Ever wrestled with messy lead data in HubSpot? If you’re tired of chasing down missing emails or sorting through duplicate records, you’ve probably heard about tools like Dropcontact. This guide is for sales ops folks, marketers, or small teams who want their HubSpot contacts to just work—without hours of manual cleanup.
You don’t need to be a developer to get this up and running. But you do need to know what’s worth your time, what’s just hype, and how to avoid the headaches.
Why bother integrating Dropcontact with HubSpot?
Let’s not overthink it. HubSpot’s great for managing leads, but its built-in enrichment is… inconsistent. Dropcontact, on the other hand, is a third-party service that fills in missing contact info (like verified emails, job titles, company details), merges duplicates, and keeps your CRM data fresher.
But here’s the catch: - You need to set it up right, or you’ll end up with a mess. - Not every field gets filled—Dropcontact isn’t magic. - There are costs (Dropcontact isn’t free).
Who will get the most out of this? - Anyone who collects leads from forms, imports, or sales outreach and ends up with partial or duplicate data. - Teams who want better email deliverability and less manual work.
If you’re only dealing with a handful of contacts, honestly, this may not be worth it. But for anyone wrangling hundreds or thousands of leads, it can save real time and frustration.
Prerequisites: What you’ll need
Before you dive in, make sure you’ve got: - An active HubSpot account (any paid plan is fine; free accounts are limited). - A Dropcontact subscription (there’s a trial, but you’ll need a paid plan for ongoing sync). - Admin rights in both tools. - 20–30 minutes to set things up and test.
Pro tip: If you’re not sure about your HubSpot plan limits (API calls, workflows, etc.), check now. Some integrations eat up your quota fast.
Step 1: Understand what Dropcontact actually does (and doesn’t)
Don’t expect Dropcontact to work miracles. Here’s what it’s good at: - Finding verified professional email addresses (not always possible for generic domains like Gmail). - Filling in missing company info (size, industry, LinkedIn, etc.). - Merging duplicate contacts.
What it can’t do: - Enrich every single contact, especially B2C or non-work domains. - Fix your lead source tracking or custom field logic. - Replace careful, human review when it comes to critical data.
Treat it as an extra set of hands for the boring stuff—not a silver bullet.
Step 2: Connect HubSpot to Dropcontact
Dropcontact offers a native integration with HubSpot, so you don’t have to mess with third-party automation tools unless you want more control.
Here’s how to connect them:
- Log in to Dropcontact.
- Go to the “Integrations” or “Connectors” section.
- Choose HubSpot and click “Connect.”
- You’ll be prompted to log into your HubSpot account—make sure you use an admin login.
- Grant the requested permissions. Yes, Dropcontact needs access to your contacts, companies, and deals. If you’re squeamish about this, maybe this integration isn’t for you.
- Once connected, you’ll be able to choose:
- Which HubSpot lists or pipelines to sync.
- Whether to auto-enrich new contacts or only existing ones.
- If you want Dropcontact to auto-merge duplicates (proceed with caution here—see below).
A word of warning:
Auto-merging can save time, but it’s not perfect. If your team relies on custom fields or notes, review a sample before letting Dropcontact merge everything.
Step 3: Configure your enrichment settings
Don’t just click “enrich everything.” Be deliberate. Here’s how to make smarter choices:
- Pick your lists or segments:
Only enrich the leads you care about (e.g., new inbound leads, not your entire database of random contacts from 2016). - Set enrichment frequency:
Dropcontact can run daily or on demand. For most, weekly is plenty. - Map custom fields:
If you use custom properties in HubSpot (like “Lead Source” or “Owner Notes”), make sure Dropcontact isn’t overwriting them. Review the field mapping settings. - Handle conflicts:
Decide what happens if Dropcontact finds different info (e.g., a new job title). Do you want to overwrite, append, or ignore? Default to “append” if you’re unsure.
Pro tip:
Run a small batch first. Review the changes in HubSpot before rolling out to your whole database. You can’t always undo mass updates easily.
Step 4: Test, review, and troubleshoot
Don’t trust any integration blindly—always test with a small sample.
- Create a test list in HubSpot with a dozen incomplete or duplicate contacts.
- Trigger Dropcontact enrichment.
- Wait a few minutes (sometimes up to an hour, depending on volume).
- Check the results in HubSpot—look for:
- Filled-in emails, companies, and job titles.
- No weird overwrites of your custom fields.
- Duplicates merged (if you enabled this).
If something looks off: - Double-check your field mappings. - Check your Dropcontact activity logs for errors. - Make sure HubSpot API limits weren’t hit (you might see incomplete batches if you’re on a lower plan).
If it’s a disaster, disconnect the integration and restore from your HubSpot backup (you do have one, right?).
Step 5: Automate ongoing enrichment (optional, but smart)
If you’re happy with the results, you can set Dropcontact to run on a schedule or automatically enrich new contacts as they’re added.
- For inbound leads:
Set up Dropcontact to process new contacts as they enter HubSpot. This keeps your CRM clean from the start. - For manual imports:
Run Dropcontact enrichment right after CSV uploads or list imports. - For ongoing deduplication:
Enable periodic scans to keep things tidy, but don’t go overboard—monthly is enough for most small teams.
Pro tip:
If your team uses workflows or automations in HubSpot, add a delay after enrichment before triggering outreach. Sometimes Dropcontact takes a bit to update all fields.
What’s worth ignoring (and what to watch out for)
- Ignore:
- Overpromised “AI enrichment”—Dropcontact is good, but it’s not psychic.
- Unnecessary enrichment of every old contact. Focus on leads you’re actually working.
- Watch out for:
- API limits in HubSpot (especially if you have other integrations).
- Blind trust in auto-merge. Always double-check samples.
- GDPR and privacy rules. Make sure you have a legitimate reason for enriching personal data.
Honest takes: What actually works, and what’s just noise
- What works:
Dropcontact is solid for B2B leads and cleaning up stale CRM data. It’s faster and more accurate than manual research—most of the time. - What doesn’t:
It won’t magically fix bad processes. If you’re importing garbage, you’ll still get garbage—just with more filled-in fields. - What’s noise:
Fancy dashboards or “AI insights” don’t matter if your team can’t trust the basics. Focus on having clean, reliable contact info first.
Keep it simple, iterate as you go
Start small. Don’t try to fix your whole CRM in one afternoon. Get the basics working, review the results, and make adjustments as you go. Dropcontact and HubSpot are powerful together—but only if you keep things under control.
If you run into weird results or have doubts, slow down and check your setup. No integration is worth blowing up your lead database for.
Good luck, and remember: Clean data beats fancy features every time.