Managing a database is no small feat, especially when data clutter and inconsistencies start accumulating–affecting productivity, team morale, and your bottom line. Incorrect or useless data is more than just an inconvenience–it's a business obstacle that can balloon CRM costs, diminish email open rates, and tarnish your brand’s reputation.
With Insycle’s Bulk Operations module, you can surface problem data and make updates in bulk based on your defined criteria. You can add or remove values in multi-select fields, find and delete potential junk records, make straightforward, "If value=x, set it to=y," changes, and more. The built-in templates, powerful filtering, and flexible actions create a smoother data management experience for your team.
Key Use Cases
- Declutter and Purge Low-Quality Data
- Bulk Update Values of Any Field
- Bulk Clear Values From Field
- Bulk Delete Records
How It Works
The Bulk Operations module makes it easy to clear values, update fields, or perform deletions in bulk.
Powerful filtering options let you segment records to clean up problem areas including low-value emails, invalid phone numbers, or any other troublesome attributes. Records that meet these criteria can automatically be tidied up based on rules you create.
You can preview changes to ensure the operation runs as intended, then apply the changes to your live database. All these configurations can also be saved and automated, set to run automatically at regular intervals, putting your cleanup and update processes on autopilot.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Navigate to Data Management > Bulk Operations.
Select the database and record type in the top menu. Then explore the templates for an existing solution that may be close to what you need.
Each row in Step 1 is for a field you want to look at to determine whether to include or exclude a record from this task. With this filter, you're telling Insycle what records you would like to update.
In the below example, records that have an Industry value of "Software" will be included in this bulk operation.
When you click Search, Insycle will list matching records in the Record Viewer at the bottom of the page. If you make changes to the filter, you need to click the Search button again to refresh the viewer.
Now you'll tell Insycle what changes to make.
Under Step 2, make sure you are working in the Update tab. When this action is applied, previously existing data will be removed from the field.
- Select the relevant field you want to update from the Field Name dropdown.
- Under New Value, type the value you would like to update your selected field with.
- The Field Meta value provides information about the field type and is automatically populated by Insycle. This information will vary depending on the field type.
To add another field and make additional updates click the + Field button. You could create a backup of the original value by writing it in a custom field.
Preview Changes in the CSV Report
Now with the filters and update actions in place, you can preview the changes you are making to your data. It's important to verify that your fields are being updated as expected before those changes are pushed to your live database.
Under Step 3, click the Review button, then select Preview in the popup.
On the Notify tab, add any additional recipients who should receive the CSV (and make sure to hit Enter after each address). You can also provide additional context in the message subject or body.
On the When tab, click Run Now and select which records to apply the change to (in most cases this will be All, but if you have a large number of records, you may just want to do a chunk for a test), then click the Run Now button.
Open the CSV file from your email in a spreadsheet application and review the columns. For each field you’ve set up to change, a column will appear for both (Before) and (After). This will let you know what you started with and what change will be made to your CRM.
If the results don't look the way you expected, go back to your filters and actions and try making some adjustments, then preview again.
Apply Changes to Your CRM
If everything in your CSV preview looks correct, return to Insycle and move forward with applying the changes to the live CRM data.
Under Step 3, click the Review button, this time select Update mode.
On the When tab, click Run Now and select which records to apply the change to (in most cases this will be All), then click the Run Now button.
After you've seen the results in the CRM and you are satisfied with how the operation runs, you can save your configuration as a template, and set up automation so this formatting operation runs on a set schedule.
Return to the Template menu at the top of the page and click the + to give the new template an informative name, then click the Save button.
Under Step 3, click the Review button, and select Update mode again.
On the When tab, select Automate, and configure the frequency you'd like the template to run. When finished, click Schedule.
If you have several templates you'd like to automatically run together, you can create a Recipe. HubSpot users can also integrate Insycle Recipes into Workflows.
With the Activity Tracker, you have a complete audit trail and history of changes made through Insycle, including processes run in Preview mode or data syncs. At any time you can download a CSV report that lets you see all of the changes that were made in a given run of the operation.
Navigate to the Activity Tracker, search by module, app, or template name, then click the Run ID for the operation.
If you've configured the Insycle Run ID property in your CRM, you can cross-reference these operations in the CRM records.
Advanced How-Tos
When you use the Bulk Operations Delete action, the entire record is removed from your CRM. If there's any chance you'll need to refer to this data or restore it later, you may want to export a Preview report that could act as a backup.
The CSV only includes fields that are visible in the Record Viewer. Use the Layout tab under Step 1 to add more fields and preserve all the data that might be needed.
If you are doing a large data cleanup effort and deleting a large volume of records, best practice is to do a data export directly from the CRM. This will be more comprehensive than what the Insycle report provides.
If you have set up the Insycle Run ID property in your CRM, every Insycle operation that updates or creates a record will update the Run ID in the record. This can be used to look up process reports in the Activity Tracker or to get help from support.
When using an Insycle Recipe that includes templates for more than one object type, such as companies and contacts, the same Run ID will appear in both CRM records.
Learn how to set up the Insycle Run ID custom field for each object type in your CRM.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can update any field in your CRM that is writable using the Bulk Operations module. To see a full list of writable fields for each record type, use the Cleanse Data module.
Yes. While it is most common to filter by and update the same field, you can filter by one field, then update another.
In this example, when the Lifecycle Stage is "Lead," the custom field, Ready for Owner will be updated to a "Yes" value.
Yes, the pre-existing data in the record will be overwritten by the bulk update. If you need this data for reference or restoration, it will be available in the CSV in the Activity Tracker.
Additional Resources
Related Help Articles
- Conditional Bulk Update if Value=x Then Set It To=y
- Bulk Append and Subtract Values in Multi-Select Fields
- Quickly Edit and Correct Data
- Bulk Delete Records
Related Blog Posts
- Standardize State and Country Fields that Break HubSpot Salesforce Sync
- Declutter Your CRM by Purging Low-Quality Data Automatically
- The Complete Guide to Bulk Updating CRM Data without Using Excel
- How to Create a Customer Data Management Plan
- 5 Steps for CRM Data Standardization