Data decays. Five rules keep your Companies database useful 18 months from now.
1. Tax ID is the unique key, not the name
Companies rebrand, change legal names, get acquired. Their tax ID changes much less often. When in doubt, dedupe by tax ID.
2. Capture industry on every new record
Industry is the single most useful segmentation field. Block-list creating a company without an industry — make it a required field via the field-config screen.
3. Refresh contact roles annually
People change jobs. The "CEO of Acme" you sold to in 2024 is probably not the CEO in 2026. Push contacts through a yearly verification cycle (the AI agent can do this via email outreach).
4. One company = one website domain
If a "company" record has multiple unrelated websites, you have two companies merged accidentally. Split them.
5. Archive, don't delete
When a company is no longer a customer, archive — don't delete. The historical data still matters for cohort analysis, churn calculations, and won-deal references.