Salesforce Data.com was one of the most powerful data solutions provided by Salesforce, designed to help businesses manage customer information, improve lead generation, and maintain high-quality CRM data. With the massive growth of customer relationship management (CRM) platforms, businesses today need tools that not only store customer information but also validate, enrich, and update it in real time. That is exactly what Salesforce Data.com was built to do.
Although Salesforce retired Data.com in 2020, the legacy of the platform continues to influence how companies handle data enrichment, lead scoring, account management, sales productivity, and marketing automation. Understanding the fundamentals of Data.com is valuable for businesses seeking reliable alternatives today.
What is Salesforce Data.com?
Salesforce Data.com was a cloud-based data service integrated into Salesforce CRM. It gave users access to millions of company profiles, business contacts, and account information. The data came primarily from Dun & Bradstreet (D&B) and community-sourced records.
The core purpose of Salesforce Data.com was:
- Data Enrichment – Updating existing customer and lead records automatically with the latest information.
- Lead Generation – Finding new contacts and accounts directly within Salesforce.
- Data Cleansing – Reducing duplicates and improving accuracy of CRM data.
- Sales & Marketing Alignment – Ensuring both teams had accurate and reliable data to work with.
Key Features of Salesforce Data.com
- Data.com Prospector
- A tool for finding new leads and accounts.
- Sales teams could search by industry, company size, location, and job title.
- Data.com Clean
- Automatically enriched and cleaned CRM records.
- Synchronized customer profiles with trusted external data sources.
- Integration with Salesforce CRM
- Fully embedded in the Salesforce ecosystem.
- Allowed one-click updates and reduced manual data entry.
- High-Quality Data Sources
- Dun & Bradstreet provided trusted global business data.
- Community-sourced contacts added dynamic information.
- Real-Time Updates
- Customer and lead records were kept up-to-date without human intervention.
Importance of Data Quality in CRM
Data is the foundation of CRM success. Poor-quality data results in:
- 30% of sales productivity loss due to time spent on incorrect or outdated leads.
- 25% higher marketing costs from targeting the wrong contacts.
- 20–40% annual data decay in CRM systems.
Salesforce Data.com was created to minimize these challenges by delivering clean, complete, and consistent data.
How Salesforce Data.com Worked
- Account Lookup: Users searched for company records from D&B’s extensive database.
- Contact Search: Users found key decision-makers by job title or department.
- Data Enrichment: Existing Salesforce records were updated automatically with correct phone numbers, addresses, and industries.
- Duplicate Management: The system flagged duplicate entries and prevented redundancy.
- Custom Filtering: Businesses targeted leads based on geography, company size, or industry segment.
Calculation Example: Estimating ROI with Salesforce Data.com
Let’s assume a sales team invests in a Data.com-like solution (before retirement) to improve lead quality.
- Number of sales reps: 20
- Average leads handled per rep per month: 200
- Percentage of inaccurate data without Data.com: 30%
- Percentage of inaccurate data with Data.com: 5%
- Average deal size: $5,000
- Lead-to-customer conversion rate: 10%
Step 1: Leads lost due to bad data without Data.com
200 leads × 20 reps = 4,000 leads/month
30% bad data = 1,200 leads wasted
Step 2: Leads lost due to bad data with Data.com
4,000 leads × 5% = 200 leads wasted
Step 3: Net leads saved using Data.com
1,200 – 200 = 1,000 additional valid leads
Step 4: Converted leads from saved data
1,000 leads × 10% conversion = 100 new customers
Step 5: Revenue generated
100 × $5,000 = $500,000 additional monthly revenue
This simplified calculation shows how a data enrichment tool like Salesforce Data.com could easily pay for itself by preventing wasted sales efforts and increasing conversion rates.
Benefits of Salesforce Data.com
- Improved Sales Productivity – Reps spent less time researching and more time closing deals.
- Higher Data Accuracy – Clean, updated records built trust in the CRM system.
- Better Marketing ROI – Campaigns targeted accurate audiences, reducing costs.
- Seamless Integration – Embedded directly in Salesforce for easy adoption.
- Scalability – Worked for startups, SMEs, and large enterprises alike.
Limitations and Retirement
Despite its value, Salesforce decided to retire Data.com in 2020 due to:
- The rise of alternative third-party data enrichment tools.
- Shifts in customer needs and GDPR/data compliance requirements.
- A push toward AI-driven solutions like Salesforce Einstein and Tableau.
Alternatives to Salesforce Data.com
If you are searching for similar tools today, here are some popular replacements:
- ZoomInfo – Comprehensive B2B contact and company database.
- Clearbit – Real-time business intelligence and enrichment.
- InsideView – Now part of Demandbase, offering advanced B2B insights.
- Lusha – Contact data and lead generation tool.
- LinkedIn Sales Navigator – Social selling and lead discovery.
FAQs
1. What was Salesforce Data.com used for?
It was used for data enrichment, lead generation, and account management within Salesforce CRM.
2. Why was Data.com retired?
Salesforce retired it due to compliance, evolving customer needs, and the availability of better alternatives.
3. Can I still use Salesforce Data.com?
No, it was officially retired in 2020. Businesses must use alternatives like ZoomInfo or Clearbit.
4. Did Salesforce Data.com integrate with other CRMs?
It was primarily designed for Salesforce CRM, not third-party systems.
5. How did Data.com help sales teams?
It reduced manual research, prevented bad leads, and ensured accurate prospecting.
6. What data sources powered Salesforce Data.com?
Mainly Dun & Bradstreet data plus community-sourced business contacts.
7. Is there an AI-powered replacement from Salesforce?
Yes, Salesforce promotes Einstein AI, Tableau CRM, and MuleSoft integrations as modern replacements.
Conclusion
Salesforce Data.com may no longer exist, but its principles remain critical in CRM success. The platform highlighted the importance of data accuracy, enrichment, and scalability in driving business growth. Companies today must choose modern tools that carry forward the same legacy — ensuring that their CRM data is complete, clean, and continuously updated.
The ROI calculation example shows that investing in quality data can yield hundreds of thousands of dollars in additional revenue. Whether through Salesforce-native tools or third-party solutions, the lesson from Data.com is clear: data-driven decisions fuel long-term growth.