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How waterfall enrichment works

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Written by Levon Adamyan
Updated this week

Cleanlist uses waterfall enrichment, which means it cascades through multiple data providers in sequence until verified contact information is found.

What makes it different

Most enrichment tools rely on a single data source. If that source does not have the data, you get nothing. Cleanlist chains 15+ providers together in a 15-step waterfall, querying each one in order until a match is found. This delivers 2-3x higher match rates compared to using any single provider alone.

The provider cascade

Email finding

For email enrichment, Cleanlist sequences through multiple specialized providers including Hunter.io, FindyMail, LeadMagic, Datagma, IcyPeas, Prospeo, AnyMailFinder and others. The order is:

  1. Cache check - Instant lookup from recently enriched leads in your workspace (within the past 60 days). This speeds up results but still counts as a successful enrichment.

  2. Provider cascade - Each provider uses different data sources and methodologies. If one does not find a result, the next is tried automatically until a verified match is found or all providers are exhausted.

Email verification

Every email found goes through independent verification using services like ZeroBounce and Emailable before being delivered to you:

  • RFC 5322 format compliance

  • Domain and MX record validation

  • Disposable email detection

  • Catch-all domain identification

  • Deliverability scoring (reliable, risky, or unknown)

Phone finding

For phone enrichment, the system queries providers like Wiza, ProxyCurl and others for direct and mobile phone numbers. Results include line type classification (mobile, landline, VoIP) and are formatted to E.164 international standard.

Enrichment types and costs

Type

What you get

Credit cost

Email only (partial)

Verified work email with deliverability status (reliable, risky, or unknown)

1 credit per lead

Phone only

Direct/mobile phone number with line type

10 credits per lead

Full enrichment

Email + phone + LinkedIn profile data + company information

11 credits per lead

You only pay for results

You are charged once per successful enrichment, regardless of how many providers were queried. If no email or phone is found, zero credits are deducted. The system automatically selects the optimal provider sequence, tuned continuously based on success rates across millions of lookups.

What input data do you need?

For the best results, provide as much data as possible:

  • LinkedIn URL - Gives the highest match rate

  • First name + last name + company domain or company name - Good match rate

  • Email address - Can be used for reverse lookup to find phone numbers

At minimum, each contact requires either a LinkedIn URL or a first name + last name + company.

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