CRM Checklist to Prevent Duplicates, Gaps, and Dirty Data

We wouldn’t wish a bad situation on anyone, but sometimes it’s nice to know you’re not alone. 

Take your CRM data, for example. If it’s a bit of a mess, it might comfort you to know that a lot of people have the same problem. Even the best sales orgs in the world struggle with duplicates, blank fields, and outdated records…sounds familiar, right? 

Right. And you know the worst part? You often don’t notice until it’s already cost you a deal, or your forecasting’s gone wrong.

Here at Surfe, we hate unnecessarily losing a deal, so we’ve put together a CRM checklist to help you spot and fix the hidden gaps in your pipeline. Plus, we’ll tell you how to do it, too – with some help from the Surfe sales tool itself 😉 Coming right up: 

• Contact Creation: Reduce Manual Entry at the Source
• Duplicates: Catch Them Before They Clog Your Pipeline
• Missing or Incomplete Fields: Get Your Required Info Early
• Activity Logging: If It’s Not Logged, It Didn’t Happen
• Ownership and Field Control: Make Responsibilities Clear

By the time you’ve finished reading, you’ll be able to proactively identify and prevent issues that lead to bad data. Nice! 

Without further ado – let’s get going. 

Contact Creation: Reduce Manual Entry at the Source

Let’s be honest. Manual data entry is where good CRMs go to die.

You’ve got reps copying, pasting, and praying they didn’t mess up a job title or misspell a surname. By the time the contact hits your CRM, half the info is missing, and the other half’s questionable at best. Cue duplicates. Cue blank fields. Cue your RevOps manager quietly weeping into a Google Sheet.

That’s why the first step on your CRM checklist is getting contact creation right – from the start. No human should be trusted to fill out 12 fields after every single cold call, after all. 

Contact Creation Checklist: 

• Use a tool that enriches contacts automatically (hello there 👋)
• Enforce field validation for the non-negotiables – like email, job title, and company domain
• Ditch the free-text fields; your CRM isn’t a journal

Now, let’s talk data enrichment. If you’re still relying on reps to guess someone’s seniority or dig through old exports, we’ve got a better way. Surfe pulls all the data you need right from LinkedIn into your CRM in real-time – after just one click. 

Set your reps up for success by removing friction, reducing entry points, and making clean data the path of least resistance. Trust us, your future self (and your forecasting model) will thank you.

Duplicates: Catch Them Before They Clog Your Pipeline

You know that moment when you discover two entries for the same prospect in your CRM – and they’re at totally different stages of the pipeline? Yeah, that’s the stuff of RevOps nightmares.

Duplicates sabotage handovers, confuse reporting, and quietly erode trust in your CRM. And if you, and the rest of the team, are having to manually spot and merge them? Good luck.

That’s why the next item on your CRM checklist is all about prevention, not cleanup.

Duplicates Checklist:

• Enable duplicate detection based on Email, Domain, and Name
• Review and refine merge rules regularly
• Audit top duplicated records every month

The good news? Most CRMs have some level of duplicate detection built in – if you remember to turn it on and actually check the alerts. The better news? Surfe automatically checks for duplicates using unique LinkedIn profile URLs – it’ll map this into your CRM by default to keep things hassle-free for you. 

That means whether you’re adding a contact to your CRM for (hopefully) the first time, or updating contact data, Surfe will be able to flag any duplicates as they pop up. 

When contact creation is cleaner, duplication becomes the exception, not the rule. And your RevOps manager gets to close that Google Sheet for good.

Missing or Incomplete Fields: Get Your Required Info Early

We’ve all seen it: a lead gets passed from SDR to AE and half the fields are blank. No title, no verified phone number, no clue if they’re the decision-maker or just someone who clicked “attend” on a webinar three years ago.

And sure, someone could go back and fill that in later. But who has the time for that? 

That’s why your CRM checklist should include a plan to catch missing or incomplete data before it becomes someone else’s problem.

Missing Fields Checklist:

• Use enrichment tools that add Job Titles, Phone Numbers, and LinkedIn URLs automatically
• Flag leads with missing critical fields for review before they hit the pipeline
• Train reps to review and complete key fields before syncing to CRM
  

If we’re really, really honest, optional fields are code for “never getting filled in.” If a field matters later, make sure it’s handled early. That might mean setting rules in your CRM, or using tools (*cough* Surfe *cough*) that can fill in the gaps on their own.

What’s that? You want to hear more about Surfe? We’re glad you asked. Use our tool, and enrichment happens right in your LinkedIn workflow. So instead of asking your reps to chase job titles or Google someone’s phone number, the data lands in the CRM – clean, complete, and ready to work.

Activity Logging: If It’s Not Logged, It Didn’t Happen

Let’s play a quick game. What’s worse than losing a deal?

