Successful CRM has many components and it can be challenging to bring all the elements into alignment. At CLIENTSFirst, we often work with firms who have done a good job with some aspects of CRM but struggle with others. One challenge frequently seen is keeping mailing lists up to date. Mailing lists are typically the primary method of segmenting clients and contacts and are essential for targeting the right email marketing audience for alerts, newsletters and event invitations. It is not uncommon to find lawyers under the wrong impression that sharing their contacts with the CRM system means they are also “automagically” added to relevant mailing lists. This inevitably leads to frustration when key contacts are not sent communications and invitations aligned with their needs and interests. Here are some of our top tips for keeping mailing lists up to date:

We could talk all day about the giant puzzle created by dirty data. But to master the data quality domino game, it’s more important to focus on stopping the data dominoes from falling and blocking future issues so you don’t get buried under a pile of bad data.

Based on more than a decade of experience in working together with hundreds of top firms on CRM and data quality projects, here are some top tips to help you identify data quality issues and prevent future problems.

1. Assess: Start by stepping back from the never-ending data deluge and take a minute to assess the mess and come up with answers to a few important questions that can help you to scope the situation:

How much bad data do we have?
Where is it located?
How did it get there?
Who is in charge of it?
What is it costing us?
What is the best way to clean it up?
Who will assist with cleanup?
How long will the cleanup take?
How much will the cleanup cost?