If you’re tired of chasing down bad email addresses, incomplete records, and duplicate contacts in your CRM, you’re not alone. Sales and marketing teams waste hours fixing messy data—time that should go to closing deals or building campaigns. This guide is for anyone who runs Salesforce or HubSpot and wants their CRM to actually help, not slow things down. We’ll walk through how to use Clearbit to clean up your data, keep it fresh, and avoid the usual traps.
Why CRM Data Quality Is (Still) a Nightmare
Let’s get real: most CRM databases are a mess. Here’s what you’re probably dealing with:
- Contacts with missing or fake info
- Old records nobody’s touched in years
- Duplicates everywhere
- Sales reps wasting time researching accounts
Bad data means wasted effort and missed opportunities. It also kills your team’s trust in the CRM. So, why does this keep happening?
- People hate manual data entry (and they’re bad at it)
- Info goes stale fast—companies change, people move jobs
- CRMs rarely enforce strict validation by default
- Data sources are scattered and inconsistent
If any of this sounds familiar, you’re in the right place.
What Clearbit Actually Does (and What It Doesn’t)
Clearbit plugs into your CRM and enriches contact and company records with data pulled from public and proprietary sources. Think job titles, company size, tech stack, industry, and more. The idea is to automate research and keep your CRM from turning into a junk drawer.
What works: - Enriches new leads automatically as they enter your CRM - Fills in blanks for existing records if you have a basic email or domain - Updates stale info (like when someone changes jobs) - Flags duplicates or inconsistent data
What doesn’t: - It won’t fix every field (some niche data just isn’t available) - If your inputs are garbage (fake emails, typos), enrichment won’t help - It’s not a full-blown data deduplication or hygiene tool—think “enrichment,” not “cleanup crew” - Sometimes it gets things wrong—no data vendor is perfect
Bottom line: Clearbit is a solid way to automate the grunt work of research and data entry, but it won’t solve everything. You still need some process and common sense.
Step-by-Step: Optimizing CRM Data with Clearbit
Let’s get into the nuts and bolts. Here’s how to use Clearbit with Salesforce and HubSpot to actually get cleaner, more useful CRM data.
1. Audit Your Current CRM Mess
Before you start plugging in new tools, know what you’re working with.
- Run a basic health report: How many contacts are missing critical info? How many duplicates? When was data last updated?
- Identify high-impact fields: Things like job title, company size, industry, and email validity matter most. Don’t try to fix everything at once.
- Spot the worst offenders: Are certain forms, reps, or integrations dumping junk into your CRM?
Pro tip: Don’t overthink this. A quick spreadsheet export and some filters will tell you most of what you need to know.
2. Set Up Clearbit Integration
For Salesforce
- Install the Clearbit Salesforce package from the AppExchange.
- Connect your Clearbit account using their API key.
- Map Clearbit fields to your custom or standard Salesforce fields (don’t just accept defaults—think about what you actually need).
- Set up enrichment triggers (usually on lead creation or update).
For HubSpot
- Add the Clearbit integration from the HubSpot App Marketplace.
- Connect your account and select which properties to sync (again, be selective).
- Decide if you want enrichment on form fills, database updates, or both.
What to watch out for: - Don’t sync every available field “just because.” More isn’t always better—you’ll just confuse your team. - Test enrichment on a few records before rolling it out everywhere. - Make sure you’re not overwriting good data with bad (set rules for which source wins).
3. Automate Enrichment (But Don’t Set and Forget)
Now for the fun part—let Clearbit do the heavy lifting.
- Turn on automatic enrichment: New leads and contacts get enriched as they enter the CRM.
- Batch enrich old records: Most plans let you run enrichment on existing data. Prioritize the records your team actually uses.
- Set up alerts or reports: Flag when enrichment fails or when critical fields are still empty, so you can follow up.
What works: - Saves hours of manual research - Helps sales and marketing segment and personalize right away
What doesn’t: - Enrichment isn’t real-time magic—sometimes there’s a lag, or info is missing - You’ll still need a process to handle edge cases (like international companies or unusual job titles)
4. Clean Up Duplicates and Conflicts
Clearbit can help spot duplicates, but it’s not a replacement for a proper deduplication tool.
- Use built-in CRM dedupe tools first: Salesforce and HubSpot both have basic deduplication features. Run these before and after enrichment.
- Set your matching rules: Decide what counts as a duplicate (email, domain, company name—you choose).
- Manually review edge cases: No tool will catch every duplicate perfectly, and sometimes merging can break things.
Ignore: Fancy promise-laden “AI dedupers” unless you have a huge, complex database. Start simple.
5. Keep Your Data (and Team) in Sync
Even the best tools fall apart if your team keeps adding junk. Make it easy for everyone to keep your CRM clean:
- Lock down critical fields: Don’t let random users overwrite Clearbit-enriched data without a good reason.
- Train your team: Explain what’s being enriched automatically, and what they still need to enter themselves.
- Schedule periodic audits: Run a quick report every month or quarter. If things are slipping, tweak your process.
Pro tip: Set up dashboards for your power users to spot issues fast—don’t bury it in admin menus.
Common Pitfalls (and How to Dodge Them)
Don’t Overload Your CRM
It’s tempting to pull in every possible field from Clearbit. Resist. More fields = more confusion = more mess. Stick to what your team actually uses.
Don’t Trust Any Data Blindly
No enrichment tool is perfect. Sometimes job titles are out of date, or a company’s size is wrong. If a field is critical for your business (like legal compliance or billing), double-check it.
Don’t Ignore Privacy Issues
Syncing third-party data has privacy implications, especially in Europe. Make sure you’re following GDPR or other relevant rules. If you’re not sure, ask legal.
What About Ongoing Costs and ROI?
Let’s be honest: Clearbit isn’t cheap, especially if you have a big database. But if your sales reps waste hours per week on manual research or deal with constant bad data headaches, the ROI can be real. Just:
- Start small (enrich your highest-value leads first)
- Track time saved and conversion rates before expanding
- Review your contract and usage regularly—don’t pay for what you’re not using
The Bottom Line
Getting your CRM into shape isn’t about buying the fanciest tool or stuffing your database with every scrap of info. It’s about giving your team reliable, up-to-date data without turning them into part-time data janitors. Clearbit can help, but keep things simple: focus on high-impact fields, automate where you can, and don’t be afraid to prune what you don’t need. Start small, fix what matters, iterate as you go. Your future self will thank you.