DataSift Lifts Connect Rates from 2-3% to 9.5% with Phone Validation API
Overview
DataSift, a data and CRM platform for real estate investors, lifted their cold call connect rates from 2-3% to 9.5% by scoring phone number activity using Trestle’s Phone Validation API. Skip-traced lists (the process of locating updated contact information like phone numbers and addresses for hard-to-find property owners) routinely came back with roughly half of their phone numbers dead or disconnected, draining caller ID reputation and wasting dialer hours. Using Phone Activity Score, DataSift built a system that tells callers which numbers to dial first and which to drop entirely, resulting in an over 3x boost in connections.
The Challenge
DataSift serves real estate investors running high-volume outbound operations, where callers work through skip-traced property owner lists. Their lead volume itself was not an issue, however, roughly half the phone numbers in these lists were disconnected or otherwise inactive. A caller with a 500-number list could dial 150 numbers and only reach four real people.
Every dead dial trained carrier algorithms to treat the outbound number as spam, degrading caller IDs and leaving callers feeling frustrated and burnt out. And, with dials costing upwards of $0.06 each, half of every dialer’s budget produced no conversations. DataSift needed a way to identify line activity and filter disconnected numbers before their callers picked up the phone.
The Solution
DataSift began using Phone Validation API via Batch Upload as the data quality layer between skip tracing and dialing. Every number validated receives a Phone Activity Score from 0-100 based on real activity insights, with 0 indicating a dead or disconnected number and 100 indicating high confidence that the phone number is active.
DataSift mapped those scores to a five-tier dial priority system applied as tags inside of their platform:
- Dial First (81-100)
- Dial Second (61-80)
- Dial Third (41-60)
- Dial Fourth (21-40)
- Drop (0-20)
To test this approach, DataSift ran 2,000 phone numbers through Phone Validation API and cross-referenced every score against actual call outcomes recorded in the platform. The bottom two tiers (Dial Fourth and Drop) accounted for 46.7% of total phone numbers in the sample, but 82% of phone numbers in those tiers were dead or disconnected.
Line type data also helped inform who to call first. Of the 776 phone numbers DataSift had classified as landlines, 24% of them were actually identified by Trestle as fixed or non-fixed VoIP lines, which are textable and dialable numbers that operators had been skipping.
The Impact
By utilizing Phone Validation API in their cold calling workflow, DataSift was able to improve connect rates from 2-3% to 9.5%, an over 3x improvement from a single change. Callers now start each session with the highest-activity phone numbers, so more conversations happen in fewer dials. Removing the Drop and Dial Fourth tiers from call lists also protected their caller ID reputation. With far fewer dead phone numbers dialed, carriers recognize legitimate calling patterns and are less likely to mark those outbound numbers as spam.
About Trestle
Trestle provides industry-leading phone data APIs to improve lead management and call operations for businesses. Trestle’s product suite is powered by a cutting-edge identity data graph built on top of modern, scalable technology and machine learning capabilities that have yielded the best-in-class coverage and accuracy. This, along with a network built on top of 500MM+ queries every month, enables Trestle to serve with a differentiated product suite that businesses rely on for various use cases, including caller identification, call routing, lead assessment, and prioritization.