Marketing Operations & Martech Architecture
Replacing a six-figure platform with a multi-source enrichment waterfall
Drove the decommission of an expensive all-in-one intent/ABM platform and designed a best-of-breed replacement — a Clay-based multi-vendor enrichment waterfall for both leads and accounts.
Growth-stage B2B SaaS
6-figure
Platform decommissioned
5 tools
Best-of-breed replacement
Lead + account
Enrichment coverage
Context
The team was paying six figures a year for an all-in-one intent and ABM platform whose data quality was hard to verify and whose value was hard to attribute. The renewal was approaching.
The problem
Sticking with the incumbent meant paying premium prices for opaque data; leaving meant replacing several capabilities at once without dropping coverage. Most teams renew by default because unbundling looks risky. The real question was build-vs-buy, answered honestly.
What I built
A best-of-breed replacement designed around a Clay-based enrichment waterfall: multiple data vendors queried in priority order so each record is filled by the best available source, for both leads and accounts. The waterfall feeds Salesforce and Marketo through governed pipelines, with five focused tools standing in for the one monolith — each chosen, negotiated, and wired in deliberately.
The result
The six-figure platform was decommissioned ahead of its contract end, replaced by a more transparent, more complete, and less expensive stack. Enrichment coverage improved because the waterfall pulls from the best source per field rather than a single vendor’s database.
What this means for you
An expensive monolith is not automatically the safe choice. With a clear-eyed build-vs-buy analysis and a well-designed data architecture, best-of-breed often wins on cost, transparency, and quality at once.
Stack