It’s no secret that all successful sales and lead generation campaigns begin with reliable data. Identifying the right companies, locating relevant decision-makers and building detailed contact maps all take time. However, even the best prospect database will gradually become less accurate if not maintained.
People change positions, companies restructure, businesses merge and priorities shift. Email addresses become inactive, telephone numbers change and contacts who were once influential may no longer be involved in purchasing decisions.
Without regular database maintenance, sales teams can spend valuable time pursuing contacts who are no longer relevant, reducing campaign efficiency and limiting returns.
What is Database Decay?
Database decay is the gradual deterioration of the information held within a CRM or prospect database.
Common causes include:
- Employees changing roles or leaving an organisation
- Company mergers, acquisitions and closures
- Departmental restructures
- Changes to email addresses and telephone numbers
- New decision-makers joining the buying process
- Changes in a company’s commercial priorities
- Duplicate or incomplete records being created
The more specialised the target market, the greater the potential impact. In scientific and technical sectors, purchasing decisions frequently involve several stakeholders across scientific, technical, procurement and senior management functions. If just one of those contacts is incorrect, your understanding of the buying process may be incomplete.
How does inaccurate data affect sales performance?
Outdated information creates problems throughout the sales process.
Wasted sales time
Salespeople can spend hours calling disconnected numbers, emailing inactive accounts (and affecting your domain integrity in the process) or attempting to reach individuals who have moved to another organisation.
This reduces the time available for meaningful conversations with genuine prospects.
Missed decision-makers
A contact may still work for the organisation but no longer hold responsibility for the area you are targeting. Without an up-to-date understanding of the company’s structure, your team may never reach the person who can influence or approve a purchase.
Longer sales cycles
Scientific sales cycles are often long and complex. Approaching the wrong person at the beginning of the campaign adds further delays and makes it harder to build momentum.
Poor email deliverability
Invalid addresses and repeated email bounces can damage your sender reputation. This can make it more difficult for future campaigns to reach recipients’ inboxes, even when the addresses are correct.
Unreliable reporting
If your CRM contains duplicates, inactive contacts or incorrectly categorised prospects, your pipeline figures may give a misleading picture of campaign performance and market potential.
The risks of using an outdated sales database
Poor-quality data can result in:
- Contacting people who are no longer relevant
- Missing new decision-makers and commercial influencers
- Duplicating prospecting activity
- Increasing email bounce rates
- Damaging your organisation’s credibility
- Extending the sales cycle
- Reducing campaign conversion rates
- Producing inaccurate forecasts and reports
- Making it harder to achieve sales targets and KPIs
In technical markets, inaccurate outreach can also affect how your company is perceived. Prospects expect suppliers to understand their organisation, responsibilities and challenges. An approach based on outdated information can make even a strong proposition appear poorly researched.
Data accuracy and compliance
Maintaining accurate information is not only commercially important. If your database contains identifiable business contacts, such as a person’s name, direct email address or telephone number, UK data protection requirements may apply.
The UK GDPR accuracy principle requires personal information to be accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date. Businesses must also respect objections to direct marketing and maintain appropriate suppression records.
Database cleansing should therefore include more than confirming whether an email address still works. It should also consider why the data is being held, how it was obtained, whether it remains relevant and whether the individual has asked not to receive marketing communications. Further guidance is available from the Information Commissioner’s Office.
What should a database refresh include?
An effective database refresh may involve:
- Verifying names, roles and contact details
- Identifying people who have left or changed position
- Finding replacement contacts
- Removing or merging duplicate records
- Correcting incomplete or inconsistent information
- Confirming company size, location and market focus
- Reviewing segmentation and target-market criteria
- Updating decision-maker and influencer maps
- Recording data sources and verification dates
- Checking suppression and do-not-contact records
- Removing information that is no longer required
The objective is not simply to build the largest possible database. A smaller, well-researched and relevant dataset will usually be more valuable than thousands of poorly qualified contacts.
How often should you refresh your sales data?
There is no single schedule that suits every business. The right frequency depends on your market, campaign activity and the type of information you hold.
As a general approach, businesses should review key records before launching a new campaign and introduce an ongoing process for updating information following calls, returned emails and other prospect interactions.
High-value target accounts and active opportunities should be checked more frequently than low-priority prospects. Recording the date on which each contact was last verified can help your team prioritise future research.
Scientific database cleansing and prospecting services
Maintaining a reliable scientific sales database requires time, sector understanding and consistent research.
Network Scientific helps scientific and technical businesses cleanse, update and develop their prospect databases. Our team can verify existing records, identify relevant contacts and build detailed account maps aligned with your target market and commercial objectives.
Whether your database needs a targeted update or a more comprehensive review, we can help you create a stronger foundation for future sales and marketing campaigns.
To learn more about our scientific prospecting and database development services, please get in touch with our team using the form below.