Messy CRMs aren’t just common, they’re inevitable without the right systems, expectations, and habits in place.
In this episode of The B2B Sales & Marketing Hotline, Emily and Maryanne roll up their sleeves to tackle one of the most pervasive (and often overwhelming) issues plaguing B2B organizations: CRM chaos.
"I would be blown away if someone said, 'My CRM rocks and it is so clean.'" – Maryanne McWhirter
Most B2B teams feel embarrassed by their CRM’s condition, but they shouldn’t! Duplicate contacts, incomplete fields, outdated records, and inconsistent usage plague even the most advanced systems. It’s not about having a "perfect" CRM, it’s about having processes and expectations to continuously clean and maintain it.
CRMs are not static. Without ongoing monitoring, they become cluttered, unreliable, and underused.
Before diving into cleanup mode, pause and ask:
What are your business goals?
What data is essential to meet those goals?
What information is unnecessary or outdated?
What data lives outside the CRM in spreadsheets or sticky notes—and why?
Aligning your CRM with your business objectives is key. Yes, hygiene is very important, but so are functionality and adoption.
Once you’ve committed to cleanup, here’s how to get started:
Start small with the five must-have fields on every contact:
First Name
Last Name
Email Address
Lifecycle Stage
Contact Owner
From there, build out only what supports segmentation and reporting (job title, industry, region, etc.).
Avoid free-text fields wherever possible. Use dropdowns and pick-lists to ensure consistency and simplify segmentation and reporting.
Floating contacts (unlinked to companies) make it impossible to track accurate engagement and opportunity stages.
A one-time cleanup won’t last without user behavior standards. Emily and Maryanne recommend creating CRM usage guidelines, like a brand style guide, but for data.
Your guidelines should document:
Required fields for all new records
Standard naming conventions
Ownership rules and responsibilities
Automated processes and what triggers them
Make these expectations visible, enforce them consistently, and refer back to them in training and onboarding.
“If you own the contact, you're responsible for keeping it clean.”
Cleaning your CRM shouldn’t fall on one person. Assign responsibility by contact owner and lifecycle stage, and make it part of each user’s role to maintain their section of the CRM.
Use lists and reports to identify:
Unassigned contacts
Records missing key fields
Hard bounces
Inactive contacts (no activity in 2–3 years)
Contacts without email addresses
Then, take action: enrich, assign, or delete.
CRMs like HubSpot allow for recovery of deleted records (within 90 days), so don’t be afraid to prune your data. It’s better to have a small, reliable database than a massive, messy one.
Encourage your team to try, experiment, and fix mistakes. Action better than inaction.
If you’re using HubSpot, remember:
Marketing contacts can be emailed.
Non-marketing contacts cannot.
Default to making all contacts marketing unless there’s a clear reason not to. Don’t use non-marketing as a “junk drawer” for uncertain contacts.
Celebrate milestones like:
A rep cleaning up their entire list
All contacts having proper associations
Achieving 100% marketing contact accuracy
These wins reinforce good CRM behavior and help build a culture of ownership.
Don't view a messy CRM as a failure. View it as a signal that it’s time to re-evaluate your habits and systems. Whether you do it internally or with the help of a partner like LeadG2, the key is to start.
Make your CRM work for you, NOT against you.
At minimum, conduct a quarterly audit. Look for duplicates, incomplete fields, inactive contacts, and outdated records. If you’re onboarding new users or launching new campaigns, audit even more frequently.
A CRM cleanup refers to the one-time effort to remove clutter, fix data, and organize records. CRM usage guidelines are the ongoing rules that keep your CRM clean (like required fields, naming conventions, and user responsibilities).
Yes! LeadG2 offers CRM auditing and optimization services. But even more importantly, they help clients build the internal processes to maintain a clean, reliable CRM long-term.