--- title: "CRM Hygiene: GTM Play in 7 Steps | Frontal" description: "CRM Hygiene is a seven-step outbound and inbound play for your CRM, from “Audit, read-only” to “Keep it on”. It uses HubSpot, Salesforce, Clay, AI Ark, Prospeo and three more tools." url: https://frontal.so/plays/crm-hygiene updated: 2026-10-19 --- Play 42 Outbound · Inbound # CRM Hygiene CRM Hygiene is a seven-step outbound and inbound play for your CRM, from “Audit, read-only” to “Keep it on”. It uses HubSpot, Salesforce, Clay, AI Ark, Prospeo and three more tools. [Kenny Damian](https://www.linkedin.com/in/kenny-damian-90aba221a/), Co-founder & Head of GTM **Motion** Outbound, Inbound **Channel** CRM **Steps** 7 **Tools** 8 ## The workflow [![Workflow diagram of the CRM Hygiene play in six numbered stages: audit, read-only; detect the dirty sets; match duplicates carefully; approve, back up, then write; fill blanks, catch job changers; and keep it on.](https://frontal.so/_astro/crm-hygiene-1280.Cn1nOd2q.webp)](https://frontal.so/_astro/crm-hygiene-1280.Cn1nOd2q.webp) *[Open the diagram full size](https://frontal.so/_astro/crm-hygiene-1280.Cn1nOd2q.webp) (1280 x 2412 px)* **The diagram as text** 1. Audit, read-only - **Snapshot and fill rates (0 records written)**: Title, LinkedIn, Country, Email validity and Segment. Export first, measure every field, and trace which integration created each record. Export: HubSpot and Salesforce. 2. Detect the dirty sets - **Dirty set → Fix** - Duplicate person or company → Merge, survivor by rule - Company already has an account → Link to the account - Job changer → New contact, old marked gone - Bounced or invalid email → Replace and verify - Missing fields → Fill blanks only - Lead with no account → Match on domain 3. Match duplicates carefully - **Gate 1: Same company domain**: A name match only counts when the domain matches too. Dropped: Different people. - **Gate 2: Not a shared key**: A switchboard phone or a common firm name is never the key. Dropped: Shared line. - **Gate 3: Not a role inbox**: A name stamped on info@ is a field to fix. Dropped: Fix the field. 4. Approve, back up, then write - **The change set, as a saved list view**. Tool: Salesforce. - **Backup export**. Tool: HubSpot. - **Owner approves the list** - **Write unlocked** - **Every change logged with its old value, so it can be undone** 5. Fill blanks, catch job changers - **Enrichment waterfall**: Only the misses move on. Fill blanks, never overwrite a value set on purpose. Profile: AI Ark. Email: Prospeo and Findymail. Verify: BounceBan. Tool: Clay. - **Job changers**: Current employer scan, customers first. Same company under another domain is not a move. Scan: Clay and AI Ark. Create: New contact, history kept. 6. Keep it on - **Same rules, every new record**: New inbound, Rep-added records, Job-change signals and Weekly sweep. Report: Slack. - **Outcome: A CRM that stays clean, with every change undoable**. Tool: HubSpot. **Labelled connections:** Then: Backup export to Owner approves the list; Yes: Owner approves the list to Write unlocked. **Feedback loop:** The weekly sweep re-runs the audit (from A CRM that stays clean, with every change undoable back to Snapshot and fill rates). **The stack:** HubSpot, Salesforce, Clay, AI Ark, Prospeo, Findymail, BounceBan, Slack. ## The play in seven steps 1. ### Step 1: Audit, read-only The first pass never writes. It measures how dirty the CRM really is, so every later fix has a number behind it. - Export a snapshot of HubSpot or Salesforce: contacts, companies, leads, owners and the fields that matter. - Measure fill rates on title, LinkedIn, country, email validity and segment. - Find which integration or import created each record. Duplicates regenerate unless the source is fixed. - Treat default picklist values such as pending as blank. - Prove nothing was written: count records last modified by your own user. 2. ### Step 2: Detect the dirty sets Messy CRMs break in the same handful of ways, and each one gets its own rule and its own fix. - Duplicates: two records for the same person or company. - Contacts at a company that already has an account, but