If you rely on Zoominfo for sales, marketing, or recruiting, you already know: bad contact data wastes time and money. Calls don’t connect, emails bounce, and you’re left wondering if you’re chasing ghosts. This guide is for anyone who wants to make sure their Zoominfo contacts are accurate, up-to-date, and actually worth your effort.
Here’s how to stop guessing, clean up your contact info, and keep your team from spinning their wheels.
1. Know What Zoominfo Gets Right—and What It Misses
Before you start, let’s get real about what Zoominfo actually offers. It’s one of the bigger B2B data platforms, with a huge contact database. But it’s not perfect. Zoominfo pulls from public records, web crawls, user contributions, and third-party sources. Sometimes that data is spot-on. Sometimes it’s outdated or flat-out wrong.
What usually works: - Company names, domains, and basic firmographics - Job titles and company hierarchy (within a 6-12 month window) - Generic company phone numbers
Where things get sketchy: - Direct dials and personal emails (people switch jobs a lot) - Smaller companies or niche industries - Recent job changes (Zoominfo lags behind LinkedIn)
Bottom line: Treat Zoominfo as a starting point, not gospel. You’ll need to verify and update contact info before trusting it for outreach.
2. Identify Which Contacts Need Verification
Trying to verify everything is a waste. Focus your time where it’ll pay off.
Prioritize: - High-value accounts or prospects - Contacts you plan to reach out to soon - Old or untouched records (over 6-12 months old) - Contacts with missing or odd-looking data (e.g., “info@company.com” as a personal email)
Pro tip: Export a list of contacts you care about—don’t try to work inside Zoominfo’s main UI for big cleanup projects. Most people find spreadsheets faster for bulk edits and sorting.
3. Export and Organize Your Data
It’s faster and less frustrating to work outside of Zoominfo’s interface.
Here’s how: 1. Export the list: Use Zoominfo’s export feature (if your plan allows) to pull contacts into a CSV or Excel file. 2. Add extra columns: Make columns for “Verified Email,” “Verified Phone,” “Last Checked,” and “Notes.” 3. Sort by priority: Put your high-value contacts at the top.
If you’re stuck with a basic plan: You’ll need to verify contacts one at a time in the web interface. Not ideal, but you can still keep a side spreadsheet to track your work.
4. Verify Contact Information—The Smart Way
Here’s where most people waste time: mindlessly clicking through LinkedIn profiles or sending “just checking if this is still your email” messages. There’s a better way.
a. Emails
- Use email verification tools (like NeverBounce, ZeroBounce, or Hunter) to check deliverability. Don’t trust Zoominfo’s “verified” badge blindly.
- Spot check against LinkedIn: If the email is a work address, see if the person still works at that company. People change jobs more than you think.
- Avoid generic emails (“info@,” “sales@”). These rarely go to decision-makers.
b. Phone Numbers
- Direct dials are hit or miss. Call a few to see if they’re legit, but don’t waste hours chasing down every number.
- If the number rings through, update your “Verified Phone” column. If not, flag it for replacement.
- Use company switchboards as a backup, but expect to get routed or screened.
c. Job Titles and Companies
- Always double-check LinkedIn. Zoominfo’s job data is stale more often than you’d like.
- Pay attention to recent moves: If someone’s changed jobs in the last 3-6 months, Zoominfo might not show it yet.
Pro tip: If you have sales engagement tools (like Outreach or Salesloft), check email open/click activity. If emails never get opened, that’s a red flag.
5. Update and Document Your Changes
It’s not enough to just know a contact is outdated—you need to fix it for the next person (or your future self).
- Update records in your CRM or wherever you keep your “source of truth.” Don’t just fix it in Zoominfo and call it a day.
- Record your verification date. This helps you know when it’s time to re-check.
- Make quick notes: If you find a replacement contact, jot down how you found it (e.g., “Found new job on LinkedIn, updated email”).
If you’re working in a team: Share your updated list, or sync changes back to your CRM so people aren’t working off stale info.
6. Submit Updates Back to Zoominfo (Optional, but Useful)
Not everyone bothers, but you can submit corrections directly to Zoominfo. This won’t instantly fix your own data, but it helps improve the ecosystem over time.
- Use the “Suggest an Edit” feature on contact or company records in Zoominfo’s web interface.
- Be specific: Add links to LinkedIn or company pages as proof.
- Don’t expect instant updates. Zoominfo reviews submissions and might take weeks to update.
If you’re frustrated by seeing the same errors over and over, this is one way to slowly make things better for everyone.
7. Set Up a Simple Process to Stay Updated
Cleaning your list once is great—but contact data decays constantly. Make it a habit.
- Schedule regular reviews: Every 6 or 12 months, re-verify high-value contacts.
- Automate where you can: Use syncing tools between Zoominfo and your CRM if your plan allows.
- Don’t over-engineer: A simple spreadsheet with “Last Checked” dates can outperform fancy but neglected automation.
Pro tip: Assign one person to own data quality—or it’ll fall through the cracks.
What to Ignore (and Why)
- Don’t get obsessed with 100% accuracy. You’ll waste hours chasing ghosts. Focus on what affects your pipeline or revenue.
- Ignore vanity metrics: Number of contacts cleaned or “database size” doesn’t matter. Quality over quantity.
- Don’t trust “verified” labels blindly. Always double-check high-stakes records.
Wrapping Up: Keep It Simple, Stay Sane
You’ll never have perfect data, and that’s fine. Focus on keeping your most important contacts clean and updated, and don’t get bogged down trying to fix everything at once. Set up a repeatable process, stick to it, and update as you go. Over time, you’ll spend less time chasing dead ends—and more time talking to the right people.