects that turn into business. CIENCE Technologies is. We’ve tracked a very robust ROI from our investment with them.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Because a lot of their resources are based in Ukraine, English isn’t their primary language, which means I have to supervise their written communications. It would be helpful if they reviewed their copy to see if it sounds like it’s coming from a native English speaker. Other than that, they’re dedicated and hardworking.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Make sure you’ve got a solid marketing plan and know who you’re going after. Once you have that figured out along with reasonable expectations, CIENCE Technologies can take it through their great methodology.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I run the sales team of a small software company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with CIENCE Technologies?

We needed to get meetings with decision-makers at organizations related to workers' compensation.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

CIENCE manages email marketing, LinkedIn marketing, and other outreach activities to schedule meetings. Their team focuses on social media and direct marketing campaigns.

What is the team composition?

We worked with about 5 different people from CIENCE.

How did you come to work with CIENCE Technologies?

The company previously engaged CIENCE.

How much have you invested with them?

In the last year, we probably spent over $50,000 on their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

We brought them on board in February 2020, and the partnership’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

The project was successful. Their team set up several appointments, so we were mildly successful.

How did CIENCE Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicated by email and used Google Sheets as well as Basecamp. Their team owned the project, and it was fine. They met every deadline.

What did you find most impressive about them?

CIENCE worked really hard.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We occasionally encountered a language barrier in their copy.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be prepared for them to pull out of the main hours. It would be ideal if you had your own copy and list of prospects.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I was the director of marketing for a recently acquired biotech company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with CIENCE Technologies?

We needed to ramp up our quality lead generation but didn’t have the internal bandwidth to manage the project from research to execution. With GDPR and other data protection legislation, we struggled to get contact information and breakthrough the influx of spam received by our target audience.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

CIENCE filled in the information that we needed for specific contacts. They also developed an outreach plan based on data from all their other clients. Their team then executed on the plan too.

We co-created content for the landing page that their team made for us. We also worked together on scripts. Our problem actually evolved, and we worked with CIENCE in a much larger capacity than we initially anticipated.

What is the team composition?

We directly worked with 5–6 people but there might’ve been a few more people who in the background. We had a project manager but also talked with their team directly.

How did you come to work with CIENCE Technologies?

We initially researched options for agencies that would only supply contact information. They really just offered us access to a database. One of my colleagues worked with CIENCE in the past and connected us. When we looked into them, they would not only give us contact information but also develop and execute campaigns. Adoption’s a challenge with software, which we didn’t have to worry about with CIENCE. Their team offered so much more value than the other platforms in consideration.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started the partnership in February 2020 and wrapped up in June 2020. I could’ve seen this as a long-term arrangement, but our company was purchased.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

We were able to leverage their experience to put together an effective outreach plan. Through their research and databases, they were able to provide the same number of leads that we would’ve generated from an entire year. They identified companies that we hadn’t heard of that were a great fit for us. Their team landed qualified meetings for our sales team.

How did CIENCE Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

CIENCE let us pick a method of collaboration based on our preferences. We opted for weekly check-ins. Their team also integrated into our Slack channel. They fell right into line with our practices, which made the engagement easy. We were also able to work directly with the people who did the work. It was like clockwork. We received deliverables every Wednesday when we had our check-ins. Their team sent messages reminding us to review their work. They were buttoned-up and professional.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They provided a lot of value. It was clear that they were dedicated to our success. When someone on their team told us that they landed a meeting, we could see that they were genuinely excited. They were an extension of our team. A lot of companies use that phrase but don’t execute it.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I don’t have anything to add. They were good.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be ready to deliver on what CIENCE needs to launch their program. Put time into filling out their intake forms. They’ll take it away from there, and it’ll be a success.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the director of marketing at Imperative. We’re a virtual peer coaching platform.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with CIENCE Technologies?

We’re a venture capital-backed startup with a small internal team. We wanted to outsource our SDR (sales development representative) capabilities to generate a high volume of quality leads to set up qualified meetings with our head of sales.

We wanted to determine the audience that would be most receptive to our offering. We sought insights into what industries or size of companies were most interested in us. We then wanted to test message them to determine what most resonated with our contacts.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They provided copywriters who developed all of the copy including the subject lines for our email templates. Their team also wrote copy for our landing page, which CIENCE also put together. Their deliverability team ensured that our emails reached our contacts' mailboxes. They took care of any spam issues and informed IPs. CIENCE also had a skilled research team that sourced lists of hundreds of leads per week that met our exact targets. Their team offered solutions to optimize our campaign each week.

