If you’ve ever stared at a messy B2B lead list and wondered how much of it is fake, outdated, or just plain useless, you’re not alone. Bad data wastes time, money, and—if you’re the one handing it to sales—your credibility. This guide is for anyone who wants to get their lead lists into fighting shape using only the built-in tools in D7leadfinder. No expensive add-ons, no sketchy data brokers, and definitely no spreadsheets with a million formulas. Let’s get into it.
Why Bother Cleaning Your B2B Leads?
Let’s keep it real: Most lead lists are packed with junk. Bad emails, dead websites, companies that folded years ago. If you don’t clean up, you’ll waste hours chasing ghosts and spike your bounce rates. Even worse, you might get your email domain blacklisted.
Cleaning and validating your leads means:
- Less time wasted on dead ends
- Higher delivery rates for your outreach
- More accurate targeting (so you’re not pitching office chairs to a bakery)
- Happier sales teams who trust your data
D7leadfinder’s built-in tools make this easier than you’d expect—but there are some limitations. I’ll flag those as we go.
Step 1: Export Your Lead List (If You Haven’t Already)
First things first: Get your leads out of D7leadfinder if you want to do any deeper analysis or keep a backup. You can always clean inside D7leadfinder, but having an offline copy is just smart.
How to export:
- After running your search, head to the “Leads” dashboard.
- Select the leads you want (or just tick “Select All”).
- Click “Export” and choose your format (CSV is safest for most cases).
Pro tip: Always keep the raw export. If you screw something up during cleaning, you’ll thank yourself later.
Step 2: Run D7leadfinder’s Built-In Validation
D7leadfinder doesn’t just find leads; it’s got some basic validation baked in. The system tries to filter out obvious junk, but it’s not magic. Here’s what works—and what doesn’t.
What D7leadfinder Checks For
- Email Syntax: It’ll flag emails like “john@company” or “info@@company.com.”
- Duplicate Entries: You won’t get the same company or contact twice in a single export.
- Website Status: If a website is long dead, it usually doesn’t make the list.
What It Misses
- Email Deliverability: D7leadfinder does not do deep email verification. If you want to weed out catch-all or inactive email addresses, you’ll need a separate tool.
- Real-Time Company Status: Some companies look alive online but have shut down. The tool can’t always tell the difference.
- Spam Traps & Honeypots: These are rare, but if you’re planning a big campaign, consider an extra validation step.
How to use the built-in validation:
- From your “Leads” dashboard, look for the “Validate” or “Clean” button (the wording changes, but it’s usually right there).
- Run the validation. It’ll flag obvious issues—invalid emails, missing websites, etc.
- You can filter out flagged leads right in the app. Just click “Show only invalid” or similar.
Honest take: Built-in validation is good for quick wins, but don’t trust it for high-stakes campaigns. If deliverability matters, do a deeper check (see Step 5).
Step 3: Clean Up Obvious Junk and Duplicates
Even after validation, you’ll want to do some manual cleanup.
Inside D7leadfinder
- Filter by missing data: Click to show leads missing email, website, or phone—then delete or export those.
- Sort by industry or location: Sometimes weird entries sneak in (e.g., a “pizza restaurant” in a B2B list). Filter and prune.
- Bulk delete: Don’t be afraid to nuke leads that don’t fit your campaign. Volume isn’t everything.
Outside D7leadfinder
If you exported your list, open it in Excel or Google Sheets and:
- Remove obvious spam: Anything with “test,” “admin,” or “noreply” in the email is usually a waste.
- Prune generic emails: “info@” or “contact@” addresses are hit-or-miss. Depends on your strategy.
- Check for duplicate domains: Sometimes different contacts at the same company sneak in—decide if you want one or all.
Pro tip: When in doubt, less is more. It’s easier to expand later than to explain why your campaign tanked because of bad data.
Step 4: Use D7leadfinder’s Filtering Tools to Tighten Your List
D7leadfinder gives you a decent set of filters both before and after you export leads. Use them.
Pre-Export Filters
- Location: Target by city, region, or country.
- Industry/Category: Don’t just search “technology”—get specific. “SaaS,” “IT Support,” etc.
- Company Size: If you only want 50+ employees, set that up front.
Post-Export Filters
- By job title: If you only need decision-makers, filter out generic titles.
- Exclude free email domains: Most real businesses use their own domain. Filter out “@gmail.com,” “@yahoo.com,” etc.
Honest take: These filters are decent, but not foolproof. Some companies fudge their category or location to get more business. Always double-check if a lead looks off.
Step 5: (Optional) Deep Email Verification
If you’re sending cold emails, D7leadfinder’s built-in validation isn’t enough. You want to know if an email will actually land in an inbox.
What D7leadfinder Does
- Syntax check: Yes.
- SMTP check: No.
- Catch-all detection: No.
What You Should Do
Export your cleaned list and run it through a proper email verification tool (like NeverBounce, ZeroBounce, or Hunter). These services will:
- Ping the mail server to see if the address is real (without sending an email).
- Flag catch-all domains.
- Spot spam traps.
Pro tip: Don’t cheap out here—bad emails can get you blacklisted fast.
Step 6: Spot-Check the Leads Before Sending
No tool catches everything. Take 10 minutes to scan your list manually:
- Do the company names look real?
- Are the websites active?
- Do the emails match the company domain?
Random sampling beats blindly trusting automation. If something looks weird, it probably is.
Step 7: Prep Your Final List for Outreach
Once you’ve cleaned and validated your list, get it ready for whatever CRM or outreach platform you’re using.
- Standardize column names (e.g., “First Name,” “Email,” “Company”).
- Remove empty columns and weird formatting.
- Save as CSV or Excel, whichever your tool prefers.
Pro tip: If your outreach tool has its own validation or cleaning step, let it run—sometimes it catches what D7leadfinder and your manual checks missed.
What to Ignore (and What Not To)
- Ignore chasing 100% perfection. You’ll never get a list with zero duds. Aim for “good enough” and keep improving.
- Don’t ignore high bounce rates. If you get lots of failed emails, stop and re-clean your list before you burn your sender reputation.
- Skip third-party “list cleaning” services unless you trust them. Many are just reselling data or running the same checks you could do yourself.
Wrapping Up: Keep It Simple, Keep Iterating
Don’t overthink it. D7leadfinder gives you a solid head start with built-in validation and filtering, but it’s not a crystal ball. Clean out the obvious junk, run a proper email verification for critical campaigns, and always keep a backup. If a process feels clunky, tweak it next time. Your future self—and your sales team—will thank you.