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CIENCE

4.6 (115)
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IT & Software Development 33 reviewers
35%
PROJECT COST
$5K - $10Kper project22 reviewers | 19%

RETAINER COST
$2K - $5Kper month25 reviewers | 22%
Ian R. Lazarus avatar
Ian R. LazarusCEO
Overall Rating
4.6
Communication
4.8
Responsiveness
4.8
Accuracy of Timeline
3.0
Expertise
4.7
Value for Money
4.6
Accuracy of Cost Estimates
3.0

I was a big believer in this program until I became a customer. Unfortunately, the company cannot seem to get much of anything right, and after 5 months, I’ve seen only a couple appointments. On the positive side, the company has good intentions, and what appears at first glance a solid formula. The execution, however, resulted in one mistake after another which taken together, threatened to harm our brand. The first problem was with the simple sourcing of contacts. I made clear that we wanted to target mid-size general “hospitals” but for the first 4 weeks of lists coming across for review there were so few qualified leads, they could not source the 35 contacts per day they promised to outreach. Anyone with the ability to read could clearly see the lists were NOT hospitals, so it was a mystery why I was being asked to evaluate them. Finally, I suggested the use of NAICS codes to identify hospitals, which was something their CMO suggested they would typically do, however, at the lower levels of the company it seemed they did not know what an NAICS code was. Other execution efforts were problematic: they created a signature line for my assigned rep but the phone number on it was wrong. Then they fixed it, but the voicemail did not work. Then they launched a landing page that, within a short while, no longer functioned properly because links were broken (as far as I know, they don’t follow up with people hitting that page either). The concept of quality control for their activities seems nonexistent. Then there is the revolving door. When I complained that my account manager was not answering my simple questions, they replaced him with a new employee. By this time, it was clear the program was failing, and any other company would probably assign a veteran, senior manager to ensure the failure was resolved quickly. The night before our outreach campaign was set to begin, I was told that my project manager was going on vacation – worst possible timing. I now find the excuse hard to believe because that person never returned from vacation and is no longer with the company. In fact, there has been a constant shuffling of people assigned to or supervising my account. Just the other day, the second project manager assigned to my account announced she was leaving the company. In response to my frustration my AM wanted to set me up with a manager that is senior to her in the company to repeat what I’ve been saying all along. Then she left the company, and a week later, the person responsible for sourcing contacts left the company too. They replaced my AM with another new hire. I’ve come to distrust much of what this company tells me because even the data coming across from their activities makes no sense to me. By the time of the 6th week of outbound calls, the company was over 500 contacts short of the promised 35 contacts per day. When I showed this to them on a spreadsheet (and it's a problem that I even had to), they miraculously contacted 690 in 2 weeks, but performance did not change. Do the math and you’d be as suspicious as I am that the activity really happened, but bottom line is I’ve not seen results. Throughout this experience I’ve made my concerns known, and I’ve never been challenged on my expectations of one demo per week of our product. This should not be hard to achieve, we are not a start-up, we are a 22-year-old company with a product already proven to be commercially successful. We have boatloads of collateral, references, videos, sales tools, etc etc to be leveraged in this project. When I spoke to the CMO on a few occasions, he validated my frustrations and extended our contract, but nothing changes. I notice now a number of zero star reviews on this company that I did not notice when doing my initial due diligence. I noticed the CMO responded to a few to defend the company’s practices. Note that I sent this review to the company one full month before the end of the contract to warn this review was coming. There was no response from any senior staff. The program just continued to fall apart. During the last month of service, they assigned yet another AM who was probably the best of the bunch, but by this time all confidence was lost and I canceled the contract. This is not rocket science. But it’s not science, either. It's a disaster. January 20, 2022

https://www.cience.com

Solana Beach, CA

Founded 2015

101-250 Employees


Fueling your growth with effective outbound solutions

Sales conversations start here. Renowned for turbocharging sales funnels, CIENCE offers performance-based managed services, operating on a pay-per-appointment model that underscores our commitment to results. Specializing in expertly crafted outbound strategies, they guarantee not just activity, but actual business growth. At the heart of their service is the GO Platform, CIENCE's pioneering prospecting tech stack, which integrates cutting-edge AI tools and SEO strategies. This tech-forward approach is tailored to each client's unique needs, serving a wide array of industries including technology, finance, and healthcare. CIENCE is more than a lead generation firm; they are a milestone-reaching partner, converting outbound efforts into measurable success and profitable partnerships.