What is the team composition?

Their team included copywriters, developers, and a project manager. We also worked with an account manager who oversaw the project from a strategic perspective. There were also deliverability and research teams who worked on this project.

How did you come to work with CIENCE Technologies?

I conducted a lot of research and used Clutch to find options for us. I was about to close up shop but then saw CIENCE. They had rave reviews from a wide audience, so I hopped on the phone with them. I was blown away by their selling process. I thought that if they could sell me this well, they could sell prospective clients well too.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve invested $15,000 in this collaboration so far.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started our partnership in March 2020, and it’s ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

We launched this project when COVID-19 hit, which confounded the results. From a quantitative perspective, we measured the number of meetings generated. From a qualitative perspective, their team helped us to refine our messaging. CIENCE invested time and energy to ensure we learned as much as possible even if the number of meetings secured was lower than expected. Their team helped us gain as much value as possible. We’ve had a terrific experience with them.

How did CIENCE Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

We primarily used Slack to communicate. They mostly used Basecamp for their internal team. Their dedicated project manager kept the entire team on task and schedule. They were responsive and never missed a deadline. We worked with a terrific team.

What did you find most impressive about them?

SDR’s inherently cold because it involves cold calling. There can be a transactional nature to it. They humanized the business, which fit our brand well. We sell an HR tech solution that connects people and builds relationships. It was important that the campaign had a human side to it. They brought a warm, human aspect not only to our contacts but also to us. I didn’t get that from other potential providers.

Are there any areas they could improve?

CIENCE probably isn’t used to working with companies in as early a stage as us. It would’ve been helpful if they gave us more direct feedback upfront. In the beginning of our campaign, they leaned on us to tell them what we wanted to say about our product. As a startup, we're developing our brand. We actually asked more for their guidance as the experts. About two months into the campaign, they started to do that.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Be clear about your goals. We tried to do everything at once but realized that we needed to focus on one area over another. It’s helpful to know what’s realistic for your industry and product.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the chief business officer at a company that has a try-before-you-buy plugin for e-commerce retailers.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with CIENCE Technologies?

We hired them to do sales development representative work on our behalf to cold-call and cold-email prospects to engage in a discussion, and, ideally, set a meeting.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

CIENCE Technologies provides suggestions for prospects that they want to go after. We asked them not to go after the large retailers because we want to do that ourselves. The team is primarily using email, and I give them input on how I want the emails to read. They also send LinkedIn messages.

What is the team composition?

I work with 5–6 teammates.

How did you come to work with CIENCE Technologies?

We were looking to have an SDR in place without having to hire a full-time partner. We looked at reviews, and a personal friend of mine told me he had used CIENCE Technologies for his company and they did well. That gave me the confidence to move forward without doing a whole lot of research. 

From an economic point of view, we operate on a revenue share, so the risk was low with them when it came to the monetary investment. 

How much have you invested with them?

We spend $5,000 per month. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with them in June 2020, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

We haven’t seen success from cold-calling, but our email gets better responses. Additionally, we haven’t had a lead that CIENCE Technologies referred convert into an actual account yet. However, the few accounts they introduced us to are promising.

They set our expectations and told us it would be like this. They said it wasn’t uncommon for them to take 45 days to get a meeting set. Overall, I was very concerned because the people who are doing outbound outreach are overseas.

I wasn’t sure if they would be able to sell, but they are following my script and my guidance. I would recommend my board to continue the partnership because of the potential I’ve seen, and I know they want to get us the results we want. 

How did CIENCE Technologies perform from a project management standpoint?

Their communication is great. There’s not a lot to do when it comes to project management since we just give them templates to customize. 

What did you find most impressive about them?

I can tell that they’re diligently working on our account because our conversations get better each week. We can tell that it’s working. They are outperforming my expectations. 

Are there any areas they could improve?

CIENCE Technologies only goes after the leads that they’ve been given, as opposed to reaching out to other people in the company’s they’ve identified. They’re not going after as many people as I’d like them to; they’re burning through leads.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would recommend them. The time commitment to set up the engagement was much higher than I expected, but that’s because I wanted to make sure that the messaging they were using was on point.