Why data quality is the backbone of sales success

Data is everything. Yet it’s surprisingly common to find it’s one of the areas paid the least attention with many businesses not even having up to date customer information – let alone decent prospect details. all.

How often have your sales teams picked up the phone, only to find a “lead” who’s never heard of your company? Or worse, left the company months ago with a mailbox still live and a machine clicking on everything as part of their security policy.

That’s not just frustrating for the salesperson who’s spent loads of time on what looks to be a hot lead; it’s expensive. In fact, poor data and vanity leads costs businesses an average of $15 million annually (source: Gartner).

Obvious but true thing: your pipeline is only as strong as the data that fuels it.

The real cost of bad data

Let’s talk numbers. When sales teams waste hours chasing bad leads, they’re not just losing time; they’re losing revenue. And the ripple effect? Frustration builds, morale drops, and trust in the system erodes.

Bad data doesn’t just create inefficiencies—it creates lacklustre follow-up of significant marketing effort, resources and budget. Marketing teams spend weeks crafting campaigns, only for the leads generated to hit a wall because bad data gets in the way.

It’s not just about wasted effort; it’s about opportunity cost. Every bad lead your sales team pursues means one less opportunity to connect with a genuine prospect. Over time, the cumulative impact can be staggering, eroding both team morale and trust in the process.

What’s at stake?

Bad data sabotages potential. Poor lead scoring means your team focuses on the wrong prospects. Inaccurate or outdated contact information can lead to awkward or disconnected sales calls. These issues don’t just hurt results—they damage your brand’s credibility and weaken the relationship between marketing and sales.

But here’s the flip side: Accurate data can improve ROI by 20% (source: Experian). When your data is clean, everything flows—from lead scoring to follow-ups to closed deals. A well-maintained database isn’t just a tool; it’s a strategic advantage that accelerates your sales cycle and fosters trust across teams.

How to fix it

1. Make someone responsible. Some may say it’s not the most interesting job in the world and it’s rarely someone’s ‘whole’ role. But an enthusiastic, qualified, diligent individual adept at reading data indicators will work wonders.

2. Invest in data hygiene: Regularly audit your CRM. Purge duplicates, update stale contacts, and ensure fields are consistently filled. Schedule this as a quarterly task to keep things fresh. Don’t stop at cleaning your data—analyse where errors come from and implement processes to prevent them at the source.

3. Leverage the right tools: Use enterprise-grade martech that validates leads in real-time. This minimises manual errors and ensures only high-quality leads make it to your sales team. Automation tools can also help track engagement, giving your team a clearer picture of lead intent.

4. Align sales and marketing: Make sure both teams are using the same definitions and criteria for lead quality. Regular check-ins ensure alignment and prevent misunderstandings. When sales trusts the data provided by marketing, they’re more likely to act on it promptly.

5. Monitor and iterate: Data management isn’t a one-and-done process. Continuously monitor key metrics to identify trends and make adjustments. Small changes can have a big impact over time.

6.  Enrich records: Whether you're in sales or marketing, if you find out anything about a contact it's useful.  Yet if you don't note it down in the record you don't have it available for next time.  Whether it's a prospect or a cutomer, anything from practical informtaion such mobile phone numbers, referenced colleagues to food allergies (event data), pets, favourite sports gleaned from sales conversations are useful when you want to get a call on a warmer footing.

Never lose sight of a lead.

With the right systems and processes, your pipeline can be a well-oiled machine. 

▶️ Book a call with a specialist to see how to get the best performance from your data.