If you’re running your customer relationships through Lunatro, you already know that bad data is a silent killer. Old phone numbers, duplicate contacts, typos, and missing info all snowball into confusion and wasted time. If your CRM is a mess, your team spends their days untangling spaghetti instead of closing deals.
This guide is for folks who want their CRM to actually help, not hinder. Whether you’re new to Lunatro or you inherited a database that’s seen better days, here’s how to get your data clean, accurate, and useful—without buying into every bit of data enrichment hype.
Why Clean and Enrich Your CRM Data?
Let’s not overthink it: clean data means less wasted time and fewer headaches. Enriched data (when done right) means more context for your sales and support teams. But there’s a lot of noise out there about “data transformation” and “AI-powered enrichment.” Most of it’s oversold. Focus on the basics first. Here’s what actually matters:
- Accurate contact info (so you can reach people)
- No duplicates (so you don’t annoy the same person twice)
- Consistent formatting (so you can actually run reports)
- Useful extra details (like industry or company size, if they’re real)
You don’t need to chase every shiny add-on. Start with the stuff that keeps your team sane.
Step 1: Take Stock—Audit What You’ve Got
Before you start cleaning, you need to see what shape your data’s in. Don’t skip this step; it’ll save headaches later.
- Export a sample of your contacts, companies, and deals.
- Scan for obvious issues: missing emails, weird phone numbers, all-caps names, empty custom fields.
- Check for duplicates: Same email, different spellings, or slightly different company names.
- Ask your team: What annoys them most about the current data?
Pro Tip: Don’t try to fix everything at once. Spot the worst problems first, then work in batches.
Step 2: Set Up Data Standards in Lunatro
If you want data to stay clean, you need rules. Lunatro lets you customize fields, so use that to your advantage.
- Define required fields: Make sure things like “Email” or “Company Name” can’t be left blank.
- Use dropdowns and picklists: For fields like “Industry” or “Lead Source,” force a controlled list. No more typos.
- Set formatting rules: If you always want phone numbers like (555) 555-5555, set a standard.
What works: - Limiting open text fields. The more structure, the less mess. - Making important fields mandatory for new entries.
What to ignore: - Overcomplicating with too many custom fields. Only add what your team will actually use.
Step 3: Bulk Clean Existing Data
Time for some digital elbow grease. Lunatro has built-in tools, but sometimes you’ll need to export to CSV for heavy-duty cleaning.
- Deduplicate: Use Lunatro’s duplicate merging tool for contacts and companies. Start with email, then expand to name and phone.
- Standardize formats: Fix inconsistent capitalization, phone formats, and weird date entries. Excel or Google Sheets can do quick bulk fixes.
- Fill in gaps: For must-have fields, see what’s missing. Sometimes you can get missing info by cross-referencing other records or LinkedIn.
- Archive or delete junk: If old contacts are totally stale (bounced emails, left company), don’t be afraid to remove or archive them.
Pro Tip: Do a small batch first, double-check, then tackle the rest. Mistakes in bulk cleaning can be hard to undo.
Step 4: Automate What You Can (But Don’t Overdo It)
Lunatro offers automations for basic data entry and validation. Use them, but keep it simple.
- Set up validation rules to catch missing or badly formatted fields at the point of entry.
- Create simple workflows to flag duplicates or route incomplete records for review.
- Automate enrichment with caution. Some integrations pull in data from third-party sources, but don’t expect miracles—these tools are only as good as their sources.
What works: - Basic validation to stop junk from getting in. - Automatic deduplication alerts.
What doesn’t: - Overly aggressive enrichment tools that slap random info onto your records. Fake data is worse than missing data.
Step 5: Enrich Data—Only Where It Matters
Enrichment sounds fancy, but most teams only need a few extra details to make contacts useful.
- Start with the essentials: For B2B, that’s company website, size, industry, and maybe LinkedIn profile.
- Use Lunatro integrations for enrichment, but review the results. Some services are better than others, and none are perfect.
- Manual enrichment pays off: Sometimes it’s faster and more accurate to have a real person fill in key gaps, especially for high-value accounts.
Pro Tip: Don’t enrich every record—prioritize your most valuable leads.
Step 6: Set Up Ongoing Maintenance
The best CRM in the world gets messy over time. Build habits (and a schedule) for keeping things tidy.
- Schedule regular cleanups: Once a quarter is realistic for most teams.
- Have a go-to person: Someone needs to own data quality. It doesn’t have to be their whole job, but if it’s no one’s job, it won’t get done.
- Train your team: Show folks how to enter data the right way and why it matters.
What works: - Lightweight, recurring cleanups. - Team accountability.
What doesn’t: - Hoping everyone just “does the right thing” by default.
Step 7: Measure and Adjust
You don’t need fancy dashboards, but you should be able to answer:
- How many duplicates did you catch this month?
- What % of your contacts are missing key info?
- Is your bounce rate going down after cleaning up emails?
If you’re not seeing improvement, tweak your process. Maybe a required field is too annoying, or your enrichment tool is junk. Don’t be afraid to drop what’s not working.
A Few Final Tips (Learned the Hard Way)
- Don’t chase perfection. Your data will never be 100% clean. Good enough is, well, good enough.
- Skip the hype. AI tools are getting better, but they’re not magic. Human review still matters.
- Keep it simple. The fancier your setup, the faster it falls apart when people get busy.
If you’re using Lunatro, you’ve already got the basics to keep your CRM data in shape. Keep things simple, check in regularly, and don’t be afraid to clean up as you go. A little effort beats a big overhaul every time.