CRM

What is CRM Data Maintenance? Key steps and procedures to follow

Liucija Adomaite
LAST UPDATED
July 15, 2024
READING TIME
7 min.

91% of companies with more than 11 employees use a CRM system, statistics show.

Its benefits are unbeatable for any B2B business: CRM software strengthens customer relationships, automates workflows, provides actionable data, improves collaboration, manages sales pipeline, and more.

But there’s a catch. A CRM will not boost your revenue by itself.

It depends on the CRM strategy you implement and what you do with the CRM data you obtain.

And there's another catch. Around 30% of CRM data become outdated after 1 year. That's why CRM data maintenance is critical.

In this article, you will learn everything you need about keeping your CRM data up-to-date, and the key maintenance procedures you should do regularly.

What is CRM Data Maintenance?

CRM data maintenance is the ongoing process of managing and updating the data within a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system.
This includes ensuring that customer information is accurate, complete, and up-to-date, removing duplicates, correcting errors, and periodically verifying data integrity.

Effective CRM data maintenance ensures the reliability of the CRM system for informed decision-making and effective customer interaction.

Why is CRM data maintenance important?

To put it simply, CRM data maintenance is crucial because it ensures that the customer information within your CRM system is accurate, complete, and up-to-date.

This reliability in data helps you to achieve multiple broader goals, such as:

  1. Improve Customer Relations: Accurate data allows for personalized and effective communication with customers, enhancing their experience and satisfaction.
  2. Increase Sales Efficiency: Sales teams can rely on up-to-date information to focus their efforts on qualified leads, reducing wasted time and improving conversion rates.
  3. Enhance Marketing Campaigns: Clean and segmented data enable more targeted and successful marketing efforts, increasing ROI.
  4. Support Informed Decision-Making: Managers and business leaders can make better strategic decisions based on reliable, comprehensive data.
  5. Reduce Operational Costs: Maintaining clean data helps avoid errors and unnecessary processes, thus saving time and reducing costs associated with data correction and missed opportunities.

In essence, CRM data maintenance directly impacts the efficiency and effectiveness of your customer-related operations. This leads to better business outcomes.

5 key steps in CRM data maintenance

Lucas Perret, the sales operations manager at lemlist, streamlines revenue processes and drives daily growth with tech and workflow automation.

Lucas shared the most important procedures he takes to make sure his CRM data is up-to-date.

Lucas explained that CRM data decays quickly: “People switch companies and job roles. Around 30% of CRM data become outdated after 1 year.”

CRM data maintenance: 5-step framework

1 Step: Have a process to avoid duplicates during import.

“Use email or LinkedIn URL as a unique ID for contact. And domain and company LinkedIn URL for companies.”

“Normalize domain format to avoid having duplicates, like lemlist.com and https://lemlist.com,” Luccas added.

He recommends formatting all domains in this format ‘{domain}.{tld}’.

2 Step: Do not hesitate to delete old data.

“If a lead has not been used for more than one year, and there are no interactions with a salesperson, you can delete it from your CRM,” Lucas assured.

3 Step: Verify email addresses before outreach.

“If you are prospecting a list of CRM contacts,” Lucas explained, “make sure to verify their email before sending the sequence. You can do that natively using lemlist.”

4 Step: Create a report to make sure the sales team completes all the fields.

“Usually, sales teams have to fill in info about their prospects. Like the tool stack they are currently using, the pains they have, and so on.”

Lucas said that the best way to ensure all fields are completed is to create a dashboard that displays records where data is not completed correctly.

“The manager can check it every week and ensure each rep adds the info,” he said.

5 Step: Automate processes.

According to Lucas, manual steps can bring errors.

“You should always automate when possible to avoid the risk of human errors. Here are the things we automate at lemlist:

  • Lead enrichment: we get info like company size, industry…etc. automatically
  • Meeting log
  • Deal creation
  • Lead source completion
  • Contact import
  • Monitor job changes.”

Neglecting CRM data maintenance leads to lost revenue

If businesses neglect their CRM data maintenance, there will be signs that your CRM data is not in a good state.