Expertise

Industries Served
Finance & Accounting | Construction | Education & Learning | Hospitality, Dining, Event & Travel | IT & Software Development

Costs

Project CostProjects Starting at:
$1K each
55 reviewers reported project cost for this provider
Less than $1K
$1K - $2.5K
2%
$2.5K - $5K
8%
$5K - $10K
19%
$10K+
19%
No cost reported
52%
Retainer CostRetainers Starting at:
not provided by vendor
54 reviewers reported retainer cost for this provider
$250 - $500
1%
$500 - $1K
4%
$1K - $2K
5%
$2K - $5K
22%
$5K+
15%
No cost reported
53%

CIENCE Reviews

Overall Rating

4.6

115 Reviews

Expertise
4.7
Value for Money
4.6
Accuracy of Cost Estimates
3.0
Communication
4.8
Responsiveness
4.8
Accuracy of Timeline
3.0

Pros:

  • They did not fufill any of what they promissed,.
  • Professionalism, calmness, friendliness

Cons:

  • Scam company. Delivered made up data. None of the data was real.
  • NA

115 reviews

Ian R. Lazarus avatar
Ian R. Lazarus
CEO
Hospital & Health Care, Unspecified

Overall Rating
1.0
Reviewer Source
Source: UpCity
January 20, 2022
Frequency: Ongoing Service
Cost Per Project: $10,000+
Retainer: $2,000-$5,000 monthly
Overall Experience: I was a big believer in this program until I became a customer. Unfortunately, the company cannot seem to get much of anything right, and after 5 months, I’ve seen only a couple appointments. On the positive side, the company has good intentions, and what appears at first glance a solid formula. The execution, however, resulted in one mistake after another which taken together, threatened to harm our brand. The first problem was with the simple sourcing of contacts. I made clear that we wanted to target mid-size general “hospitals” but for the first 4 weeks of lists coming across for review there were so few qualified leads, they could not source the 35 contacts per day they promised to outreach. Anyone with the ability to read could clearly see the lists were NOT hospitals, so it was a mystery why I was being asked to evaluate them. Finally, I suggested the use of NAICS codes to identify hospitals, which was something their CMO suggested they would typically do, however, at the lower levels of the company it seemed they did not know what an NAICS code was. Other execution efforts were problematic: they created a signature line for my assigned rep but the phone number on it was wrong. Then they fixed it, but the voicemail did not work. Then they launched a landing page that, within a short while, no longer functioned properly because links were broken (as far as I know, they don’t follow up with people hitting that page either). The concept of quality control for their activities seems nonexistent. Then there is the revolving door. When I complained that my account manager was not answering my simple questions, they replaced him with a new employee. By this time, it was clear the program was failing, and any other company would probably assign a veteran, senior manager to ensure the failure was resolved quickly. The night before our outreach campaign was set to begin, I was told that my project manager was going on vacation – worst possible timing. I now find the excuse hard to believe because that person never returned from vacation and is no longer with the company. In fact, there has been a constant shuffling of people assigned to or supervising my account. Just the other day, the second project manager assigned to my account announced she was leaving the company. In response to my frustration my AM wanted to set me up with a manager that is senior to her in the company to repeat what I’ve been saying all along. Then she left the company, and a week later, the person responsible for sourcing contacts left the company too. They replaced my AM with another new hire. I’ve come to distrust much of what this company tells me because even the data coming across from their activities makes no sense to me. By the time of the 6th week of outbound calls, the company was over 500 contacts short of the promised 35 contacts per day. When I showed this to them on a spreadsheet (and it's a problem that I even had to), they miraculously contacted 690 in 2 weeks, but performance did not change. Do the math and you’d be as suspicious as I am that the activity really happened, but bottom line is I’ve not seen results. Throughout this experience I’ve made my concerns known, and I’ve never been challenged on my expectations of one demo per week of our product. This should not be hard to achieve, we are not a start-up, we are a 22-year-old company with a product already proven to be commercially successful. We have boatloads of collateral, references, videos, sales tools, etc etc to be leveraged in this project. When I spoke to the CMO on a few occasions, he validated my frustrations and extended our contract, but nothing changes. I notice now a number of zero star reviews on this company that I did not notice when doing my initial due diligence. I noticed the CMO responded to a few to defend the company’s practices. Note that I sent this review to the company one full month before the end of the contract to warn this review was coming. There was no response from any senior staff. The program just continued to fall apart. During the last month of service, they assigned yet another AM who was probably the best of the bunch, but by this time all confidence was lost and I canceled the contract. This is not rocket science. But it’s not science, either. It's a disaster.
Other Contributing Factors: Variety Of Services Offered, Reputation
Josh Kaye
Founder, Bake Me A Wish
Food & Beverages, 11-50 employees

