# Clean your lead list before you email anyone

> A few minutes of cleaning protects your sender reputation and keeps you from emailing people you can't help.

## Why cleaning matters

Every bad row costs you: a bounce hurts deliverability, a wrong-fit email wastes a send and annoys someone, and emailing an existing client looks careless. Clean lists earn more replies from fewer emails.

## Step 1: Remove duplicates

The same business can appear under several keywords or cities, and chains share emails across locations. GetClient removes duplicate businesses when searches merge; also check for the same email on several rows before exporting.

## Step 2: Check categories

Sort by the Category column. Keyword searches sometimes bring in neighbouring niches ("dentist" can pull in dental labs). Remove what doesn't fit.

## Step 3: Remove chains and franchises

Unless you sell to them, chains normally decide centrally. Filter by name patterns or look for businesses with many locations.

## Step 4: Remove existing customers and past conversations

Compare against your CRM by website or email.

## Step 5: Handle emails carefully

- remove rows without an email from your email campaign (keep them for calls)
- check the email status column and drop risky ones
- prefer personal emails over role emails when both exist
- verify large lists before sending — see [verifying emails](https://getclient.pro/blog/verify-emails-before-sending)

## Step 6: Check names

If you personalise with first names, scan for odd values (company names in the name field, initials). Use a fallback greeting where the name is missing or uncertain; the owner confidence column helps.

## Step 7: Standardise

Consistent capitalisation in names and cities makes merge fields look natural ("Austin", not "AUSTIN").

## Step 8: Segment and export

Split into segments and export each to its own campaign.

## A quick checklist

- [ ] duplicates removed
- [ ] categories checked
- [ ] chains removed (if needed)
- [ ] existing customers removed
- [ ] emails filtered and verified
- [ ] names checked, fallbacks set
- [ ] segmented

Get the [printable lead list cleaning checklist](https://getclient.pro/resources/lead-list-cleaning-checklist).

## Frequently asked questions

### Does GetClient remove duplicates automatically?

Yes. Duplicate businesses found by several keywords or locations are merged, and you are charged once per business.

Source: https://getclient.pro/blog/clean-lead-list-before-outreach