Lucas listed some of the most warning signs to look out for:

  • A lot of outdated data
  • High bounce rate
  • A lot of duplicates
  • Inaccurate reporting

“They lead to inefficiencies and missed revenue,” Lucas concluded.

CRM data maintenance: Main Benefits

Doing your CRM data maintenance regularly gives you a list of benefits:

1. Data cleansing ensures that customer communications are not duplicated and sales efforts are streamlined.

Regularly scanning the CRM database for duplicate entries of the same customer and merging them into a single record to prevent redundancy.

2. Data validation helps in maintaining the effectiveness of communication channels and prevents errors in reaching out to customers.

For example, you may want to double-check that phone numbers entered follow a specific format (e.g., including country codes) and that email addresses are correctly formatted and belong to valid domains.

3. Data enrichment provides a more comprehensive view of the customer, enabling personalized marketing and service.

For example, you may want to add and update additional information to customer profiles.

It can include social media handles, purchase history, or demographic details gathered from public records or surveys.

4. Regular updates help to keep all the contact information in your CRM up-to-date.

They ensure that communications are delivered effectively and reduce bounced emails and delivery failures.

Simple things like updating customer addresses after they move to a new location or changing contact details when they switch phone numbers or emails, can be a game-changer in lead nurturing.

5. Data segmentation helps in targeting specific customer groups with tailored marketing campaigns or sales strategies.

You can categorize all your customers based on specific criteria such as purchase behavior, geographic location, or engagement level in your CRM.

6. Handling inactive contacts will keep your CRM database lean.

It will shift your focus on engaged and active customers, making sure you don’t waste time and effort where you don’t have to.

This will improve overall efficiency and sales performance.

7. Automating workflows in your CRM reduces all the manual efforts and ensures that data maintenance tasks are consistently performed.

Think of setting up automated rules within your CRM to flag incomplete records or send reminders for missing information.

8. Audits and regular reviews help in identifying long-term trends or recurring issues in data entry practices, allowing for strategic improvements.

Performing data integrity checks will help you to identify and correct inconsistencies in your customer data.

Through habitual CRM data maintenance procedures, businesses will maintain the quality and reliability of their CRM data.

In turn, this will ultimately lead to better customer interactions and more informed business decisions.

Key Takeaways

CRM data maintenance is crucial for the successful use of a CRM system, ensuring that customer information is accurate, complete, and up-to-date.

This process impacts customer relations, sales efficiency, marketing effectiveness, decision-making, and operational costs.

It involves removing duplicates and merging records to streamline communications, ensuring correct formats for phone numbers and email addresses, and adding extra information like social media handles and purchase history.

Effective CRM data maintenance leads to improved customer interactions and better business decisions, ultimately enhancing overall business performance.

