Issue with Waterfall Enrichment for Mobile Phone Validation | Clay

Issue with Waterfall Enrichment for Mobile Phone Validation

Hi team, I'm having an issue with the "Waterfall" enrichment type for Mobile Phone (US and Canada). When I enable the "Only validate mobile phone types?" option, the system still continues through the entire waterfall—even when a valid mobile number is found early. This results in unnecessary additional costs. I've attached a screenshot to help illustrate the issue. Could you please take a look and let me know if this is expected behavior or if something needs to be adjusted? Thanks in advance!

5 comments

Channeled
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Based on our documentation, this is expected behavior. When a waterfall finds an email or phone number that fails validation, it continues to the next provider in the sequence. For phone numbers with "Only validate mobile phone types" enabled, the waterfall will continue running if: 1. No phone number is found 2. A phone number is found but isn't validated as a mobile number This happens because the validation check is part of the waterfall logic - if validation fails, Clay treats it as if no valid data was found and continues to the next provider. You might notice this behavior when looking at the validation columns (which are hidden by default). You can unhide these columns to see exactly why the waterfall is continuing through all providers. Unfortunately, there's no built-in way to modify this behavior, as it's part of Clay's core waterfall functionality.
Sources: Enrich Companies (Waterfalls) [Clay 101] - Clay University Enrich Companies (Waterfalls) [Clay 101] - Clay University Enrich People (Waterfalls) [Automated Outbound] - Clay University Enrich People (Waterfalls) [CRM Enrichment] - Clay University
Loic B.
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as shown on my screenshot, a Mobile phone is found, but still the waterfall continues
Channeled
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This behavior occurs because the "Only validate mobile phone types" option is part of the validation process, not the waterfall stopping condition. When this option is enabled, the waterfall continues to the next provider if: 1. No phone number is found, or 2. A phone number is found but fails the mobile validation check Even when a valid mobile number is found early in the waterfall, the system continues through all providers due to how the validation logic works. This is similar to email waterfalls where "the waterfall continues running even after finding an email" when it fails validation. To better understand what's happening, you can unhide the validation columns to see the detailed validation steps for each provider. Unfortunately, this is part of Clay's core waterfall functionality and cannot be modified.
Sources: Enrich People (Waterfalls) [Automated Inbound] - Clay University Enrich People (Waterfalls) [CRM Enrichment] - Clay University
Loic B.
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https://app.clay.com/workspaces/455834/workbooks/wb_ES68UGqekRyY/tables/t_M354r6jnDBeN/views/gv_Ems3uA8AHqcQ
Bo (.
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Sorry for the confusion—there isn't any double charge, let me explain what's happening and how it works behind the scenes: When an email is found, we automatically run a validation step to check its accuracy. These validation columns are hidden by default to keep your table clean, but you can reveal them by selecting "Show All Columns"—this will let you review the email validation status directly. https://downloads.intercomcdn.com/i/o/w28k1kwz/1542143296/bb98e037cd05c7509741837dc833/082439a3-27be-47d0-b800-2d64c4b6f4de?expires=1748308500&signature=092c83736995fea464ce5cae7f013fea045bdae1d9b81e36cee3eb501c55f511&req=dSUjFMh6noNWX%2FMW1HO4ze7ZBMh9d8j%2B%2ByLkgF01TF%2F88d7YmpZ7Gc9E8gzC%0AbaU7%0A
Each time you try to find an email, we reach out to our providers. If they return a result, that counts as successful and credits are used. From there we send it to a validation step (the hidden one). Since we can't know in advance what a provider will return, we can't avoid this charge. However, what we do to prevent further credit costs is that once an email has been checked and marked invalid, we won't re-validate the same one. If another finder step runs afterward, it will only validate if it receives a new, different email. This helps avoid duplicate charges wherever possible. If you have any more questions or need further assistance, feel free to ask! 🌟