Data Enrichment: Clean Your CRM and Unlock 7× ROI

Dirty data costs companies an estimated 15% of annual revenue. Sales‑intelligence platforms with built‑in enrichment pump fresh, verified contact and firmographic info into every record—turning your CRM from cluttered attic into high‑precision growth engine.

Set Data‑Quality Standards Upfront

Before turning on any sales intelligence tool, you need a clear blueprint for what "good" data looks like.

Start by defining mandatory fields—such as direct dial, work email, industry, and company size. Then set formatting rules (e.g., no all-caps names or inconsistent job titles) and apply validation logic. For example, phone numbers should follow international formats, and job roles should align with a standardized list.

Once these rules are set, enrichment tools like Cognism, ZoomInfo, or Clearbit can automatically fill in gaps or flag non-compliant records. That means your reps aren’t left guessing if “J. Smith” at “ACME” is the right contact—or if it’s just another ghost lead in your system.

Good data starts with clear standards.

Schedule Ongoing Cleanses, Not One‑Off Fixes

Data decays fast. People change jobs, companies merge, and phone numbers become obsolete. Cleaning your CRM once isn’t enough.

Instead, build a recurring hygiene process. Set automated deduplication to run weekly. Normalize fields like job titles, industries, and revenue bands monthly. And re-verify contact data every quarter to keep up with turnover.

SalesDRIIVN proved the value of this with a £410k ROI in 12 months by using Cognism’s ongoing enrichment. That uplift didn’t come from a massive new campaign. It came from better data that made existing campaigns work harder—emails reached the right people, and sequences didn’t waste cycles on invalid records.

Consistency beats one-off cleanups every time.

Build a Governance Framework

Tools can help, but someone still needs to own the data.

That’s where a governance framework comes in. Assign clear data owners for each domain—contacts, companies, territories. These owners are responsible for documenting processes, handling exceptions, and reviewing health metrics regularly.

Then, set up quarterly audits. Use dashboards to track things like percentage of enriched leads, number of invalid records flagged, and bounce rates on campaigns. When you see dips, investigate and course correct.

Good governance ensures that your investment in enrichment keeps paying off—long after the initial rollout buzz fades. It makes clean data sustainable, not just a spring-cleaning event.

Conclusion

Clean data isn’t glamorous—but it’s high-octane fuel for your revenue engine.

With the right standards, your enrichment tool knows what to look for. With regular, automated hygiene, your campaigns stay sharp. And with governance in place, your CRM doesn’t slide back into chaos.

When your reps trust the data, they focus on selling—not double-checking phone numbers. Marketing targets live inboxes, not dead domains. And ops stop babysitting the CRM, freeing up time for real strategy.

The result? Teams aligned, workflows unblocked, and growth no longer gated by bad data.

Start small—set standards, automate cleanses, assign owners. Keep it consistent. Because when your data works for you, your entire go-to-market engine fires on all cylinders.

And yes, that’s how you unlock a 7× ROI.

‍