By default, lemlist tries the providers you connected with your own account first, then shuffles its built-in providers at every enrichment. A custom waterfall lets your team set the order yourself for email and phone enrichment: choose which providers run, put the one that works best for your market first, and turn off the ones that don't deliver results for your use case. You can also create waterfalls for specific countries, so leads from those countries use a different provider order.
Limitations
Your team can have up to 20 waterfalls per type (email or phone), including the default waterfall.
A country can belong to only one waterfall of the same type.
You cannot give two waterfalls the same name.
Country conditions use the lead's own country. You cannot route leads by the country of the company's headquarters.
You cannot duplicate a waterfall.
You cannot set a different provider order per campaign or per user.
Only users with permission to edit integrations can create, edit, or delete waterfalls.
How enrichment order works
Without a custom waterfall
Enrichment uses the Default email waterfall and Default phone waterfall. In Data management → Enrichment, both show All providers and Shuffled.
Any provider you connect externally is always tried first.
Built-in providers are shuffled automatically at every enrichment.
In the Default phone waterfall, built-in providers are grouped in two tiers:
Tier 1: Premium, tried first among this group, in random order.
Tier 2: Standard, tried next if Tier 1 finds nothing, in random order.
With a custom waterfall
lemlist runs the enabled providers in the order you set. It replaces the default order for the leads the waterfall applies to.
Providers you connected with your own account can be placed anywhere in the order, not only first.
Email and phone are independent. You can create a waterfall for email, for phone, or for both. A type without a custom waterfall keeps its default waterfall.
How lemlist picks the waterfall for each lead
If the lead's country is listed in one of your waterfalls, lemlist uses that waterfall.
Otherwise, lemlist uses your team's default waterfall for that type. If you haven't customized the default, lemlist uses its own order.
Where the country comes from
lemlist reads the country from the lead's location. The location can come from:
The Location column you map during CSV import
The contact's location field
The campaign lead's variables
The lemlist API or the lemlist MCP
lemlist recognizes country names in other languages and common variants, and full LinkedIn-style locations such as "Paris, Île-de-France, France".
When the country is unknown
If the location is empty or not recognized, lemlist uses the default waterfall.
If LinkedIn enrichment fills the location before the email or phone search starts, lemlist can still route the lead to the matching country waterfall.
Once an email or phone search has started, its waterfall does not change.
A country lemlist already recognized is never replaced by the LinkedIn location.
Core lesson
Phase 1: Open your enrichment waterfalls
Go to Settings → Data management → Enrichment.
In Settings, under Team settings, click Data management, then open the Enrichment tab. This is where your team's email and phone waterfalls are listed.✅ Verify: you see the Default email waterfall and Default phone waterfall cards, and the Custom waterfall button in the top-right corner.
Phase 2: Create a waterfall for email or phone
Click Custom waterfall.
Under Configure your waterfall, choose the type and name.
In Waterfall type, select Email waterfall or Phone waterfall. Enter a name in Waterfall name. To control both types, create one waterfall for each.Select the countries this waterfall applies to.
Countries already used by another waterfall of the same type can't be selected.
Phase 3: Set the order and choose which providers run
Under Waterfall order, drag and drop providers to set the order.
The provider at the top runs first. Put the provider that performs best for your market at the top. The list includes lemlist's built-in providers and the providers you connected with your own account (bring your own provider, BYOP).Enable or disable individual providers.
Disabled providers are skipped during enrichment.Click Save.
✅ Verify: your custom waterfall appears in the Enrichment tab, with your providers in the order you set and only the ones you want enabled.
Edit or delete a waterfall
In Settings → Data management → Enrichment, waterfalls are listed as cards, grouped by type.
Open a waterfall to change its name, countries, or providers.
Deleting a waterfall asks for confirmation.
After you delete a country waterfall, new leads from those countries use the default waterfall.
Your own providers in the waterfall
For paying users, Lusha is also built into the waterfall for phone and email enrichment, with no Lusha API key and no Lusha account needed.
Providers you connected with your own account (for example Lusha or Apollo) appear in the waterfall list alongside lemlist's built-in providers.
In a default waterfall, they are always tried first. In a custom waterfall, you can place them anywhere in the order.
If you connect a new provider after your custom waterfall already exists, it appears in the list disabled. Enable it and move it to the position you want.
If you disconnect a provider, it disappears from the waterfall.
Go back to the default order
Delete your custom waterfall. Your team goes back to the default waterfall for that type.
To stop using a country waterfall, delete it. Leads from those countries go back to your default waterfall.
Manage waterfalls via API and MCP
Custom waterfalls are also available through the lemlist API and the lemlist MCP. See Find and use the lemlist API and lemlist MCP: full tools reference.
Practical example
Your team knows Dropcontact finds the most emails for your market, but in the Default email waterfall it is shuffled with the other built-in providers. You go to Settings → Data management → Enrichment, click Custom waterfall, and select Email waterfall. Under Waterfall order, you drag Dropcontact to the top, keep the providers that still find results for you below it, disable the ones that don't, and click Save. From then on, every email enrichment on your team tries Dropcontact first. Phone enrichment keeps the Default phone waterfall until you create a phone waterfall too.
Troubleshooting & pitfalls
Issue: A provider you just connected is never used
Root cause: You connected it after your custom waterfall was created, so it was added disabled.
Go to Settings → Data management → Enrichment and open your custom waterfall.
Enable the provider and drag it to the position you want.
Click Save.
Issue: A provider disappeared from your waterfall
Root cause: The provider was disconnected.
Reconnect the provider. For Lusha, see Connect your Lusha API key to lemlist.
Open your waterfall, enable the provider, and place it in the order again.
Issue: Phone (or email) enrichment still uses a random order
Root cause: Email and phone waterfalls are independent, and there is no custom waterfall for that type. The Default email waterfall or Default phone waterfall still shows Shuffled.
Go to Settings → Data management → Enrichment.
Click Custom waterfall and create one for the missing type.
Issue: A lead from a country with its own waterfall used the default waterfall
Root cause: The lead's location was empty or not recognized.
Map the Location column when you import, or fill the contact's location field.
Enrich the lead again.
Issue: You can't select a country or save a waterfall name
Root cause: The country is already in another waterfall of the same type, or another waterfall already uses that name.
Remove the country from the other waterfall first, or choose a different name.
If your case is different
If you want to know what each enrichment type does and costs, see Enrich leads with finder, verifier, and phone.
If you want to run an enrichment on your leads, see How to enrich leads during and after import.
If you have a question about credit balance or pricing, see Credits: how they work.