CRM Hygiene
Systematically identify and resolve data quality issues in your CRM to improve forecast accuracy, reporting, and automation reliability.
When to Use This Skill
- Quarterly CRM audits
- Before major reporting periods
- When automation workflows fail
- After team changes or migrations
- Preparing for CRM integrations
Methodology Foundation
Based on Salesforce Data Quality Best Practices and RevOps Co-op Data Governance frameworks, focusing on:
- Completeness (required fields populated)
- Consistency (standardized values)
- Accuracy (correct and current data)
- Timeliness (recent updates)
What Claude Does vs What You Decide
| Claude Does | You Decide | |-------------|------------| | Defines audit criteria | Which fields are required | | Identifies data issues | Priority of fixes | | Categorizes problems by type | Who owns cleanup tasks | | Suggests remediation steps | Automation vs manual fix | | Creates cleanup reports | Enforcement policies |
What This Skill Does
- Audit design - Define required fields and validation rules
- Issue identification - Find missing, inconsistent, duplicate data
- Prioritization - Rank issues by business impact
- Remediation planning - Action steps to fix issues
- Governance recommendations - Prevent future issues
How to Use
For Audit Design:
Help me create a CRM hygiene audit for [CRM System].
Key objects to audit:
- [Leads, Contacts, Accounts, Opportunities]
Critical fields for each:
- Leads: [list required fields]
- Opportunities: [list required fields]
Our main issues:
- [Describe known problems]For Data Audit:
Audit this opportunity data for hygiene issues:
[Paste export or describe data]
Required fields:
- [List fields that must be populated]
Validation rules:
- [List rules like "Stage must match Amount > $0"]Instructions
Step 1: Define Audit Scope
Object Priority (typical):
- Opportunities - Revenue impact
- Accounts - Relationship foundation
- Contacts - Communication accuracy
- Leads - Pipeline source
Field Categories:
- Critical - Blocks processes if missing
- Important - Affects reporting/segmentation
- Nice-to-Have - Enriches but not required
Step 2: Completeness Audit
Check required fields by object:
Opportunities: | Field | Criticality | Why Required | |-------|-------------|--------------| | Amount | Critical | Forecast, pipeline value | | Close Date | Critical | Forecast timing | | Stage | Critical | Pipeline reporting | | Owner | Critical | Accountability | | Account | Critical | Company linkage | | Primary Contact | Important | Communication | | Next Step | Important | Deal momentum | | Competitor | Important | Win/loss analysis | | Loss Reason | Critical (if lost) | Improvement insights |
Accounts: | Field | Criticality | Why Required | |-------|-------------|--------------| | Industry | Important | Segmentation | | Employee Count | Important | ICP fit | | Website | Important | Research, enrichment | | Billing Address | Critical | Invoicing | | Account Owner | Critical | Accountability |
Step 3: Consistency Audit
Check for standardization issues:
| Issue Type | Example | Impact | |------------|---------|--------| | Picklist variations | "US" vs "USA" vs "United States" | Reporting breaks | | Case inconsistency | "ACME" vs "Acme" vs "acme" | Duplicates | | Format variations | "(555) 123-4567" vs "5551234567" | Automation fails | | Null vs blank | NULL vs "" vs "N/A" | Filters don't work |
Step 4: Accuracy Audit
Identify likely incorrect data:
| Check | Criteria | Action | |-------|----------|--------| | Stale close dates | Past date, still open | Update or close | | Amount mismatches | $0 in late stage | Verify pricing | | Stage regression | Stage 4 → Stage 2 | Investigate | | Impossible values | 200% probability | Fix validation | | Bounced emails | Marked invalid | Remove or update |
Step 5: Duplicate Detection
Find potential duplicates:
