7 Best Practices to Maintain a Clean CRM

There is this saying about data and data quality – ‘Garbage in and garbage out’ which holds true even today. As long as database exists, duplicate and outdated data will attempt to make a house in it.Especially, for your CRM systems where you store all your significant prospects and contact information, it is inevitable to not let useless data linger around. A messy and spoiled CRM database with integrity and duplication issues can do more harm than good to your business as it actually goes counter to the sole purpose of having a CRM system. Here are some best CRM data cleansing practices that you should follow to keep your CRM database healthy and maximize your ROI.

1. Import only essential data while importing contact lists

While you are importing the list of leads in your CRM system, make sure you do it with care. Identify from where is the data coming, which fields are filled and how are they relevant to the field in your updated CRM? If you have had custom fields earlier that are no longer relevant now, avoid importing them. Keep your database clean by downloading just the relevant stuff.

2. Ensure the format of data

In the process of exporting data to one software in order to import it to another software, there are certain things you have to be particular about. Usually, this can be done by exporting and importing a .csv spreadsheet.

Now, it is necessary that the data in the file that you have exported lines up with the data import process of the new system. Means, every column header should have the same title and the data should be in the same format. Make sure that both these things align before you import the file to avoid data errors.

3. Identify essential data fields and avoid missing or partial records

It is inevitable to identify data fields that are essential to your business model. Suppose if you have realized that without name and email that lead does not qualify to be a part of your contact records, you can filter accordingly and avoid importing such partial records.

Also, if manual data is been collected by your organization, you can make sure that these essential fields can be collected first. For the missing data, you can complete those partials records before adding it to your contact.

4. Put validation on fields on your forms

CRM data validation is significant to ensure that your CRM system operates on clean, sparkling, and useful data. It is recommended to routinely check data validity and set validation constraints on the lead forms on your websites.

It is very common that someone would enter false data on your website forms to fetch the information or material. Set strict validation constraints so that data that comes to you is at least correct.

5. Check for duplicates

Duplicates records can have a detrimental impact on your CRM systems. Suppose if you have two or more records of the same lead then there are multiple situations that pop up to waste your resources and energy.

Which record is the most up-to-date? Which one will be used by your system to deliver emails? Which one has the most accurate information considering all the fields?

There are a lot of marketing factors that rely on accurate CRM data like personalized emails. Duplicate records can screw up your whole CRM system to an irreparable level. So, it is better to monitor it routinely and eliminate duplication.

6. Purge outdated contacts

CRM data cleansing is highly important as in a year 70% of your database becomes outdated. Remove contacts that are outdated and unresponsive to keep your database up-to-date. There might be contacts who have unsubscribedor mails to whom are bouncing. In either case, it is worthless to keep such records in your database.

7. Track lead source

It is imperative to track from where the leads are coming. The source lead is a deciding factor on how to communicate with them. The lead that you have got from the list that you have bought and the lead that has voluntarily contacted you need to be handled differently. You need to communicate in different ways with both of them. So, track your lead source and organize it accordingly in your database as per the objective of it. It is an important part of CRM data cleansing these days to keep your data tight and organized.