Liucija Adomaite
Liucija Adomaite is a viral content writer and organic traffic expert on a mission to help turn ambitious businesses into big names.
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G2 Rating
Price
Best for
Standout feature
Con
4.9
star
star
star
star
star
$30/mo
$75/mo
$2,999/mo
Large, distributed sales teams
AI evaluation precision, gamified KPIs
Lack of tracking system
4.6
star
star
star
star
star-half
Not publicly available
Sales operations and finance teams
Powerful configurability
Limited training resources and complex to navigate
4.4
star
star
star
star
star-half
Not publicly available
Mid-market and enterprise businesses
Comprehensive incentive management
Potentially high cost and steep learning curve
4.7
star
star
star
star
star-half
$15/user/mo
$40/user/mo
Enterprise: custom price
Complex sales structures and businesses of all sizes
Complex sales structures and businesses of all sizes
Steep learning curve
4.6
star
star
star
star
star-half
Not publicly available
Collaborative teams
Connected planning
Complexity and steep learning curve
4.6
star
star
star
star
star-half
Not publicly available
Companies with complex sales structures
Complex incentive compensation management (ICM) with high efficiency and accuracy
Complexity for smaller teams and potentially high costs
4.7
star
star
star
star
star-half
Not publicly available
Companies who want to automate commission calculations and payouts
Simplicity and ease of use
Lack of features like redirection
4.7
star
star
star
star
star-half
$30/user/mo
$35/user/mo
Custom: upon request
Businesses that need a comprehensive and user-friendly sales compensation management software
Ease of use and adoption
Lack of ability to configure the product based on user needs
4.8
star
star
star
star
star-half
Not publicly available
Companies with modern sales culture and businesses who want real-time insights
A built-in dispute management and real-time visibility
Users say it works slowly, customer support is slow
4.9
star
star
star
star
star
$30/user/mo
$50/user/mo
Smaller sales teams
Powerful automation
Lesser user base and average user interface
4.7
star
star
star
star
star-half
Not publicly available
Companies with scalable needs
Automated Commission Calculations
Lack of filtering by date, no mobile app
ERP vs. CRM
ERP
CRM
Summary
Backbone of a business's internal operations.
Backbone of customer-centric interactions and operations.
Goal
To centralize and streamline core business processes in a company.
To increase customer experience, satisfaction and loyalty, and boost sales.
Focus
Internal operations and processes across departments (finance, accounting, inventory, supply chain, HR, and sales).
All interactions with leads and customers.
Manages
Internal business data like financial data, inventory levels, production details, supply chain, HR info.
All customer data like contact info, purchase history, communication history, customer preferences and more.
Users
Finance, accounting, operations, supply chain, and HR departments.
Customer-facing teams like sales, marketing, and customer service.
Benefits
Streamlines operations, improves data accuracy, enhances decision-making, boosts collaboration, increases productivity.
Improves customer relationships, increases sales, strengthens customer service, personalizes marketing campaigns, provides insights.
Price
$150 per user per year on average.
$10 to $30 per user per month on average.
PRM Tool
Rating
Feature
Pro
Con
Mobile App
Integrations
Free Plan
Pricing
4.65
star
star
star
star
star-half
Org-wide alignment
User-friendly layout and database
Suboptimal as a personal CRM
square-check
Lack of tracking system
square-check
Team: $20/month
Business: $45/month
4.7
star
star
star
star
star-half
Social Media Integration
Easy contact data collection
No marketing/sales features
square-check
Lack of tracking system
square-xmark
7-day trial
$12/month
4.75
star
star
star
star
star-half
Block Functions
High customization capability
Not a dedicated CRM
square-check
Limited
square-check
Plus: €7.50/month
Business: €14/month
N/A
Open-source
Open-source flexibility
Requires extensive manual input
square-xmark
Limited
square-check
Self-hosted
$9/month or
$90/year
3.1
star
star
star
Simple iOS app
Ideal for non-tech-savvy users
iPhone only
square-check
iOS only
Limited
square-xmark
1-month trial
$1.49/month or
$14.99/month
3.6
star
star
star
star-half
Smart Contact Management
Feature-rich and flexible
Reported bugs
square-check
Rich
square-xmark
7-day trial
Premium: $13.99/month
Teams: $17.99/month
4.4
star
star
star
star
star-half
Customizable Interface
Customizable for teamwork
Pricey for personal use
square-check
Rich
square-xmark
Standard: $24/member
Premium: $39/member
4.7
star
star
star
star
star-half
Integrated Calling
Integrated Calling
Too sales-oriented & pricey
square-check
Rich
square-xmark
14-day trial
Startup: $59/user/month
Professional: $329/user/month
4.8
star
star
star
star
star
Business Card Scanning
Business Card Scanning
Mobile only
square-check
Limited
square-check
$9.99/month
4.45
star
star
star
star
star-half
160+ app integrations
Comprehensive integrations
No free app version
