If you’re responsible for keeping your company’s customer data in order, you’ve probably run into the headaches that come with Salesforce account and contact management. Maybe you inherited a messy system, or maybe you’re just trying to avoid one. Either way, this guide’s for you. We’ll get right to the point—no jargon, no pie-in-the-sky promises. Just practical, field-tested ways to keep your Salesforce data clean and useful, without losing your mind.
Why Accounts and Contacts Matter (and Why They Get Messy)
In Salesforce, “accounts” usually mean companies or organizations, and “contacts” are the people at those companies. It sounds simple, but in real life? Not so much. Duplicate records, outdated info, and unclear ownership can make your CRM feel more like a junk drawer than a source of truth.
If accounts and contacts aren’t clear and reliable:
- Sales teams waste time chasing the wrong people.
- Marketing sends emails to the wrong addresses.
- Reporting is next to useless.
- Customer support gets blindsided by missing info.
Let’s dig into how to keep things organized and actually useful.
1. Start With a Clear Data Model
Before you touch any data, make sure everyone’s on the same page about what an account is, what a contact is, and how they relate.
What works:
- Define your “account”: Usually a business, but sometimes a school, household, or other entity. Be explicit.
- Define your “contact”: A real person. Don’t use contacts for generic emails like “info@company.com” if you can avoid it.
- Set rules for relationships: Can a contact belong to more than one account? (This is called “Contacts to Multiple Accounts” in Salesforce. It’s powerful, but comes with complexity.)
- Decide on ownership: Who “owns” accounts and contacts? Sales rep? Account manager? It matters for visibility and reporting.
What to ignore:
Trying to represent every odd edge case in your data model. If you find yourself creating tons of custom fields or objects for rare situations, you’re probably overcomplicating things.
Pro tip:
Write your definitions down—shared docs or even a one-pager is fine. Otherwise, you’ll end up debating what an “account” is every six months.
2. Standardize Data Entry—Or Regret It Later
Here’s the not-so-secret truth: most Salesforce messes start with inconsistent data entry. If everyone enters things their own way, you’ll never have clean reports.
How to standardize:
- Pick field formats: States as two-letter codes, phone numbers with country codes, etc. Be specific.
- Use picklists instead of free text: Don’t let reps type in “Industry” or “Lead Source.” Make them pick from a list.
- Train users: Show, don’t just tell. Screenshots, videos, or even quick calls help more than email blasts.
- Set required fields, but not too many: If you require everything, people will game the system or enter junk.
What doesn’t work:
Strict rules without buy-in. If your process is a pain, people will find ways around it. Ask users what slows them down, then fix it.
Pro tip:
Use Salesforce validation rules to block the worst offenders (like missing emails or weird date formats). Just don’t go overboard, or you’ll create more frustration than value.
3. Tackle Duplicates Head-On
Duplicates are inevitable. The best you can do is make them rare—and easy to fix.
How to manage duplicates:
- Enable Salesforce Duplicate Rules and Matching Rules: These can warn users or block duplicate records. Start with warnings, move to blocking if people keep ignoring them.
- Deduplicate before importing: Don’t dump a spreadsheet of leads straight in. Run a dedupe first.
- Schedule regular dedupe scans: Monthly or quarterly, depending on your volume.
- Give someone ownership: Make it clear who’s responsible for cleaning up duplicates. “Everyone” means “no one.”
What to ignore:
Expensive deduplication add-ons unless your volume is huge. Start with Salesforce’s built-ins—they’re better than you think.
Pro tip:
If you merge records, double-check related records (like opportunities or cases) so nothing gets lost in the shuffle.
4. Clean Up Old and Incomplete Data
Old, incomplete, or just plain bad data drags everything down. Don’t wait for a massive “cleanup project.” Build data hygiene into your regular routine.
Practical steps:
- Set up reports to catch incomplete records: E.g., accounts with missing industry or contacts with no email.
- Use automation: Simple workflows can remind owners to update records or flag old ones for review.
- Archive or delete where appropriate: But check with legal/data privacy before deleting anything for good.
- Mark inactive contacts: Don’t delete someone just because they left a company. Mark them inactive, so you keep the history but don’t bug them.
What to ignore:
Trying to get to 100% complete records. It’s not realistic. Focus on the fields that actually drive sales, service, or reporting.
Pro tip:
Set up a recurring calendar reminder—monthly or quarterly—to review your “dirty data” reports. Don’t rely on good intentions.
5. Use Hierarchies and Relationships (But Keep It Simple)
Salesforce lets you set up account hierarchies (parent-child accounts) and link contacts to multiple accounts. This can be powerful… or an invitation to chaos.
What works:
- Simple hierarchies: Use for companies with subsidiaries, branches, or franchises. Don’t go more than 2–3 levels deep unless you have a really good reason.
- Contacts to multiple accounts: Use only if you truly need it—like consultants who work with several clients. Otherwise, keep it off.
- Document your approach: If you use hierarchies, show everyone how to read and update them.
What doesn’t work:
Trying to perfectly map every real-world relationship. You’ll end up with a tangled mess that no one understands.
Pro tip:
If people keep asking “which account is the real one?”—your hierarchy is probably too complicated.
6. Set Clear Ownership and Access Rules
Data’s only useful if people can find it—and if the right people can update it.
Best practices:
- Assign owners: Every account and contact should have a clear owner (usually a person, not a queue).
- Use sharing rules wisely: Set default visibility to what’s truly needed. Don’t lock things down more than you have to.
- Automate re-assignment: If someone leaves the company, set up processes to reassign their records right away.
- Audit access regularly: People change roles, and old permissions stick around. Clean up as you go.
What to ignore:
Default Salesforce permissions out of the box. They’re just a starting point. Tailor them to how your team actually works.
Pro tip:
If reps don’t trust the data (because they think others will “steal” their accounts), you have a process problem, not a tech problem.
7. Make Reporting Work for You
The whole point of clean data is to get answers you can trust. If your reports are a mess, it’s usually a data problem—not a reporting problem.
How to get useful reports:
- Start with questions: What do you actually want to know? (E.g., “How many active customers do we have in healthcare?”)
- Build reports around your key fields: If you can’t report on it, it’s probably not worth tracking.
- Regularly review reports with users: Bad reports often mean bad data. Fix the root cause.
What doesn’t work:
Building dozens of dashboards “just in case.” Most get ignored. Focus on a handful of high-impact reports.
Pro tip:
If a report is always empty or full of junk, use it as a signal: your data entry or process needs fixing.
8. Don’t Over-Customize (Seriously)
Salesforce is incredibly flexible, but that’s a double-edged sword. Custom fields and apps can help—but they’re also the fastest way to make your system confusing and brittle.
Keep in mind:
- Only add fields you’ll actually use: If you can’t name the report or automation a field supports, don’t add it.
- Avoid one-off customizations: “Can we just add this for one team?” is a slippery slope.
- Document everything: If you customize, keep a running list of what you changed and why.
What to ignore:
Fancy add-ons and third-party tools unless you have a clear business need. More isn’t always better.
Pro tip:
If you’re relying on a consultant to explain how your data works, it’s too complicated.
Summary: Keep It Simple, Stay Consistent
Managing accounts and contacts in Salesforce isn’t rocket science, but it does take discipline. Don’t aim for perfection—aim for consistency. Fix what matters, ignore what doesn’t, and revisit your process regularly. You’ll end up with cleaner data, happier users, and way fewer headaches down the road. Start simple, iterate often, and don’t let the “nice to have” features distract you from what actually works.