The Ultimate Guide to Phone Validation for Sales Teams

You know very well that accurate contact information is crucial for sales success. Did you know that 30% of sales leads have inaccurate phone numbers, leading to wasted time and missed opportunities?

In this ultimate guide, we’ll dive into the essential strategies for phone validation that every sales team needs. From understanding when to validate to learning advanced techniques, discover how proper phone validation can transform your sales process and ensure you're always connected with the right prospects.

What is Phone Validation (and Why Should You Care)? 

Phone validation is verifying the accuracy and authenticity of phone numbers in your contact database. This involves checking if a phone number is active, properly formatted, and capable of receiving calls or texts. 

Why should you care? 

Accurate phone numbers are the backbone of effective communication in sales. By ensuring your contact information is correct, you can increase your chances of reaching prospects, reduce wasted efforts on invalid numbers, and improve overall sales efficiency. In short, phone validation is a crucial step in optimizing your outreach and boosting your sales success.

The High Cost of Bad Data

Bad data can be a silent but costly problem for sales teams. Inaccurate or outdated phone numbers lead to wasted time, missed opportunities, and inefficient workflows. Studies show that poor data quality can cost companies up to $12.9 million of their revenue. 

Sales reps spend valuable hours dialing invalid numbers, leading to frustration and decreased productivity. Moreover, bad data can harm your reputation and reduce customer trust. By investing in phone validation, you can eliminate these issues, streamline your sales process, and ultimately save your business significant time and money.

When to Validate: The Right Time for the Right Results 

Timing is crucial when it comes to phone validation. Validating phone numbers at the right stages of your sales process ensures optimal results and maximizes efficiency. Ideally, phone validation should occur at three key points:

• Data Entry: Validate phone numbers as they are entered into your system. This prevents incorrect or fake numbers from entering your database in the first place, saving time and resources down the line.

• Before Outreach Campaigns: Before launching any sales or marketing campaign, validate your contact list. This ensures that your efforts are directed toward genuine prospects, improving the chances of successful engagements and conversions.

• Regular Database Maintenance: Periodically validate the phone numbers in your existing database. Regular maintenance helps keep your contact information up-to-date, reducing the risk of reaching out to outdated or invalid numbers.

By incorporating phone validation at these strategic points, you can enhance the quality of your data, increase your outreach success rate, and ensure that your sales team’s efforts are always directed toward the right targets.

Choosing Your Validation Weapon: Top Tools and Services 

10 Advanced Validation Techniques 

Elevate your phone validation game with these advanced techniques designed to enhance the accuracy and reliability of your contact data:

1. Real-Time Validation: Implement tools that validate phone numbers in real-time during data entry to prevent incorrect data from entering your system.

2. Format Standardization: Ensure all phone numbers follow a standardized format (e.g., E.164) to maintain consistency across your database.

3. Carrier Lookup: Use services that identify the phone number’s carrier, which can help in segmenting contacts and tailoring your outreach strategy.

4. Line Type Detection: Determine if a number is a mobile, landline, or VoIP. This knowledge can optimize your communication approach, particularly for SMS campaigns.

5. Geographic Validation: Verify that the area code matches the geographical location of the phone number, enhancing the accuracy of regional targeting.

6. Time Zone Verification: Align phone numbers with their respective time zones to schedule calls and messages at optimal times for higher engagement rates.

7. Database Cleansing: Regularly cleanse your database by removing duplicate, inactive, or outdated phone numbers to keep your data fresh and accurate.

8. Historical Activity Checks: Assess the activity history of phone numbers to ensure they haven’t been reassigned or deactivated, which helps maintain data relevance.

9. Third-Party Verification: Cross-check phone numbers with third-party databases for an additional layer of validation, improving overall data accuracy.

10. Automated Updates: Set up automated systems that periodically revalidate phone numbers in your database, ensuring ongoing data integrity.

Improve Your Dial to Connect Rate with SureConnect 

Having accurate and reliable contact information is essential for success. Implementing phone validation techniques ensures that your sales team can focus on genuine prospects, maximize productivity, and achieve higher conversion rates. 

Ready to take your sales team to the next level? Experience the benefits of accurate phone validation with SureConnect. Try SureConnect today and see how it can streamline your outreach, improve your data quality, and boost your sales success. Don’t miss out—get started with SureConnect now!