The Challenge

As Yakima Chief Hops expanded its reach across global brewing markets, their small sales and customer success team faced an overwhelming challenge: managing relationships with thousands of breweries ranging from craft microbreweries to large commercial operations, all with vastly different needs and purchasing patterns.

The team of just 8 account managers was responsible for serving breweries across 40+ countries. Every new lead that came through their website, trade show, or distributor network arrived with minimal information - often just a brewery name, contact name, and email address. Before reaching out, team members spent hours manually researching each prospect to understand:

• Brewery size and production volume
• Current hop suppliers and purchasing patterns
• Key decision makers and their roles
• Brewery specialties and beer styles
• Growth trajectory and expansion plans
• Location and distribution footprint

"We were spending 40-50% of our time on data research instead of relationship building," explains Jordan Gottlieb, Director of Sales Operations at Yakima Chief Hops. "For a lean team covering thousands of accounts globally, this was unsustainable. We needed to augment our small team with better data and intelligence to proactively identify the right opportunities and respond quickly without hiring specialized data research roles."

The manual research process meant that hot leads often went cold. By the time an account manager had gathered enough information to make an informed outreach, 3-5 days had passed - and in the competitive hop supply market, that delay often meant losing the opportunity to faster competitors.

Additionally, their CRM contained over 15,000 contacts accumulated over years, but the data quality had deteriorated significantly. Email addresses bounced, contact titles were outdated, and brewery information was incomplete or inaccurate.

The Solution

Yakima Chief Hops implemented Enricher.io's automated data enrichment platform to transform their sales operations. By leveraging Enricher.io's real-time enrichment capabilities and comprehensive database of 1.2 billion business profiles, YCH's sales team could now:

1. Automatic Lead EnrichmentEvery new lead entering their CRM was automatically enriched within seconds with:

• Complete brewery firmographic data (size, revenue, production volume)
• Contact information (verified emails, phone numbers, LinkedIn profiles)
• Key personnel identification (brewmasters, purchasing managers, owners)
• Technology and supplier intelligence
• Social media presence and market positioning

2. Database Revitalization
Enricher.io processed their existing 15,000-contact database, updating outdated information, verifying email addresses, and filling data gaps. This revealed hundreds of dormant opportunities where contacts had moved into decision-making roles at new breweries.

3. Account IntelligenceBefore each sales call, account managers could review enriched profiles showing brewery specialties, recent expansions, industry awards, and brewing trends - enabling highly personalized conversations from the first interaction.

4. Smart SegmentationWith enriched data, YCH could segment their brewery customers by production volume, growth rate, specialty focus, and geographic region, allowing targeted campaigns for new hop varieties perfectly matched to each brewery's profile.

"Enricher.io enables us to provide the highest level of customer support and sales service possible with our available resources," says Gottlieb. "We can proactively understand and prioritize brewery opportunities before our first conversation, ensuring they have the best experience possible and we're offering the right hop solutions for their needs."

The Results

The impact of automated data enrichment was immediate and measurable:

Operational Efficiency:

• 54% reduction in lead response time - from 3-5 days to same-day response
• 50% decrease in time spent on research - from 40-50% to 20% of work time
• 3x increase in daily outreach capacity - from 8-10 to 25-30 meaningful customer interactions per rep

Revenue Impact:

• $890K in new business from previously dormant contacts discovered through database enrichment
• 67% increase in qualified opportunities by focusing on breweries matching their ideal customer profile
• 41% improvement in close rates due to better-informed, personalized outreach
• 32% faster sales cycle - from first contact to signed supply agreement

Data Quality:

• 89% email deliverability - up from 71%, eliminating wasted outreach
• 85% data completeness across entire CRM - up from 52%
• Zero hours per week spent on manual data research and cleanup

Customer Experience:

• Net Promoter Score increased by 18 points as customers appreciated knowledgeable, personalized service
• 28% reduction in customer support tickets as account managers could proactively address needs
• Eliminated lead leakage - no more opportunities going cold due to slow response times

"Without Enricher.io, we'd be flying blind," Gottlieb emphasizes. "We did significant research to select the best-fitting data enrichment solution for our unique needs as a global agricultural supplier, and Enricher.io has provided much greater value than we ever anticipated. It's like adding 4-5 data researchers to our team without the overhead."

Unexpected Benefits

Beyond the core sales improvements, YCH discovered additional value from enriched data:

• Market Intelligence: Aggregated brewery data revealed emerging regional trends, helping YCH's agronomists plan hop variety development
• Partnership Opportunities: Identified breweries using complementary suppliers, leading to strategic co-marketing initiatives
• Customer Retention: Proactive monitoring of brewery growth patterns allowed YCH to anticipate supply needs and prevent churn to competitors
• Event Targeting: Enriched location and size data optimized their trade show strategy, focusing on events where their highest-value prospects would attend

Scaling with Confidence

The success with Enricher.io has enabled Yakima Chief Hops to maintain their lean team structure while expanding into new markets. As they enter the European and Asian brewing markets, they're using the same enrichment workflow to understand new territories without increasing headcount proportionally.

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