Overall Rating
1.0
Pros:
They did not fufill any of what they promissed,.
Cons:
Scam company. Delivered made up data. None of the data was real.
Reviewer Source
Source: Capterra
September 17, 2024
Beware of Scam
Frequency: Single Project
Service Provided: Lead Generation
Cost Per Project: $10,000 - $24,999
Retainer: Not Applicable
Project Summary: Getting the message of what we do out there.
Overall Experience: Beware of Scam! I recently engaged Cience Lead Generation, paying $10,000 for 250 qualified leads, expecting a professional service and solid prospects. Unfortunately, what I received was far from that. The leads they presented were completely fabricated—none of the individuals or businesses had requested information about my company. In fact, we obtained sworn affidavits from many of these so-called "leads" affirming they had never heard of us or requested any information. This is a blatant scam, and we're now in the process of pursuing legal action against Cience to recover our full payment. If you are considering working with them for lead generation, I strongly urge you to reconsider. Their practices are fraudulent, and you risk losing a significant amount of money without getting anything of value in return. We were misled, and now we're facing the consequences of trusting this company. Don’t make the same mistake.
Other Contributing Factors: Industry Focus
Anthony Carignano avatar
Anthony Carignano
Technical Director Marketing
Information Technology and Services, Unspecified

Overall Rating
4.0
Reviewer Source
Source: UpCity
November 11, 2021
Frequency: Single Project
Cost Per Project: $10,000+
Retainer: $5,000+ monthly
Overall Experience: After interviewing six leading outbound lead generation companies, we launched an initial 100-day engagement with CIENCE. That engagement was recently renewed for another 90 days. CIENCE has been highly professional, flexible, and patient with us throughout the entirety of our journey. Outbound lead generation is an entirely new phenomenon for my employer. The experience has been seamless and highly customized to meet our unique new product launch needs and helped establish and build our brand category and product ecosystem. Because of CIENCE, conversations with prospects have quickly evolved into relevant activities with significant brands in our targeted market segment. In addition, customer feedback has been outstanding and helped us modify our market messaging throughout the process and promptly refine our ICP and buyer personas.
Other Contributing Factors: Reputation, Specific Service Offering, Location
Brandon Nixon avatar
Brandon Nixon
National Sales Director
Information Technology and Services, Unspecified

Overall Rating
5.0
Reviewer Source
Source: UpCity
March 28, 2022
Frequency: Ongoing Service
Cost Per Project: $5,000 - $9,999
Retainer: $5,000+ monthly
Overall Experience: Kssenia and the team at Cience have been great. To be honest we were very skeptical in the beginning, however all of our skepticism has been wiped away. We are consistently getting appointments every week, and if we ever have a concern Cience takes ownership and seeks to resolve ASAP. The original set up time requires your extensive input, however once you put in the time and effort to help get their team the information they need, everything else is very smooth. Overall I am very impressed and our company is looking to continue to expand our business with Cience in the coming months.
Other Contributing Factors: Technical Expertise, Cost, Industry Focus, Specific Service Offering, Variety Of Services Offered
Greg Santos
Director
Industrial Automation, 51-200 employees

