I'm working with our Act! database, and I'm finding that the data is outdated (companies closed that I'm trying to mail to, email bounces). How do you suggest I clean up the database? Have 5500 records.
There is no easy answer but a point to look at is if an email bounces it often means that person has moved on but the company is still there. The only way of being sure is to ring them up and ask who is now in the position of the person you were talking to.
You could simply deleted all records not contacted over 2 years but that might be a little drastic.
I do have a couple of clients who use data houses who validate the database contact information but of course this comes at a price. NB If you go down this route you will need to export the data with a UID field so it can be imported back into the correct place. More info can be supplied if you need it.
There is no easy answer but a point to look at is if an email bounces it often means that person has moved on but the company is still there. The only way of being sure is to ring them up and ask who is now in the position of the person you were talking to.
You could simply deleted all records not contacted over 2 years but that might be a little drastic.
I do have a couple of clients who use data houses who validate the database contact information but of course this comes at a price. NB If you go down this route you will need to export the data with a UID field so it can be imported back into the correct place. More info can be supplied if you need it.