| Match Type | Criteria | Confidence | |------------|----------|------------| | Exact email | Same email address | 99% duplicate | | Domain match | Same company domain | 80% duplicate | | Fuzzy name | Similar company name | Investigate | | Phone match | Same phone number | 90% duplicate |
Step 6: Timeliness Audit
Flag stale records:
| Object | Staleness Threshold | Action | |--------|---------------------|--------| | Open Opportunity | No activity 30 days | Review with rep | | Lead | No touch 14 days | Reassign or nurture | | Account | No contact 90 days | Re-engagement | | Contact | Bounced + 30 days | Archive |
Examples
Example 1: Opportunity Audit
Input:
Audit these opportunities:
1. Acme Corp - Stage: Proposal, Amount: $0, Close: Jan 15 (past), Owner: Empty
2. Beta Inc - Stage: Closed Won, Amount: $50K, Close: Feb 1, Loss Reason: "Price"
3. Gamma LLC - Stage: Discovery, Amount: $100K, Close: Mar 30, No activity 45 days
4. Delta Co - Stage: Negotiation, Amount: $75K, Close: Feb 28, Next Step: Empty
5. Echo Systems - Stage: Closed Lost, Amount: $200K, Loss Reason: EmptyOutput:
## CRM Hygiene Audit: Opportunities
### Summary
- **Total Records**: 5
- **Critical Issues**: 4
- **Warnings**: 2
- **Clean Records**: 0
### Critical Issues (Fix Immediately)
#### 1. Acme Corp - 3 Critical Issues
| Issue | Field | Current | Required |
|-------|-------|---------|----------|
| 🔴 Missing | Owner | Empty | Assigned rep |
| 🔴 Missing | Amount | $0 | Deal value |
| 🔴 Stale | Close Date | Jan 15 (past) | Future date |
**Action**: Assign owner, verify if deal is active, update amount and close date.
#### 2. Beta Inc - Logic Error
| Issue | Field | Current | Problem |
|-------|-------|---------|---------|
| 🔴 Inconsistent | Loss Reason | "Price" | Stage is "Closed Won" |
**Action**: Either change stage to Closed Lost, or clear Loss Reason.
#### 3. Echo Systems - Missing Required
| Issue | Field | Current | Required |
|-------|-------|---------|----------|
| 🔴 Missing | Loss Reason | Empty | Required for Closed Lost |
**Action**: Rep must document why deal was lost.
#### 4. Delta Co - Missing Next Step
| Issue | Field | Current | Impact |
|-------|-------|---------|--------|
| 🟠 Missing | Next Step | Empty | No clear action |
**Action**: Rep should define next step for Negotiation stage.
### Warnings (Review This Week)
#### 5. Gamma LLC - Stale Deal
| Issue | Indicator | Value |
|-------|-----------|-------|
| 🟡 Stale | Last Activity | 45 days ago |
**Action**: Review with rep - is this deal still active? If yes, update. If no, close lost.
### Hygiene Score: 20/100 (Poor)
### Recommended Actions by Priority
1. **Today**: Fix Acme Corp (no owner = orphaned deal)
2. **Today**: Fix Beta Inc logic error (affects win rate)
3. **This Week**: Get Echo Systems loss reason
4. **This Week**: Update Gamma LLC status
5. **This Week**: Add Delta Co next step
### Process Recommendations
- Add validation rule: Amount required when Stage > Discovery
- Add validation rule: Owner required on all opportunities
- Add validation rule: Loss Reason required when Closed Lost
- Create stale deal report (no activity 30+ days)Example 2: Duplicate Detection
Input:
Check these accounts for duplicates:
1. Acme Corporation, acme.com, San Francisco
2. ACME Corp, acme.com, SF
3. Acme Inc, acme-inc.com, San Francisco
4. Beta Technologies, beta.io, New York
5. Beta Tech, betatech.com, NYC
6. Beta Technologies Inc, beta.io, New YorkOutput:
## Duplicate Detection Report
### High Confidence Duplicates (Merge)
#### Duplicate Set 1: Acme Corporation
| Record | Name | Domain | Location | Confidence |
|--------|------|--------|----------|------------|
| #1 | Acme Corporation | acme.com | San Francisco | Master |
| #2 | ACME Corp | acme.com | SF | 99% - Same domain |
**Recommendation**: Merge #2 into #1
- Same domain (acme.com)
- Same location (SF = San