Tests when Deleting Records

[Anonymous]

We are about to start the process for deleting records based on a number of set criteria.

For those who have embarked on this road,  what are the tests you run to make sure that (a) you deleted the correct records; and (b) you did not inadvertently delete good records?

[Anonymous]

Depending on how you're doing this, I'll generally use a Smart Campaign and before running it, open up the list of leads who qualified for the campaign run. It isn't extremely helpful when processing high volumes, but it is useful to give things a once-over before flipping the switch.

Either way, ensuring your Smart List is set up correctly (with proper advanced filters) and checking the number of qualified leads will give you a good idea of whether or not you're targeting the correct audience segment.

[Anonymous]

Hi Isabel,

I'd also like to add that you should export a CSV of the leads who meet the criteria and all the fields before hitting the "delete" button. That way if you do find that you deleted good leads by mistake, they can be added back into the system with all their data (excluding activity history). Good luck and happy cleaning!

[David_Gaible]

Hi Isabel Isidro​ - all good points above. I've got one more to add - be very careful about whether or not you want to delete these contacts from your CRM. Most of the time I'd assume 'no', but I don't know your business as well as you do!

[Anonymous]

A good way to test would be to check your database lead/contact total number and see what the "results" tab brings back in terms of #'s that qualify for your purge campaign. If it's a really high or oddly low number, you may need to re-work your filters/criteria. Sometimes I like to put one filter/criteria in place and see what number that brings back and how that compares to the total # of leads/contact in the database. It may be good for you to do this for each step or each additional criteria you put in place to see if there's anything in particular that drives the "results" number up or down and adjust accordingly.

Another suggestion as someone mentioned previously is to export your data before running the program, not only to have record of it if you need to add it back, but also to look at the created date of the records you're about to delete and review for accuracy. For example, I used criteria over an 18 month period to remove/purge any leads that had not filled out a form AND opened an email AND clicked a link in an email AND visited a web page over "18 months". The number was really high and when I exported the data, I could see by the created date that leads were being pulled in within that 18 month window and shouldn't have been. I went back to the filter and changed "18 months" to 547 days and then the number was lower. For some reason Marketo wasn't recognizing the "18 months" time frame.

Hope this helps!