HubSpot CRM have launched new validation properties to keep data clean.
Once again, that sentence is our nod to the SEO gods, which lets us get on with the job of talking to you like a human being, not a bot. (confused? see this to understand 😉).
Firstly, what is a property? In HubSpot, properties are simply the data fields in which you store information on a record. And records are a single instance of an object. And objects are the record categories, such as Contact or Company. So John Smith is a contact record and his email address johnsmith@email.com is stored in the Email contact property. Capiche?
It’s pretty standard stuff … so far so good, but it’s far from good when someone enters duff data into a property.
Because let’s face it, it’s one thing sitting in a peaceful office, sipping tea and updating customer records, because in this case an incorrect input may well raise your managers eyebrow, but it’s quite another trying to input data whilst sitting in your car, trying to answer customer calls, grabbing a bite to eat as you left the house at 5am and your stomach is complaining, and realising that data entry is that last thing you need right now. A false entry under these circumstances, is well, kind of excusable.
So how do we make it as easy as possible for data entry to be as accurate as possible, for everyone?
Well, once again the clever bods at HubSpot have the solution by releasing property validation rules: very useful selection variables that dictate what can and cannot be entered into a property. For example, you could create an  Order Number text property where values can only contain numeric characters, or create a  Payment amount number property where values can only contain up to two decimal places.
So, very useful for our field sales people who need all the help they can get when trying to enter a new order into the CRM with one hand, whilst balancing his laptop on their knee and holding a hot coffee in the other!
HubSpot give a bit more detail on the process here.
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