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Optimizing Sales and Marketing Data

Strategies for Accuracy and Efficiency

Increase efficiency, improve profitability and reduce spend and become more confident handling and analyzing customer data for further insight.

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EAN: 9781398623965

Edition: 1

Published: 03 Mar 2026

Format: 234 x 156

280 pages

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About the book

Learn how to clean, organize and understand your data so your marketing and sales work smarter, not harder.

Optimizing Sales and Marketing Data is a clear, friendly guide for early-career professionals who want to build confidence with data and learn the essentials of fixing common data problems. If you're just starting out in sales or marketing and need simple steps to clean data, categorize customers and improve your results, this book shows you exactly how to get there.

Written by data expert Susan Walsh, it breaks data management into easy, practical tasks you can apply right away. Using real-world examples and beginner-friendly explanations, it helps you understand why clean data matters and how it can improve targeting, reduce wasted spend and make your campaigns more effective.

You'll learn how to:
- Understand the basics of data quality and spot issues quickly
- Clean and organize your data using simple, repeatable steps
- Build a clear taxonomy so you can segment customers with confidence
- Apply easy data governance tips to keep your data accurate over time
- Use real-world examples to see how better data leads to better results

With step-by-step how-to guides and practical tools, this book gives you the essentials to handle data with confidence and unlock stronger outcomes in your day-to-day role.

Themes include: data essentials, data cleaning, customer segmentation, beginner data skills, marketing fundamentals, practical how-to guides

About the authors

Susan Walsh is the Founder of The Classification Guru, a company that helps organizations fix dirty sales, marketing and procurement data at scale to unlock profitability and smarter decision-making. A globally recognized data expert, Walsh is an industry thought leader, influencer and sought-after speaker. She has been listed in the DataIQ100, won DataIQ Data Champion in 2022 and 2023 and was a finalist for The Great British Businesswoman Awards in the Technology category. She has also been a two-time finalist for the British Data Awards' Data Leader of the Year.

Susan Walsh

- Chapter - 00: Introduction;
- Chapter - 01: The importance of clean and classified sales and marketing data;
- Chapter - 02: What dirty sales and marketing data looks like;
- Chapter - 03: A framework for effective data governance;
- Chapter - 04: Why data must be cleaned for AI and Gen AI to work properly;
- Chapter - 05: Normalizing company and brand names for more accurate analytics;
- Chapter - 06: Categorization of sales and marketing data for better business decisions;
- Chapter - 07: Cleaning key sales and marketing data points efficiently for accurate analytics;
- Chapter - 08: How a customized taxonomy can leverage your analytics and improve decision-making;
- Chapter - 09: How to maintain data to future-proof it;
- Chapter - 10: Spot-checking data to avoid future errors;
- Chapter - 11: Data disasters and how to fix them;
- Chapter - 12: Real-world projects;
- Chapter - 13: Summary

Reviews

Adam Collins, Head of Sales – North America / US, Esker Sourcing/Market Dojo

As a Sales Leader, I cannot stress the importance of accuracy enough! This book provides an exemplary framework for anyone who leads sales strategy and sales methodology for all things Data. Without visible accurate data, businesses cannot possibly make informed decisions. This book will change the way you think about data accuracy for good!

Catherine Dowden-King, Global Head of Brand, Orbition Group and Editor of 'Driven by Data' Magazine

Within this book, you will find a friend and companion, and you won't feel so alone with the data challenges you experience every day. With the use of real-life examples, Susan brings to life the issues we see and offers candid and practical solutions, without holding back on the hard work that needs to be done! This book should be on the shelf of every ambitious CMO or Head of Sales.

Sue Black OBE, Professor of Computer Science and Technology Evangelist, Durham University

How many books are there about optimizing sales and marketing data that are easy and fun to read, informative and have lots of useful practical examples? There's only one, and this is it. Buy it now!

Laura Sands, Content writer, advisor and trainer, Laura Sands Copywriting

Few of us get into marketing or sales because we love data. But once we're in those roles, it's clear that we can't do our jobs well unless we get down and dirty with what the data is telling us. Susan's book, Optimizing Sales & Marketing Data, makes you a more effective data user. She takes your hand and talks you through what you need to do, how to do it and why. She also guides you on getting buy-in to support your work, which, as we know, can sometimes be the hardest step. As someone who's used various data sources throughout my career, and in various ways, this book has helped me take a more consistent, measured approach. I'd recommend it to every serious sales and marketing professional, regardless of where they are in their career. Buy it!

Dr. Joe Perez, Senior Systems Specialist / Team Leader, NC Department of Health and Human Services

As a data professional, I found Susan Walsh's new book, Optimizing Sales and Marketing Data: Strategies for Accuracy and Efficiency, to be a wellspring of invaluable information that really bridges the gap between technical know-how and everyday business needs. With an engaging, conversational style and many real-world examples, Susan makes the essentials of data cleaning and maintenance both approachable and actionable. Her signature COAT framework (Consistent, Organized, Accurate, Trustworthy) stands out for me as a simple, yet powerful tool for anyone seeking to build better data habits. More than just a guide, it's a toolkit for building processes and a culture of data excellence; absolutely essential reading for anyone ready to turn their data into a true business asset.

Nicola Askham, The Data Governance Coach, Author of 'Effective Data Governance'

Susan Walsh tackles one of businesses most persistent challenges with refreshing practicality. While organizations invest heavily in analytics tools and AI, they often overlook the foundation: clean, properly classified data. Susan's Excel-based techniques and conversational style make data cleansing accessible without requiring coding skills. The COAT framework offers a simple yet effective structure any team can implement. If you're tired of making decisions based on flawed data or spending hours correcting the same issues, this book provides the roadmap you need.

As a Sales Leader, I cannot stress the importance of accuracy enough! This book provides an exemplary framework for anyone who leads sales strategy and sales methodology for all things Data. Without visible accurate data, businesses cannot possibly make informed decisions. This book will change the way you think about data accuracy for good!
Adam Collins, Head of Sales – North America / US, Esker Sourcing/Market Dojo

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