Overall Rating
5.0
Reviewer Source
Source: UpCity
August 27, 2020
Frequency: Ongoing Service
Cost Per Project: $5,000 - $9,999
Retainer: Confidential
Overall Experience: Cience assisted us in outreach to existing and potential customers in a brand new territory, in an effort to schedule in-person, introductory meetings. This included distilling large contact lists, creating a professional landing page, and automatically scheduling meetings in Outlook for different sales team members. The primary outcomes we were looking for were in-person meetings, brand awareness, and evangelism of our company's core capabilities. Cience is the swiss army knife of customer engagement. They very quickly understand the goals at hand, regardless of the market or customer base. They have a toolkit of solutions to provide everything from lead generation to web site creation. The campaign statistics they provide are detailed and exceptional from a data standpoint. They can easily make corrections during a campaign without constant hand holding. During the campaign, there is sometimes a need to make changes to aspects of the outreach, messaging, etc... Once explained, Cience can easily pivot and could also work multiple campaigns at once.
Other Contributing Factors: Specific Service Offering, Cost, Reputation
Michelle Garred avatar
Michelle Garred
VP Marketing
Information Technology and Services, Unspecified

Overall Rating
5.0
Reviewer Source
Source: UpCity
August 19, 2020
Frequency: Single Project
Cost Per Project: $5,000 - $9,999
Retainer: $1,000-$2,000 monthly
Overall Experience: Working with Cience was fanstastic! The team became an extension of our company-- true colleagues invested in our mutual success. They are the right blend of communication/psychology/creativity + analytical rigor and process. The path for outbound top of funnel growth was adapted together as we learned how to refine our approach for our unique industry and audience, especially in these unique times of COVID. Our project wrapped up as a success. I am impressed and grateful for this team and the value that they added. I would absolutely enlist Cience again.
Other Contributing Factors: Reputation
Carl Lorimer avatar
Carl Lorimer
Head of Business Development
Information Technology and Services, Unspecified

Overall Rating
5.0
Reviewer Source
Source: UpCity
March 15, 2021
Frequency: Ongoing Service
Cost Per Project: $10,000+
Retainer: $5,000+ monthly
Overall Experience: Quite simply, CIENCE has refined the art of prospecting and nurturing to a science. Their global team is sharp, motivated, and follows a game plan that has obviously delivered for many clients in the past. Our specific experience is still in the early stages of outreach, but we are already seeing tangible payback. My advice to prospective and new CIENCE clients is to listen to the sage wisdom of your contract and project managers - they know what works and what does not. Let them do the job you hired them for!
Other Contributing Factors: Cost, Specific Service Offering, Industry Focus, Portfolio, Technical Expertise
Tricia Kelly
Director of Business Development
Think Tanks, Unspecified

Overall Rating
5.0
Reviewer Source
Source: UpCity
June 17, 2020
Frequency: Ongoing Service
Cost Per Project: $2,500 - $4,999
Retainer: Confidential
Overall Experience: As a small company that focuses on operational excellence when it came time to invest in a Sales and Marketing strategy without a large budget we weighed the value of a new hire for lead generation or engaging with a partner for services. We chose to work with Cience once we understood the vast depth of skills for reaching C-level profiles we needed, We've been working together for 4 months and within 45 days started seeing a measurable spike in our opportunity pipeline as they booked 4-5 meaningful conversations per week with agreed next steps all while going through a pandemic! The most interesting part was how pleasant a Managing Director would be when we started a remote video meeting as they complimented our ability to find them with positive messaging. Marketing teams on both sides really focused on the messaging and the importance of keeping it consistent with our corporate culture. Overall great balance of technology with high touch as we work hard every day to improve communication.
Other Contributing Factors: Specific Service Offering, Technical Expertise
Thomas McMillin avatar
Thomas McMillin
Sales Director
Unspecified

Overall Rating
5.0
Reviewer Source
Source: UpCity
January 20, 2022
Frequency: Ongoing Service
Cost Per Project: $10,000+
Retainer: $5,000+ monthly
Overall Experience: Cience and their disciplined approach to cold outreach has been a valuable tool for our business. Having access to Cience assets that specialize in different skill sets like email/LinkedIn + voice call + sector research + strategy is like having that one unicorn employee that can do it all! Cience's outreach program of give/give/give of helpful data or info and, only thereafter, ask for the meeting highlights their patient approach that can generate top notch results!
Other Contributing Factors: Cost, Reputation, Specific Service Offering, Variety Of Services Offered
Paul 🏳️‍🌈 Sando (he/him) avatar
Paul 🏳️‍🌈 Sando (he/him)
Director of Operations
Information Technology and Services, Unspecified

