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Salesforce data enrichment, step by step: fields, duplicates and cost

Salesforce data enrichment is filling empty or outdated fields on your leads and contacts, such as work email, mobile number and job title, from an outside source, then writing the results back without creating duplicates or overwriting what reps entered. Salesforce sells no contact data itself, so every enrichment runs through an app, a file or an API.

Below: the three routes, an 8-step process, the credit math, governance, and five tools compared on the same fields.

What is Salesforce data enrichment?

Salesforce data enrichment adds missing or corrected contact and company details to records already in your org. For sales teams, the fields that matter are the ones a rep acts on: work email, mobile number, direct dial, job title and company.

It is not the same as an import. An import creates records; enrichment updates existing ones, so the hard parts are matching each result to the right record and deciding what may be overwritten. The same logic for any CRM is in our CRM enrichment guide.

What goes wrong in Salesforce records

Salesforce records drift in three ways:

Empty fields. Leads from forms, events and rep entry often carry a name and company but no mobile. A report on “Mobile is blank” shows the gap.
Duplicates. The same person as a lead and a contact, or as two leads. Enriching both pays twice and splits the activity history.
Stale records. People move: about 1 in 5 US workers had been with their employer for a year or less in January 2026, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Our guide to how fast B2B data decays covers the rest.

Native tools, apps or API: three ways to enrich Salesforce

You can enrich Salesforce with native tools, a data vendor’s Salesforce app, or a file or API route; only the last two bring in new contact data. Salesforce’s Sales Cloud pricing page lists no contact email or phone data product, and its past product retirements page lists Data.com as “Officially Retired”.

Table of three ways to do Salesforce data enrichment: native tools manage existing data, vendor apps and file or API routes add emails and mobiles — Salesforce’s own tools keep enrichment clean, but the emails and mobile numbers always come from outside.

Native tools manage the data you already have: duplicate and matching rules, the Data Import Wizard, Data Loader and field history tracking. They find no emails or mobiles.
Vendor apps run inside your org and update records with the vendor’s data. LeadIQ lists a Salesforce managed package; ZoomInfo, Apollo and Lusha list Salesforce integrations. The vendor’s matching rules decide what changes.
File or API routes pull records out, enrich them, and write them back with the Data Import Wizard, Data Loader or the Salesforce REST API. You control matching and write rules, and someone has to run it.

For enrichment beyond the CRM, such as company data, see our data enrichment hub.

Where Scalelist fits

Scalelist is a file and API route today: its only native CRM push is HubSpot, and Salesforce is listed as coming soon. You bring Scalelist data into Salesforce with a CSV import through the Data Import Wizard, the Scalelist Zapier app (Email Finder and Mobile Finder actions), or the REST API with the Salesforce ID carried through.

Each route is walked through in Scalelist and Salesforce: 3 ways to connect. HubSpot teams have their own HubSpot data enrichment guide.

How to enrich Salesforce records, step by step

The eight steps below work with any file or API enrichment tool. Steps 2 to 4 prevent the two classic failures, duplicates and overwritten rep data, so do not skip them.

1. Report on the records to enrich

Build a Salesforce report of the records with gaps, for example open leads where Mobile is blank, created in the last 12 months. Include the Salesforce ID, first and last name, company, website, email and mobile. Export it as a CSV. The row count tells you the maximum credits before you spend any.

2. Merge duplicates before you enrich

Enriching a duplicate pays twice. Salesforce’s standard lead and contact matching rules are “activated by default” in Essentials, Professional, Enterprise, Performance, Unlimited and Developer editions (Salesforce Help), and the standard duplicate rules decide what happens when someone views or creates a duplicate. Duplicate jobs, which scan the whole org, are available in Performance and Unlimited editions only. Merge what they find, then re-run the report.

3. Set a write rule for every field

A write rule says what enrichment may do to each field: fill it if empty, overwrite it, or never touch it. Write the rules down before the first run; they are the difference between a CRM reps trust and one they route around.

Salesforce field	Write rule	Why
Email	Fill if empty	A working address a rep uses beats a new one
Mobile	Fill if empty	Keep numbers reps entered by hand
Phone (direct dial)	Never overwrite	Usually rep-entered
Title	Overwrite if the result is newer	Titles change with promotions and moves
Email Status (custom)	Always overwrite	Valid or Risky from the latest check
Enrichment Source, Last Enriched Date (custom)	Always overwrite	Your audit trail

The Data Import Wizard supports “fill if empty” by default on business accounts: it “never overwrites your existing business account fields unless you select Overwrite existing account values”, and even that option will not replace a value with a blank (Salesforce Help). The field-by-field mapping of Scalelist’s output is on the Salesforce integration page linked above.

4. Choose the matching key

The matching key is the field that ties each result to its Salesforce record, and the best one is the Salesforce ID. Pick the first key your file supports:

Decision tree for Salesforce data enrichment match keys: Salesforce ID first, then external ID, then email, then name and company with manual review — The Salesforce ID ties a result to exactly one record, which is why every export for enrichment should include it.

