1) Eliminate all the unneeded fields cluttering your records.
2) When possible, use pick lists instead of free-entry fields to reduce the impact of typos.
3) Establish naming conventions and standards for record-completeness and make sure your users understand them.
4) Go over your page layouts and check the tab-order on your records to ensure that the settings are optimized for efficient data-entry.
5) Make the most important fields “required” on the page layout to ensure complete data entry.
6) Implement some helpful validation rules on fields that tend to accumulate errors to help your users check themselves.
Talk to your users to make sure that the new required fields and validation rules are helpful to them: a heavy-handed application of these rules can be annoying and hurt user adoption, but when used judiciously, they are good for all! Make sure that users understand how to search for dupes BEFORE entering new information in the system.
Once you have established these standards for clean data entry, apply them to all your data sources, whether lists, syncs, imports, or web-to-lead sources. If you have not already, consider installing DupeCatcher in your org.
Having taken these steps to prevent dirty data, you may now turn your attention to cleaning up an existing mess. Here are two of Cloudy's favorite clean-up tools:
DemandTools: This is the go-to app for administrators looking to clean up their org. According to the provider, "DemandTools contains modules for data deduplication, normalization, standardization, comparison, verification, import, export, mass delete to name a few." It offers a free trial, free subscriptions to non-profits, and significantly reduced rates for small to medium businesses.
Data Quality Analysis Dashboards: This FREE app provides a set of dashboards that give you a quick and easy view of data quality in your org, especially as it relates to record completeness. You can quickly see which types of records in your org are most in need of remedial attention, which fields are most often being ignored, and how individual users rank in terms of data entry performance. The app offers great out-of-the-box functionality, and can easily be customized to show you what you really need to see.
If you would like help with dirty data prevention, remediation, and user training, Contact Us!
Click Here to read Clean ALL the Data!!! Part I: Cloudy's report on how dirty data hurts your business.
Cloudy Cumulus is part of Redpath Consulting Group, based in Minneapolis, MN (c) 2012
Thanks for this great post, it's still right on target!
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