The minimum useful record
- Name and reliable contact details
- Lead source
- Owner
- Lifecycle or pipeline state
- Consent or communication status
- Relevant company relationship
- Last meaningful interaction
Standardize fields
Create a small data dictionary so teams know what each field means, who can edit it and which automations depend on it.
Avoid duplicate truth
If the same fact lives in several fields, automation and reporting eventually disagree. Prefer one authoritative field for each important concept.
Deduplication
Define how duplicate emails, phone numbers, companies and imported lists are handled before large migrations or bulk campaigns.
Privacy and consent
Contact management should preserve consent, opt-out state and channel-specific communication rules. Do not let imported data bypass those controls.
Choose software
Compare software against this workflow rather than choosing from a feature list alone.