Salesforce ID. Use it whenever you exported from Salesforce. Record IDs “are case-sensitive and must match exactly”.
External ID. A unique custom field from another system. The REST API updates the record when the ID matches once, creates one when it does not (unless you add updateOnly), and returns a 300 error when it matches several (Salesforce Developers).
Email. The Data Import Wizard can match leads on email and contacts on Salesforce ID, name, email or external ID.
Name and company. A last resort. Review matches by hand before any import.

5. Enrich the export

Send the file to your enrichment tool. With Scalelist, upload it for bulk enrichment or run it through the API: 1 credit per email found, 20 per mobile found, 0 on a miss. Every email comes back labelled Valid or Risky.

Keep your original export. If the results file does not carry the Salesforce ID back, match results to your export on email before step 6. The API route avoids the problem: it echoes a custom value, such as the Salesforce ID, with each result.

6. Write back with an update-only run

Update existing records; do not add new ones. In the Data Import Wizard, choose “Update existing records”. Salesforce notes that “add new and update existing records” fires workflows that add new objects, while “update existing records” does not. With a REST API upsert by external ID, add updateOnly. Run 20 rows, check them, then run the rest.

7. Stamp audit fields and track history

Write Enrichment Source, Last Enriched Date and Email Status on every updated record. Then turn on field history tracking for Email, Mobile and Title. Salesforce tracks up to 20 fields per object and keeps field history for up to 18 months, 24 months through the API, without the Field Audit Trail add-on (Salesforce Help).

8. Check a sample and report the gain

Open 20 updated records and check each field against your write rules. Then report two numbers to the team: the share of open leads with a mobile before and after, and the share of emails that came back Risky.

How often to re-verify Salesforce data

Re-verify on a schedule driven by the Last Enriched Date field, not by memory. The cadence below is our recommendation for a team that emails and calls every week:

Before every sequence: re-verify any email not checked in the last 30 days.
Open-opportunity contacts: a monthly report of records with a Last Enriched Date older than 90 days, re-enriched in one batch.
Everything else: re-enrich when a record is about to be worked, not on a timer.

A bounce or a “no longer with the company” call outcome is also a trigger: log it the same day and queue the record.

What Salesforce enrichment costs: the credit math

With Scalelist, the cost of enriching Salesforce is set by what is found: 1 credit per email found, 20 per mobile found, and 0 for a miss. Here is a worked example.

Maya Brooks is the Salesforce admin at Cobalt Ridge Software in Denver, Colorado. Her open-leads report shows 400 records with no email and 900 with no mobile.

Salesforce data enrichment credit math: 400 emails and 900 mobiles cost at most 18,400 Scalelist credits, 16,028 at benchmark rates, on a 649 USD plan — Because misses are free, the real bill lands below the worst case, and you can size the worst case before you start.

Worst case: every lookup finds something. 400 emails (400 credits) plus 900 mobiles (18,000 credits) = 18,400 credits.
At our benchmark rates: Scalelist found an email for 92% and a phone number for 87% of a North America list in our provider benchmark. At those rates she gets 368 emails and 783 mobiles for 16,028 credits. The misses cost 0.
Plan: the Scaler 20K plan gives 20,000 credits for 649 USD a month, about 0.65 USD per mobile found, with no per-seat pricing and no annual contract. See Scalelist plans and credits.

Her own rate will differ from the benchmark, because region and seniority change coverage. Run 100 records first and scale from the result.

Salesforce enrichment governance: who can enrich and what to audit

Governance decides who may change enriched fields and how you prove what changed. Treat enrichment as a controlled job, not something any rep can run.

Salesforce data enrichment governance checklist: one owner, admin-only import permissions, write rules, read-only audit fields, field history, suppressed opt-outs — Six controls turn enrichment from a one-off import into a job you can audit and repeat.

One owner, one integration user. Run every write-back as a dedicated user, so each record’s Last Modified By shows the job, not a rep.
Restrict import permissions. Salesforce lists an “Import Leads” permission for importing leads with the Data Import Wizard; keep it with admins.
Make audit fields read-only for reps. Field-level security “lets you specify whether users can view or edit each field”, and it applies to imported data and the APIs (Salesforce Help). Give reps Read on Email Status, Enrichment Source and Last Enriched Date.
Track history on enriched fields. Within the 20-field limit, choose Email, Mobile, Title and Email Status.
Keep opt-outs out. Never re-enrich or re-sequence contacts who objected to marketing; see B2B data and the GDPR.
Review the write rules quarterly with sales leadership.

Salesforce enrichment tools compared

Five enrichment options that work with Salesforce, on the same four fields. Prices are each vendor’s published entry price as of September 2026.

