Because even the best CRM turns into chaos if you don’t maintain it.
If your HubSpot CRM is starting to feel cluttered, you're not alone.
Over time, every system gets messy:
- Duplicate contacts
- Incomplete records
- Leads with no activity
- Wrong lifecycle stages
- Deals sitting idle for months
A bloated CRM doesn’t just slow down your team—it hurts your follow-up, reporting, and revenue.
Here’s the simple monthly cleanup routine we use to keep our HubSpot data clean, organised, and sales-ready.
Step 1: Run a Duplicate Check
We start by identifying and merging:
- Duplicate contacts (same email or name)
- Duplicate companies (same domain)
Tools we use:
- HubSpot’s built-in duplicate checker
- Manual review for high-value leads
- Third-party tools like Insycle (if needed)
Why it matters:
You don’t want multiple reps reaching out to the same lead, or data showing up twice in reports.
Step 2: Clean Up Inactive Contacts
We use filters to find contacts with:
- No activity in the last 60–90 days
- No email, phone number, or lifecycle stage
- Never opened or clicked an email
Then we:
- Suppress from campaigns
- Tag them as “Cold” or “Inactive”
- Add to re-engagement workflows or archive if needed
Step 3: Validate Key Properties
We review and clean up:
- Job titles
- Company names
- Lead source
- Lifecycle stage
- Contact owner
Pro tip: Create a “Missing Critical Info” list to spot contacts without a lead owner or lifecycle stage.
Step 4: Deal Pipeline Audit
Every month, we check:
- Open deals with no activity in 14+ days
- Stale deals stuck in a stage for 30+ days
- Closed-won deals without closed dates
- Deals without a linked contact/company
Then we:
- Move stalled deals to “Lost” if appropriate
- Add tasks for follow-up
- Close and clean deals that aren’t progressing
Step 5: List and Workflow Review
We clean up:
- Old static lists are no longer in use
- Smart lists that no longer have members
- Workflows with outdated actions or broken logic
This helps reduce clutter and avoid automation errors later.
Step 6: Export a Snapshot Report
At the end of the cleanup, we generate a quick internal report with:
- Number of cleaned contacts
- Duplicates merged
- Stale deals removed
- Open deals by stage
- Contact activity trends
Why it works:
It gives us momentum and helps prove the value of good data hygiene to the team.
Final Thought
You don’t need to clean your CRM daily.
However, spending 1–2 focused hours once a month on cleaning and reviewing your HubSpot data can save you weeks of confusion, missed leads, and messy reporting.