Let’s be honest: nobody enjoys spending hours tracking down missing info on leads. If you’re running a sales pipeline, you need good data—company size, job titles, social links, the works. But manual research is a grind, and most enrichment tools either cost too much or promise the moon and deliver a cheese wheel.
This guide is for folks who want to automate lead enrichment and keep their pipeline humming, without getting lost in a maze of features. I’ll show you how to set up a practical, repeatable process using Humanlinker, skip the hype, and spot the traps before you fall in.
Why automate lead enrichment, anyway?
If your CRM is full of half-baked contacts (“John – works at Google? Maybe?”), your sales team wastes time on dead ends and misses actual opportunities. Good enrichment means:
- Reps spend less time Googling, more time talking to real prospects
- Targeting and segmentation actually work
- Less embarrassing “Hi $First_Name” emails
But here’s the rub: most enrichment tools are either sketchy with their data sources, or they drown you in information you don’t actually need. Automation helps, but only if you set clear, realistic goals.
Step 1: Decide what data you really need
Don’t let shiny dashboards distract you. Before you touch any tool, agree on a short list of must-have fields. If you enrich everything, you’ll end up paying more and using less.
Non-negotiables for most B2B teams: - Full name - Job title - Company name, size, and industry - Work email - LinkedIn URL
Nice-to-haves (if you actually use them): - Phone number - Company tech stack - Funding info
Skip: - Twitter bios (unless your team actually uses them) - Flaky “personality insights” based on astrology-grade algorithms
Write down your enrichment wishlist. Keep it short. You can always add more later.
Step 2: Set up Humanlinker and connect your CRM
Time to get Humanlinker in the loop. It’s a sales intelligence tool that focuses on enriching leads with actionable company and contact data. It’s not magic, but it’ll save you a lot of copy-pasting.
What you need: - A Humanlinker account (paid or trial) - Access to your CRM (HubSpot, Salesforce, or whatever you use) - Admin rights, so you’re not blocked by IT when connecting things
How to connect: 1. Log in to Humanlinker. 2. Go to Integrations and pick your CRM. 3. Follow the prompts to authorize access. Usually it’s a couple of OAuth clicks. 4. Double-check the permissions—Humanlinker needs write access to update fields, not just read.
Pro tip: Only sync the fields you actually want to enrich. Otherwise, your CRM will fill up with noise.
Step 3: Map your data fields
Now, make sure Humanlinker is updating the right fields in your CRM. Nothing kills trust faster than overwriting accurate data with junk.
- In Humanlinker, find the field mapping section (usually under Integration settings).
- Match your CRM fields (“Job Title,” “Company Size,” etc.) to Humanlinker’s data points.
- Decide if you want Humanlinker to overwrite existing data or only fill in blanks. Overwriting can be risky unless your CRM data is a dumpster fire.
What to watch for: - Some CRMs have custom fields—make sure you’re mapping to the right ones. - If you use different field names (“Industry” vs. “Sector”), double-check your mapping. - Do a test run with a small batch of leads first.
Step 4: Pick your enrichment trigger
Automation means deciding when enrichment should happen. You’ve got options:
- On import: Every time a new lead lands in your CRM (from a form, CSV, whatever), Humanlinker tries to fill in the blanks.
- Bulk enrichment: Select a list of leads and run enrichment manually in batches. Good for cleaning old data.
- Scheduled automation: Set up Humanlinker to scan for new or incomplete leads every night (or week).
Don’t overcomplicate it: Start with on-import enrichment. If your CRM is already full of leads, do a one-time bulk update, then let automation handle new stuff.
Step 5: Test with real leads (and check the results)
Don’t trust any platform’s demo data. Pick 10-20 real leads with missing info and run them through the Humanlinker enrichment process.
- Check if the info matches what’s publicly available (LinkedIn, company websites).
- Watch out for obviously wrong or outdated data—people change jobs all the time.
- If your team sells internationally, see how well Humanlinker handles non-English names and companies.
Be honest: No tool gets it right 100% of the time. But if half the fields are wrong, tweak your settings or consider a different provider.
Step 6: Set up alerts and monitor quality
Automating enrichment isn’t “set it and forget it.” Junk data creeps in if you don’t keep an eye on it.
- Use your CRM reporting to track how often Humanlinker fills in fields vs. leaving blanks.
- Set up alerts for obviously bad data (e.g., job titles like “Owner” for a Fortune 500 company).
- Periodically spot-check a random batch of enriched leads.
If you see accuracy dropping, pause enrichment and figure out what’s up. Sometimes APIs break, or Humanlinker changes their data sources.
Step 7: Train your team (briefly)
Don’t make this a 2-hour training. Just make sure your sales team knows:
- What data is being enriched automatically
- What to do if they spot bad info (e.g., flag it, update it manually)
- Not to rely blindly on enrichment—always sanity check before a big call
If your team ignores enrichment, you wasted your time. If they trust it too much, you’ll end up embarrassing yourself in front of prospects.
What works (and what doesn’t)
What works:
- Automating the basics: Names, titles, company info—Humanlinker’s pretty solid here.
- Keeping the field list short and focused.
- Letting automation handle the grunt work, but keeping humans in the loop.
What doesn’t:
- Expecting perfection—data goes stale, people move, companies rebrand.
- Over-enriching: More fields = more noise, more cost, and more stuff to break.
- Automating away all human judgment. Use enriched data as a starting point, not gospel.
What to ignore:
- “AI insights” that can’t be traced to a real data source. If you can’t verify it, don’t use it.
- Overly granular fields (“favorite sports team”) unless your product literally depends on it.
Keep it simple, tweak as you go
Automating lead enrichment with Humanlinker will save you and your team hours—if you keep it simple and keep an eye on the results. Don’t try to automate everything on day one. Start with a small set of must-have fields, automate the import process, and check your results every couple of weeks.
Most importantly, remember: no tool will magically make your pipeline perfect. But a clean, enriched CRM means fewer headaches and more time selling. Iterate, adapt, and don’t be afraid to prune what you don’t need. Your future self (and your sales team) will thank you.