square-check
Rich
square-xmark
14-day trial
$29.90/month or
$24.90/month (billed annually)
Capterra Rating
Free Trial
Free Plan
Starting Price (excluding the free plan)
Maximum Price (for the most expensive plan)
Best for
4.5
star
star
star
star
star-half
square-check
14-day
square-check
€15/month/seat billed annually
€792/month/3 seats billed annually + €45/month for each extra seat
Versatility and free plan
4.2
star
star
star
star
square-check
30-day
square-xmark
But it offers reduced price to authorised nonprofit organisations
€25/user/month
€500/user/month billed annually (includes Einstein AI)
Best overall operational CRM
4.3
star
star
star
star
star-half
square-xmark
square-check
Limited to 3 users
Comprehensive incentive management
€52/user/month billed annually
Small-medium businesses and automation
4.5
star
star
star
star
star-half
square-check
14-day
square-xmark
€14/seat/month billed annually
€99/seat/month billed annually
Sales teams and ease of use
4.1
star
star
star
star
square-xmark
square-check
Limited 10 users
$9.99/user/month billed annually
$64.99/user/month billed annually
Free plan for very small teams up to 10
CRM goal
Increase the sales conversion rate for qualified leads from marketing automation campaigns by 10% in the next 6 months.
SMART Breakdown
1. Specific: It targets a specific area (conversion rate) for a defined segment (qualified leads from marketing automation).
2. Measurable: The desired increase (10%) is a clear metric, and the timeframe (6 months) allows for progress tracking.
3. Achievable: A 10% increase is possible based on historical data and potential improvements.
4. Relevant: Boosting sales from marketing efforts aligns with overall business objectives.
5. Time-bound: The 6-month timeframe creates urgency and a clear target date.
Actions
Step 1: Refine lead qualification criteria to ensure high-quality leads are nurtured through marketing automation.
Step 2: Personalize marketing automation campaigns based on lead demographics, interests, and behavior.
Step 3: Develop targeted landing pages with clear calls to action for qualified leads.
Step 4: Implement lead scoring to prioritize high-potential leads for sales follow-up.
Step 5: Track and analyze campaign performance to identify areas for optimization.
Outcomes
Increased sales and revenue
Improved marketing automation ROI
Marketing and sales alignment
Data-driven marketing optimization
Table
CDP Software
CRM Software
Approach
Data-centric
Customer-centric
Focus
Interactions across various channels and touchpoints, both online and offline.
Sales, marketing, and customer service interactions.
Functionality
Automatically collects, organizes, tags, and makes data available in real-time.
Helps businesses track customer interactions, sales pipelines, prospects, and service requests.
Goals
Personalized customer experiences across all channels.
Better customer relationships, streamlined processes, and improved profitability.
Benefits
Data integration, management, and accessibility, allowing for detailed analysis and segmentation.
Better communication within teams and with customers by organizing information about customer interactions and history.
Data Handling
Handles both identified and anonymous data, stitches together various data points.
Deals primarily with identified customer data.
Use Cases
Personalized marketing campaigns, targeted advertising, content customization across multiple channels.
Managing campaigns and leads, enhancing customer service, providing better customer support, increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Examples
Insider, Bloomreach, Salesforce Marketing Cloud CDP
HubSpot, Salesforce Sales Cloud Lightning Professional, and Zoho CRM
CRM
Free plan
Best feature
Best for
Con
1. HubSpot CRM
square-check
Sales automation
Sales teams
Up to 1,000 contacts
2. Insightly
square-check
Custom fields
Basic needs
Not enough info about the free plan
3. Agile CRM
square-check
Deal and sales pipeline tracking
Small teams
Up to 10 users
4. Zoho CRM
square-check
Lead and contact management
Businesses of all sizes
Limited to 3 users
5. ClickUp
square-check
Unlimited tasks and unlimited members
Personal use
Up to 100MB storage
6. EngageBay
square-check
Live chat
Small and midsize enterprises
Up to 1,000 branded emails per month
7. Bitrix24
square-check
Unlimited users and 5 scrum teams
Big teams
Up to 5GB of cloud storage
8. FreshSales
square-check
Easy to use and simple setup
Beginners
Up to 3 users
9. Mailchimp
square-check
Very beginner friendly
Marketing teams
Send up to 500 branded emails per month
Type of Affiliate Marketing
Unattached
Related
Involved
Format
Paid advertising
Social media or YouTube channels
Dedicated website or blog
Focus
Quick income
Your niche
Your audience
Engagement with your audience
square-xmark
square-check
square-check
square-check
square-check
Very close connection with your audience
Pro
Little effort
Higher credibility thanks to your niche
Long-lasting and scalable
Con
Paid ads cost a lot
Potential for bias since you don’t use the thing you promote
Require time, effort, and dedication

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