Tool	How data reaches Salesforce	Entry price	Mobile cost	Charged on a miss
Scalelist	CSV import, Zapier app or REST API (native connector coming soon)	29 USD a month for 500 credits	20 credits per mobile found (email 1)	No, a miss costs 0
ZoomInfo	Salesforce integration listed	Not published (custom quotes, annual contracts)	Not priced per field; 1 credit per exported record	Not published
Apollo	Salesforce integration listed	49 USD per seat a month, billed annually	8 credits per phone number (email 1)	No, for Apollo’s own data
Lusha	Salesforce integration listed	37.45 USD a month billed yearly (49.90 monthly)	5 credits per phone number (email 1)	Partly: API requests cost at least 1 credit
LeadIQ	Salesforce managed package	15 USD a month billed annually (20 monthly)	10 credits per phone number (email 1)	Bills only returned data (MCP docs)

Salesforce data enrichment tools compared: Scalelist, ZoomInfo, Apollo, Lusha and LeadIQ on Salesforce route, entry price, mobile cost and charges on a miss — Credits differ in price between vendors, so compare the cost per mobile found on your own records, not the credit count.

Credits are not comparable across vendors, because each sells them at a different price. Compare the cost per mobile found on your own records.

Honest limits: Scalelist is not the pick if you need enrichment running inside Salesforce today, since its connector is coming soon; LeadIQ lists a managed package. On email-only volume, Scalelist is not the cheapest option either. More tools are in our lead enrichment tools guide and our tested best B2B data providers.

What to look for in any Salesforce enrichment tool: a charged-on-success rule written in the vendor’s docs, a known cost per mobile, a status on every email, a way to carry your Salesforce ID through a file or API call, and a Data Processing Agreement.

Common Salesforce enrichment problems

Three problems come up on write-backs; each has a fix.

Leads that are already contacts

A lead and a contact for the same person both get enriched. In orgs created in Summer ’17 or later, the standard lead and contact duplicate rules match across both objects; older orgs can activate the cross-object rule in Setup. Convert or merge before step 5.

Automation firing on every update

A write-back can trigger assignment rules, flows and alerts on thousands of records. The Data Import Wizard asks whether to trigger workflow rules and processes; say no unless a rule needs the new data.

Risky emails in a sequence

A Risky email means the company’s server accepts every address, so the mailbox cannot be confirmed. Scalelist’s help center puts the share that is actually deliverable at about 20 to 30%, so send Risky addresses from a secondary domain. Our guide to Valid and Risky email statuses explains both.

How Scalelist helps with Salesforce data enrichment

Scalelist, an AI lead finder, supplies the part Salesforce does not sell: verified work emails and mobile numbers, for the records in your org and the people you want to add.

Mobiles for existing records. The Scalelist Mobile Finder works on one contact, a CSV or an API batch.
Verified emails. Every email is verified before it is returned and labelled Valid or Risky.
Net-new leads. Describe the buyers you want in one sentence; Scalelist shows how many match before you spend a credit.

If you want lists of companies that run Salesforce rather than enrichment for your own org, see our Salesforce users email list guide.

Export your Salesforce leads with no mobile, enrich them, and pay only for the numbers found.

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FAQ

Does Salesforce have built-in data enrichment?

Not for contact data. Salesforce’s Sales Cloud pricing page lists no contact email or phone data product, and Salesforce lists Data.com as officially retired. Salesforce does include the tools around enrichment: matching and duplicate rules, the Data Import Wizard, Data Loader and field history tracking. Emails and mobiles come from an outside tool.

How do I enrich Salesforce leads without creating duplicates?

Merge duplicates first with Salesforce’s matching and duplicate rules. Export with the Salesforce ID, enrich the file, and write back with “Update existing records” in the Data Import Wizard, matching on the Salesforce ID. For a REST API upsert by external ID, add updateOnly. Either way, a result can only update a record that already exists.

How much does Salesforce data enrichment cost?

With Scalelist, 1 credit per email found and 20 per mobile found; a miss costs 0. Enriching 400 missing emails and 900 missing mobiles costs at most 18,400 credits, within the 20,000-credit plan at 649 USD a month. Other vendors price per seat, per credit or by quote, so compare the cost per mobile found.

Does Scalelist integrate with Salesforce?

Not natively yet. Salesforce is listed as coming soon, and HubSpot is the only CRM with a native Scalelist push today. You can enrich Salesforce with Scalelist through a CSV import with the Data Import Wizard, the Scalelist Zapier app (Email Finder and Mobile Finder actions), or the REST API with the Salesforce ID carried through.

How often should I re-enrich Salesforce records?

Our recommendation: re-verify any email not checked in 30 days before it enters a sequence, and re-enrich open-opportunity contacts once their Last Enriched Date passes 90 days. Records nobody is working can wait until they are about to be used, which saves credits on data that may change again. This is a practice, not a Salesforce rule.

Sources

Arnaud Renoux

Co-Founder at Scalelist