are not linked to it. - Job changers: LinkedIn shows a different current employer. - Bounced or invalid emails. - Missing fields, and leads with no account. - Never size a duplicate problem from a tool’s suggestion count. Re-derive it per matching rule. 3. ### Step 3: Match duplicates carefully Most records that look like duplicates are different people who share a name, a phone line or a company name. - A name match only counts when the company domain matches too. - Never use a shared phone or a company name as the key. Colleagues share a switchboard, and many firms share a name. - Blank directory and link-in-bio domains before any domain rule, or unrelated companies merge. - A role inbox with a person’s name stamped on it is a field to fix, not a merge. - Pick the survivor by rule: furthest through the funnel, then has an email, then most recent. 4. ### Step 4: Approve and back up before anything writes Nothing touches the CRM without a human yes and a way back. - Take a backup export of every record in the change set. - The CRM owner approves the exact list, as a saved list view or report. - Check workflows, validation rules and two-way syncs to other tools that will fire on the write. - Estimate enrichment credits before the run. - Log every change with the previous value before it is written, so any field can be restored. 5. ### Step 5: Fill the blanks with a waterfall Enrichment fills what is missing and leaves alone what someone put there on purpose. - Clay runs the providers in order: AI Ark for title, LinkedIn and country, then Prospeo and Findymail for email. - Only the misses move to the next provider. - BounceBan verifies every email before it lands. - Fill blanks only. The two exceptions: bad emails get replaced, and job changers get a new contact. 6. ### Step 6: Catch the job changers A contact who left is still worth something: the history stays, and the person becomes a lead at the new company. - Scan current employers for the records that matter, customers first, through Clay and AI Ark. - Check the new company is not the same company under another domain or another account record before moving anyone. - Create a new contact at the new company and mark the old one as gone. Do not overwrite the old record. 7. ### Step 7: Keep it on A cleanup decays the day it ends. A pipeline that every new record runs through does not. - New inbound leads, records reps add by hand and job-change signals all run through the same rules. - A weekly sweep re-checks fill rates and bounces. - Post the weekly numbers and anything held for review to Slack. ## Tools used The eight tools this play names. Each links to the other plays that use it. - [HubSpot](https://frontal.so/plays?tool=HubSpot) - [Salesforce](https://frontal.so/plays?tool=Salesforce) - [Clay (opens in a new tab)](https://go.frontal.so/clay) [Clay](https://frontal.so/plays?tool=Clay) - [AI Ark](https://frontal.so/plays?tool=AI%20Ark) - [Prospeo (opens in a new tab)](https://go.frontal.so/prospeo) [Prospeo](https://frontal.so/plays?tool=Prospeo) - [Findymail](https://frontal.so/plays?tool=Findymail) - [BounceBan](https://frontal.so/plays?tool=BounceBan) - [Slack](https://frontal.so/plays?tool=Slack) ## Related plays - Play 17 Inbound · Outbound · ABM ### [HubSpot Account Tiering & Scoring](https://frontal.so/plays/hubspot-account-tiering-scoring) 7 steps · CRM - [Clay (opens in a new tab)](https://go.frontal.so/clay) - Play 37 ABM · Outbound ### [Signals in the CRM, with Decay](https://frontal.so/plays/signals-in-crm-with-decay) 6 steps · CRM - [Clay (opens in a new tab)](https://go.frontal.so/clay) - +4 more - Play 18 Inbound · Outbound ### [Product Sign-Up Outreach](https://frontal.so/plays/product-sign-up-outreach) 7 steps · Email, LinkedIn - [Clay (opens in a new tab)](https://go.frontal.so/clay) - [lemlist (opens in a new tab)](https://go.frontal.so/lemlist) - [Instantly (opens in a new tab)](https://go.frontal.so/instantly) [All GTM plays](https://frontal.so/plays) ## Have us run this play Tell us what you’re trying to hit this quarter, and we’ll suggest where to start. 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