What is data cleanup?

    Data cleanup is going through the records a business already has and making them correct and consistent: merging duplicates, filling in missing fields, fixing spelling and formats, and removing what is out of date. Rellatech does this in CRMs, spreadsheets and shared drives, then writes down the naming and entry rules so the same mess does not build up again. The work is done remotely from Moncton, Canada.

    For businesses whose numbers do not add up because the data underneath them is a mess.

    Most of the time nobody set out to let it get this way. Records pile up over years, a few people enter things differently, a system gets swapped out, and one day the report is wrong and nobody knows which row to believe.

    • You have the same customer in the system three times and no one knows which record is current
    • Your reports are wrong and you suspect the data rather than the report
    • A tool migration left half the fields empty or in the wrong place
    • Files live in five places and finding last year's contract takes twenty minutes
    • You are about to buy new software and do not want to carry the mess into it
    • Someone left and took the only understanding of how things were named with them

    What usually needs sorting out.

    Duplicates

    The same person or company entered more than once, often with different spellings, so every count is wrong and follow-up lands twice. I find them, decide which record wins, and merge the rest without losing the history attached to them.

    Empty and half-filled fields

    A field that is blank on half your records cannot be filtered, segmented or reported on. I fill in what can be recovered from what you already hold, and flag what genuinely has to be asked for.

    Inconsistent formats

    Phone numbers in four shapes, dates in two, company names with and without Inc. Small differences, and they break sorting, matching and any automation that reads the field.

    Out-of-date records

    Bounced addresses, closed businesses, people who left years ago. Kept, they inflate your numbers and cost you in per-contact pricing.

    Files nobody can find

    Shared drives that grew by accident, with three folders that mean the same thing. I build a structure that matches how the work runs, then move things into it.

    No rules for what comes next

    Cleaning once and changing nothing else means you are back here in a year. The rules for naming and entry get written down so the next person does it the same way.

    Where I do this work.

    The same job in whichever system holds your records.

    CRMs

    • Keap
    • Infusionsoft
    • HubSpot
    • GoHighLevel
    • Little Green Light
    • Monday

    Spreadsheets and databases

    • Google Sheets
    • Excel
    • Airtable

    Files and documents

    • Google Drive
    • SharePoint
    • Dropbox

    Moving data between them

    • Zapier
    • Make
    • CSV import and export

    What the work covers.

    • A first pass through the records to show you what is there, before anything is changed
    • Duplicate detection and merging, with a rule for which record wins
    • Filling in missing fields from information you already hold
    • Standardising formats: names, addresses, phone numbers, dates, company names
    • Removing or archiving records that are out of date, with your sign-off on the rule
    • Folder structures for shared drives, and moving files into them
    • Bulk entry of new records from forms, lists or exports
    • A short written note covering the naming and entry rules, so the next person follows them

    What this is not.

    Being clear up front saves a conversation later.

    • Bookkeeping or reconciling accounts. That belongs with your bookkeeper.
    • Buying a list of contacts. I clean up what you have; I do not supply new data.
    • Building the software itself. If you need a custom database, that is a developer.
    • Deciding what your data means. I make it correct and consistent, you decide what to do with it.

    What it looks like in practice.

    Before a CRM migration

    Cleaning first means you pay to move records worth keeping, and the new system starts correct instead of inheriting years of duplicates.

    Before a reporting build

    A dashboard is only as good as the fields underneath it. Standardising those fields first is usually what makes the report trustworthy.

    After someone leaves

    When the person who knew the filing system goes, the structure has to be rebuilt from the outside. I work out how things were named, then make it something anyone can follow.

    As a regular tidy-up

    A monthly or quarterly pass to merge what has crept in, fill what is missing, and keep the records usable rather than letting them drift.

    Related work.

    Organising Operational Documents in a Shared Drive

    I reorganised a telecommunications company's shared-drive environment around active work, templates, historical records and technical resources.

    Read case study

    Consolidating Membership and Sponsorship Reporting

    I reviewed reporting needs and redesigned a HubSpot dashboard to bring membership and sponsorship information into a clearer visual layout.

    Read case study

    Organising Document Matches for Human Review

    I built a tool to search a large document collection against a defined checklist and organise potential matches into a review dashboard.

    Read case study

    Common questions

    Data Entry & Cleanup FAQ

    It depends on how many records there are and how bad the state is, so I look first and tell you before we start. A single spreadsheet can be a day. A CRM with years of history behind it is usually a few weeks, done in passes so you can see progress.

    No. Everything is backed up or exported before a single record changes, merges keep the history from both records, and anything I am unsure about gets flagged for you rather than deleted. You sign off on the rules before I apply them at scale.

    Yes, and usually that is the only option. I work in batches, tell you which records are being touched and when, and avoid the parts of the system in active use at that moment.

    Both. Some clients want one big tidy-up, some want me to keep entering new records so it stays consistent. Ongoing entry usually sits inside a monthly arrangement rather than a project.

    Access to wherever the records live, and half an hour to tell me which fields matter to you and which do not. Most of the decisions after that I can bring to you as a short list rather than a meeting.

    Support starts from CAD $30 an hour. A cleanup is usually quoted as a fixed price once I have seen the size of it, so you know the number before the work starts rather than watching an hourly count.

    Other ways I support businesses

    CRM & Marketing Operations

    Pipelines, automations and workflows once the records underneath are right.

    Explore CRM & Marketing Operations

    Business Reporting & Dashboards

    Reports that pull from your own data instead of being retyped each month.

    Explore Business Reporting & Dashboards

    Administrative Support

    The recurring admin work, including keeping records up to date.

    Explore Administrative Support

    Tell me what state the data is in.

    Send me a rough idea of how many records there are and where they live. I will tell you what the cleanup involves and what it costs before you commit to anything.

    Request a free consultation

    Everything starts with the form. I read each inquiry myself and send scheduling details once it looks like a genuine fit.