Data audits
Understand the state of the lead and customer data you already hold. LeadScale examines the data agreed for assessment so you have a clearer starting point for its next use.
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This is an assessment of your records, not a legal or data-protection audit.
Needs approval
A LeadScale data audit assesses agreed lead and customer records using the LeadScale Engine™. The work examines contact data, duplication and the information supplied about where records came from, with checks agreed for the assessment. The findings establish what the checks reveal about those records and where information is missing.
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Before the next campaign, understand the records you already have
You are planning to contact people in your CRM. Some records came from recent enquiries; others have been there for years. There may be repeated entries, incomplete details or records whose source is unclear.
Each possibility affects a different decision. Repeated entries raise questions about duplicate handling. Missing contact details affect how you can reach someone. Missing source information leaves a gap in what you know about the record’s history.
A data audit starts with the records relevant to the use you have in mind. That may be a group selected for a campaign, rather than the entire database. Defining that group makes it possible to assess the data against a particular purpose.
A contact detail and a record’s history answer different questions
The Engine supports validation, verification and duplicate detection. Validation checks whether a value has the right pattern. Verification checks it against a third-party service to establish whether it is correct. These checks answer questions about the values held in the records.
Those capabilities do not, by themselves, tell you how a record was collected. A working phone number is a fact about a contact detail, not evidence of the circumstances in which the person supplied it.
Needs approval
For records LeadScale did not create, the assessment looks at the origin information supplied with them. It can identify what is recorded and where information is missing. It cannot recreate earlier consent that was never recorded.
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Agree the data, then the checks
Needs approval
LeadScale agrees with you which records to assess, their intended use and the checks to run. The Engine can take in held records by file or upload.
The agreed assessment then examines the contact data and duplicates, alongside the supplied origin information within scope. There is no assumption that every record requires every available check. The findings relate to the data supplied and the checks selected for it.
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Separate the problems before choosing the next action
Needs approval
You receive findings on the assessed records: the results of the agreed contact checks, the duplication identified and what is recorded about their origin.
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Those findings inform different next steps. Adding a missing field may help a record serve its intended use. It would not establish where the record came from. Identifying duplicates tells you there are repeats; deciding how to handle them depends on the programme’s rules.
Keeping those questions separate helps you choose work that addresses the problem found. Enrichment, duplicate controls and attention to source history each have a different purpose.
Keep legal assessment with your advisers
The findings concern the records and checks in scope. Your advisers handle any legal or data-protection assessment; the audit does not provide a compliance conclusion.
Frequently asked questions
Is this a GDPR data audit?
No. This page describes the assessment of lead and customer records. It does not offer a legal or data-protection audit.
Does this cover consumer data as well as business contacts?
The service concerns lead and customer data in business and consumer programmes. The records and checks in scope need to reflect the data you hold and its intended use.
Explore the checks and related services
- The lead validation page explains validation and verification, including the contact fields covered.
- The data enrichment page describes what can be added to records.
- The deduplication and suppression page explains programme rules for repeats and exclusions.
- The consent and provenance page explains the difference between history recorded at capture and information supplied with existing records.
Tell us what you hold and what you want to use it for
Describe the records you want to assess, what you know about their source and the activity you are considering. Start with that description before sharing the records themselves.