Data
Bad data rarely announces itself
Contact data decays quietly. By the time bounce rates climb, the damage to campaigns and reporting is already done.
1 October 2026 · 4 min read
Nobody wakes up to an alert saying their CRM is out of date. People change roles, companies rebrand, inboxes close. Each change is small, and that is exactly why it goes unnoticed.
B2B contact data can decay by around a quarter every year. Left alone, a database that was accurate last spring is quietly working against your sales and marketing teams today.
Where it shows up
Rising bounce rates, reps calling people who left months ago, duplicate records that split a customer's history in two, and reports nobody fully trusts. None of these feel urgent on their own. Together they cost time, budget and credibility.
What helps
Regular cleansing, with people checking the records automation cannot judge. Software handles volume well, but deciding whether two similar records are the same person, or whether a job title still applies, needs a human eye.
Our clients typically see bounce rates fall from double figures to under two percent after a cleanse. The data was never broken overnight, and it does not need to be fixed overnight either. It just needs looking after.
Want a hand with this?
Tell us what you are working with and we will come back with a practical plan.