Apollo and SMARTe Integration | Add SMARTe to Apollo Waterfall

The Apollo and SMARTe integration earns its keep at one exact moment: your rep finds the right contact, clicks Access mobile, and Apollo hands back nothing.

That dead end is where deals stall. Not because the rep picked the wrong account. Because the number was missing, or the direct dial routed to a long-dead extension.

SMARTe now sits inside Apollo as a waterfall data source. When Apollo comes up short on a phone number or work email, SMARTe takes the next swing. No new tab, no export, no break in the workflow your reps already run.

What the Apollo & SMARTe integration actually is

The word integration gets stretched to mean almost anything, so here is the exact shape of this one.

SMARTe isn't a separate app bolted onto Apollo. It's a data source you add to Apollo's waterfall enrichment lineup. Apollo lists it inside their own official SMARTe listing, under the Built by Apollo collection, in the Apollo Waterfall Enrichment category.

It ships with two features: Phone Enrich and Work Email Enrich. So when your team asks Apollo for a mobile number or a verified work email and Apollo comes up empty, SMARTe gets a turn.

Apollo stays your engagement layer for sequences, the dialer, and CRM sync. SMARTe becomes a second well to draw from when the first one runs dry.

How waterfall enrichment works in Apollo

It comes down to the order of operations.

Apollo checks its own database first and always holds the top spot in the lineup. You cannot move it. If Apollo finds the email or phone number, it stops there. If it doesn't, it drops to the next source you added, then the next, until one returns a result. SMARTe breaks down how waterfall enrichment works if you want the deeper mechanics.

You set the order. You drag sources up or down. You decide who Apollo calls on after itself.

Credits stay tied to results. You pay only when a source returns data, so if Apollo and every source you added strike out, that record costs nothing. (Apollo still charges a credit for an unverified email, so check that setting if deliverability is on your mind.)

You can layer in validation as well. Connect an email or phone validator, and Apollo cross-checks each result before it lands in your records. You get one validator at a time.

Re-enrichment has a smart default too. Run a contact through again, and Apollo skips whichever source answered last time and tries the next one down. A record that came back weak gets a fresh attempt from a different provider.

Why you would put SMARTe right below Apollo

Apollo already ships a large database, so the fair question is what a second source even adds.

Coverage, in the spots where Apollo is lightest. Apollo does well on US business emails. It thins out on mobile numbers and on contacts outside North America. In my experience, that soft spot is what quietly drains an outbound quarter. I've watched reps burn a whole afternoon hunting direct dials Apollo never had.

The numbers on SMARTe's side:

SMARTe carries 289M+ verified B2B contacts across 200+ countries. It reaches 75%+ of US decision-makers with a direct dial and 86% with a verified work email. Global mobile coverage runs past 50%, which counts for a lot if your reps sell into EMEA, APAC, or LATAM. (Apollo's SMARTe listing still shows older coverage figures, so treat SMARTe's verified numbers as the current ones.)

For a cold caller, a direct dial is everything. A verified mobile skips the switchboard, dodges the gatekeeper, and puts the rep in front of a real person instead of a voicemail tree. If your connect rate math depends on reaching mobiles, SMARTe's verified B2B direct dials are the reason to slot it in.

SMARTe also verifies data in real time rather than serving it from a stale snapshot. People change jobs. Carriers recycle numbers. Records rot faster than teams expect, which is the real story behind B2B data decay. Fresh verification at the point of use beats a database that last updated a quarter ago.

For anyone with a compliance checklist: SMARTe holds SOC 2 Type II certification and aligns with GDPR and CCPA, so pushing into new markets does not mean loosening your privacy standards.

What to do: Order Apollo first, SMARTe second. Apollo covers the easy records cheaply, then SMARTe handles the mobiles and overseas contacts Apollo cannot. You widen reach without paying twice for the simple wins.

How to set up the SMARTe and Apollo integration

Setup lives in your global waterfall settings, so an Apollo admin configures it once for the team.

1. Open Apollo and go to People. Run any search so the results load.
2. At the top of the Emails or Phone numbers column, hover over Waterfall enrichment and click the gear icon.
3. Click Add to browse data sources.
4. Find SMARTe in the list and check it. Depending on your setup, SMARTe runs either as a native Apollo source on Apollo credits or through your own SMARTe API key.
5. Drag SMARTe into position below Apollo. Apollo stays pinned to the top.
6. For email, choose whether enrichment stops at any email or keeps cycling until it finds a verified one.
7. Save, then confirm your changes.

From there, waterfall fires across the spots reps live in: People search, Access email and Access mobile, bulk enrichment, the Data Health Center, CSV imports, enrichment workflows, and the Chrome extension. (One note for your developers: the Apollo API runs waterfall only when you set the query parameter to true. It defaults to false.)

Reps keep control at the record level. Anyone can switch waterfall off for a single action when they want Apollo-only data, and the global setting holds steady.

What the Apollo SMARTe integration costs

Credits, not another seat license.

A native Apollo source draws from your Apollo credit balance, and those charges count against your plan. If you connect SMARTe with your own API key instead, SMARTe sets its own charges and your Apollo credits stay untouched. Confirm which path your setup uses so the bill holds no surprises.

The waterfall rule still applies: a source charges only when it returns data. Apollo previews a credit estimate before each run, and the waterfall report shows what you spent per source and per contact. Admins can cap credits per user, which helps when one rep gets eager with bulk enrich.

Enriched primary emails and phone numbers sync straight to Salesforce, HubSpot, or Pipedrive once you connect your CRM, so reps enrich CRM records without a manual export. The data lands in their CRM, not a spreadsheet.

Who should turn this on

Not every team needs it. If your entire market is US inbound and email-only, Apollo alone might carry you. I would rather say that plainly than oversell the setup.

Three groups see value fast.

Cold callers who live on direct dials. SMARTe's mobile depth shows up in the first dial session.

International outbound teams. If half your accounts sit outside North America, Apollo's coverage drops off quickly, and SMARTe's global reach picks up the slack.

RevOps enriching at scale. You can run up to 10,000 records through a single waterfall pass, then read the source-level report to see exactly what SMARTe contributed versus Apollo.

And this isn't only an Apollo trick. SMARTe also connects with Clay on the same fallback logic, so the data layer travels with your stack instead of locking you into one tool.

The bigger point

Apollo gives your team a strong starting point, but no database has every contact. That's where SMARTe makes a difference. When Apollo can't find a mobile number or verified work email, SMARTe automatically checks its own database to fill the gap without changing your reps' workflow.

The result is simple: more complete contact records, better mobile coverage, stronger international reach, and fewer missed opportunities. Instead of replacing Apollo, SMARTe helps it find the data it couldn't on its own.

Want better enrichment results in Apollo?