Overall Rating
5.0
Reviewer Source
Source: UpCity
April 28, 2021
Frequency: Ongoing Service
Cost Per Project: $10,000+
Retainer: $2,000-$5,000 monthly
Overall Experience: We are just getting started with CIENCE, but the process from the very beginning has been absolutely painless. For a small company with no means to dive into marketing on our own, their process will make you look like an all-star from the very beginning. Comprehensive outreach for your brand from social media, email and phone calls combined and coordinated to have the biggest impact on your potential clients means that I am positive we are headed for absolute success with CIENCE!
Other Contributing Factors: Location, Technical Expertise, Reputation, Industry Focus, Cost
Josh Horton avatar
Josh Horton
Marketing & Business Development Manager
Industrial Automation, Unspecified

Overall Rating
5.0
Reviewer Source
Source: UpCity
June 15, 2021
Frequency: Ongoing Service
Cost Per Project: $5,000 - $9,999
Retainer: $2,000-$5,000 monthly
Overall Experience: Our team really enjoyed working with Daria, Boris, and the entire team at CIENCE. They do exactly what they say they'll do. We've been working with CIENCE for roughly three months and have seen an increase in qualified leads and appointments set. As a B2B manufacturer, it can be tough to drive consistent lead flow for projects with lengthy sales cycles and higher average deal sizes. We definitely recommend the team at CIENCE!
Other Contributing Factors: Specific Service Offering, Industry Focus, Reputation, Variety Of Services Offered
David DeCamillis avatar
David DeCamillis
VP of Sales and Marketing
Information Technology and Services, Unspecified

Overall Rating
5.0
Reviewer Source
Source: UpCity
July 9, 2021
Frequency: Ongoing Service
Cost Per Project: $5,000 - $9,999
Retainer: $5,000+ monthly
Overall Experience: We signed up with Cience a year ago and are happy with the results. The Cience team communicates regularly, makes adjustments to the campaigns quickly, provides an amazing amount of leads, touches, support and customer care. I feel like my Cience team is part of my organization and works hard to help me grow my business. I highly recommend Cience for lead generation for any company in any industry.
Other Contributing Factors: Specific Service Offering, Variety Of Services Offered
Elsielia Wong avatar
Elsielia Wong
Senior Marketing Executive
Information Technology and Services, Unspecified

Overall Rating
4.0
Reviewer Source
Source: UpCity
March 31, 2022
Frequency: Ongoing Service
Cost Per Project: Unspecified
Retainer: $2,000-$5,000 monthly
Overall Experience: CIENCE team is responsible and experienced in lead generation. CIENCE helps us the lead generation in ISPs market. Their research team is professional and detailed-working with highly efficient effort. And their project managers often suggest some innovative insights which can help improve the performance. They usually respond fast and we always work closely together as a team.
Other Contributing Factors: Portfolio, Technical Expertise, Variety Of Services Offered, Cost, Industry Focus, Reputation
Peter Ceccarelli avatar
Peter Ceccarelli
Director of Business Development
Real Estate, Unspecified

Overall Rating
5.0
Reviewer Source
Source: UpCity
July 27, 2020
Frequency: Ongoing Service
Cost Per Project: $5,000 - $9,999
Retainer: $2,000-$5,000 monthly
Overall Experience: We've been working with CIENCE this the beginning of 2020 and they have done nothing but build upon the relationship. In the middle of a pandemic, they have been one of the most critical value add services to our business, consistently generating leads and evolving content to support our needs and product positioning. I highly recommend working with them and their team for outbound demand generation.
Other Contributing Factors: Portfolio, Technical Expertise, Reputation, Industry Focus, Specific Service Offering, Cost, Variety Of Services Offered
Alex Zaltsman avatar
Alex Zaltsman
CEO
Information Technology and Services, Unspecified

Overall Rating
5.0
Reviewer Source
Source: UpCity
March 4, 2021
Frequency: Ongoing Service
Cost Per Project: $10,000+
Retainer: $2,000-$5,000 monthly
Overall Experience: The onboarding process has been amazing! Very well organized and planned out with experts in their respective areas participating in the planning of our lead generation campaign.
Other Contributing Factors: Cost, Industry Focus, Technical Expertise, Variety Of Services Offered, Reputation, Specific Service Offering, Portfolio

Locations

Headquarters:
Solana Beach, CA
US U.S. Locations (2)
  • San Francisco
  • Denver