Losing a deal and realizing no one even knows why.

(Sorry, that wasn’t very fun). 

Was there a call? An email? A LinkedIn message? Who followed up? Did anyone? Without proper activity logging, your CRM turns into a very expensive guessing game – and coaching, reporting, and handovers go out the window.

So the next checkpoint on your CRM checklist? Make sure every interaction makes it into the system.

Activity Logging Checklist:

• Use tools that sync LinkedIn and email activity automatically
• Align logging standards across SDRs, AEs, and CSMs
• Set CRM alerts for leads or accounts with no recent activity

If different reps log activity in different ways (or not at all), your CRM becomes a mess of half-finished stories. And good luck trying to coach based on that. Instead, make logging invisible and effortless – tools like Surfe sync LinkedIn messages directly into your CRM, so your team can get on with the good stuff (that’s selling, fyi). 

Ownership and Field Control: Make Responsibilities Clear

If everyone owns data, no one does. 

Who’s meant to update deal stages? Who checks for missing fields? Who’s actually in charge of keeping the CRM clean? Spoiler alert: everyone’s going to think someone else is responsible. 

That’s why the final, crucial step on your CRM checklist is ownership. 

Ownership & Field Control Checklist:

• Assign field ownership by role (e.g., SDRs enrich leads, AEs own deal updates)
• Limit permissions to prevent accidental overwrites
• Create a monthly CRM hygiene checklist and assign an owner

Let’s be real: nobody wants to be the CRM police. But when you define who owns what (and lock down who can change it), your CRM starts working like a proper system. 

Whether it’s a RevOps lead running a monthly audit or managers doing quick weekly checks, assigning ownership puts someone in the driver’s seat. And it makes sure your CRM stays accurate long after the initial import.

Start thinking of clean data as a team habit, and it’ll actually stick. 

Let’s Wrap It Up!

These days, you’re someone to look up to. 

Why? Well, you’ve escaped the tyranny of a messy CRM. Instead, you use a CRM checklist that helps you spot small issues before they snowball and have built a system where clean data is the default.  

Your secret weapon? Surfe. It helps automate a big chunk of this process by syncing clean, enriched, and structured data directly from Linkedin into your CRM. Clever, that. 

CRM Checklist FAQs

What Should a CRM Checklist Include?

A good CRM checklist covers the core culprits behind messy data – think duplicates, missing fields, and unlogged activity. At a minimum, you want clear steps for clean contact creation, duplicate detection, enrichment, activity logging, and ownership assignment. Tools like Surfe help you knock most of these issues out at the source by syncing clean, enriched data straight from LinkedIn. Bottom line: a proper CRM checklist isn’t about tidying up later – it’s about getting it right from the start.

How Can a CRM Checklist Help Prevent Duplicates?

Simple – by making sure duplicate prevention is baked into your process, not left to chance. A strong CRM checklist includes enabling duplicate detection rules (based on email, domain, and name), setting merge logic, and regularly auditing top-offending records. Better yet, use a tool like Surfe that matches contacts using unique LinkedIn profile URLs – so even if a name’s misspelled or a field’s missing, you’re still covered. When contact creation is cleaner, duplicates don’t have the chance to pile up. And your RevOps manager doesn’t need to spend their Friday manually merging records. Again.

What’s the Best Way to Ensure Complete CRM Data?

Step one: stop relying on optional fields. Let’s be honest, they rarely get filled in. Instead, your CRM checklist should include enrichment tools that autofill job titles, phone numbers, and LinkedIn URLs. Set up rules that flag leads with missing fields before they enter the pipeline, and train reps to do a quick review before syncing. Surfe handles a lot of this for you – enriching contacts with all the data you need, directly from LinkedIn. Complete data doesn’t need to be a miracle. It just needs a system (and maybe one less spreadsheet).

Why Is Activity Logging a Key Part of a CRM Checklist?

Because if it’s not logged, it didn’t happen. Deals get lost, coaching gets guessy, and handovers become “Didn’t you follow up?” moments. Your CRM checklist should make logging automatic – especially for LinkedIn messages and emails. Align how your reps log activity, and use alerts for accounts going stale. Surfe takes the pressure off reps by syncing activity straight into your CRM without “Oops, I forgot to log that reach out” excuses. The goal? A CRM that tells the full story – without anyone needing to write it manually.

Who Should Own CRM Data Hygiene?

Spoiler: if everyone owns it, no one does. Your CRM checklist should define exactly who updates which fields – for example, SDRs might enrich leads, AEs might own deal stages, RevOps might run audits. Limit permissions to avoid accidental overwrites, and assign someone to own your monthly hygiene checklist. Surfe already cuts down on manual entries and updates, so the role becomes more about reviewing than fixing. Think of it like a group project where someone actually volunteers to manage the Google Doc. Gold star.