Overview
Your team is now using Swivel. As you begin working in the platform, you'll naturally discover opportunities to organize and standardize your data.
Every improvement you make increases the value of Swivel. Clean, consistent data leads to more accurate reports, more reliable Automations, better Swivel Sync results, richer Swivel Summaries, and a better experience for your team.
🔍 Tip: You don't need to clean everything at once. Start with the areas that have the greatest impact, then continue improving your data over time.
Today's Goal
By the end of this article, you will be able to:
Identify the highest-impact areas to clean up first.
Understand how data quality affects key features throughout Swivel.
Prioritize ongoing cleanup efforts.
Create a plan for maintaining clean data over time.
Priority 1: Standardize Carriers, Institutions & Products
Why This Matters
Carriers, institutions, and products work together throughout Swivel. Keeping this data consistent improves:
Overall data consistency
🔍 Tip: Because products are associated with carriers and institutions, this is the best place to begin your cleanup efforts.
What to Review
Review the following for duplicates, inconsistent naming, or outdated values.
Carriers & Institutions
Duplicate carriers or institutions
Multiple spellings of the same carrier
Legacy or abbreviated names
Placeholder values such as Redtail, Wealthbox, or Unspecified
Products
Review your products for consistent:
Product Lines
Product Types
Product Statuses
Product Names
Also look for:
Duplicate products
Product names that include contract numbers or other unnecessary information
Inconsistent naming conventions
Incorrect carrier or institution assignments
Additional Resources
Redtail Migrations
Wealthbox Migrations
Product Cleanup
Priority 2: Standardize Contact Categories & Statuses
Why This Matters
Contact Categories and Contact Statuses help organize your clients and power segmentation throughout Swivel.
Keeping these values consistent improves:
What to Review
Review your Contact Categories and Contact Statuses for:
Duplicate values
Overlapping meanings
Inconsistent naming
Categories being used where a Status would be more appropriate
Values that are no longer used
For example, instead of using Active Client as a Contact Category, you might choose:
Category: Client
Status: Active
This creates cleaner reporting and more flexible filtering.
🚨 Important: Review existing filters and Automations before renaming or merging categories and statuses.
Additional Resources
Priority 3: Resolve Placeholder Values
Why This Matters
As you standardize your carriers, products, categories, and statuses, you'll likely encounter placeholder values created during migration. Replacing these values with the correct records improves reporting, filtering, Automations, Swivel Sync, and overall data consistency.
What to Review
Look for values such as:
Unspecified
Redtail
Redtail Default
Redtail Agent
Wealthbox
Wealthbox Default
Wealthbox Agent
For each placeholder:
Review the associated records.
Determine the correct value.
Reassign the records.
Confirm nothing remains associated.
Delete the placeholder when it is no longer being used.
🚨 Important: Never delete a placeholder until all associated records have been reassigned.
Additional Resources
Redtail Migrations
Wealthbox Migrations
Product Cleanup
Priority 4: Create an Ongoing Data Maintenance Plan
Why This Matters
Data quality isn't a one-time project. Organizations that regularly review and standardize their data get more value from reports, Automations, Swivel Sync, Swivel Summary, and other features over time.
What to Do
Create a simple plan to keep your data healthy over time. Review regularly for:
Duplicate products
Outdated categories or statuses
New carriers or institutions that should be standardized
Naming inconsistencies
Placeholder values created during future imports
Identify:
High-impact improvements to complete first
Lower-priority cleanup that can wait
The person responsible for ongoing maintenance
Projects that may require Professional Services
Review your data periodically as your business grows and your team adopts new workflows.
🔍Tip: Focus on one area at a time. Small, consistent improvements are easier to manage than trying to clean your entire CRM in a single project.
Additional Resources
Best Practices
Standardize carriers, institutions, and products before building reports or Automations.
Establish naming conventions before merging records.
Review Contact Categories and Statuses regularly.
Periodically review duplicate contacts as part of routine CRM maintenance.
Use reports and Advanced Filters to identify inconsistent data.
Confirm records represent the same entity before merging.
Make incremental improvements over time.
Continue using Swivel as your system of record.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where should I start?
Begin with your carriers, institutions, and products. This data has the greatest impact on Swivel Sync, Swivel Summary, reports, Business Management, Automations, and filtering.
Do I need to finish all cleanup immediately?
No. Focus on the areas that have the biggest impact on your team's day-to-day work, then continue improving your data over time.
Why do I see values like Unspecified, Redtail, or Wealthbox?
These are placeholder values created during migration when Swivel couldn't confidently classify certain information. Review the associated records, assign the correct values, and remove the placeholders once they're no longer needed.
How often should I review my data?
Data cleanup is an ongoing process. We recommend periodically reviewing your data to maintain accurate reports, reliable Automations, consistent Contact Lists, successful Swivel Sync results, and high-quality Swivel Summaries.
Can Professional Services help with cleanup?
Yes. Professional Services can assist with data standardization, duplicate cleanup, product imports, custom field organization, and other post-migration cleanup projects.
Next Step
Great work! You've identified the areas that have the greatest impact on your organization's success in Swivel.