How to Standardize Phone Numbers in HubSpot In Bulk and Automatically

Your sales team is hustling to hit quarterly targets, but they keep running into the same frustrating roadblock. When they call a promising international lead, the phone number is in the wrong format for their sales auto-dialing software.

Instead of quickly connecting, they waste precious minutes trying to figure out the right country code or if the number even includes one. Worse, sometimes they dial the wrong number entirely. Multiply that wasted time across hundreds of calls, and the impact on productivity is massive.

The takeaway is clear: Taking control of your CRM data quality is not a nice-to-have—it's a must-have. Standardizing fields like phone numbers is a key piece of the puzzle. The good news? With the right tools and processes, wrangling your data into a consistent format is easier than you might think.

Continue reading to learn HubSpot phone number standardization. Plus, a faster method to save your team time.

The Business Impact of Inconsistent Phone Number Fields

A CRM is a company's bread and butter, and your data is its heart. When your data is faulty, it can't pump out the right information to your sales, customer support, and marketing teams.

Inconsistent phone number formats seem like a minor issue, but they can have a big impact on your business:

• Reporting nightmares: Running accurate reports with mismatched phone formats is like solving a Rubik's cube blindfolded. You'll end up with skewed data and insights that are about as useful as a wax teapot.
• Segmentation struggles: Want to create a targeted campaign for contacts in a specific area code? Good luck if your phone numbers are a jumbled mess. Inconsistent formats make effective segmentation and targeting a pipe dream.
• User experience woes: A customer calls in, and your rep pulls up their record, only to see three different variations of their phone number across duplicate records. Confusion ensues, and the customer feels your company is either incompetent or doesn't care. Not the seamless experience you're aiming for.
• Communication breakdowns: Efficiency disappears when your team works with inconsistent phone formats. Time is wasted deciphering numbers, leading to slower outreach and missed connections.
• Employee frustration: Your team shouldn't need a cryptography degree to read a phone number. Inconsistent formats make a simple task unnecessarily complex, leading to frustration and decreased productivity.
• Integration issues: You've invested in a new power dialer to supercharge your sales team. But when you integrate it with your CRM, you realize your phone number formats are incompatible. Cue the sad trombone.

The bottom line? Inconsistent phone number fields are more than just a data hygiene issue. They have tangible impacts on your business.

Let’s look at how to format and standardize phone numbers in HubSpot.

How to Standardize Phone Number Fields in HubSpot

HubSpot offers some automatic phone number formatting capabilities. When entering a new phone number, you can select a country code, and HubSpot will apply the appropriate formatting for that region.

Sounds great, but there are a couple of big caveats:

1. You need to know the country of origin. If you don't know whether a number is from the US, UK, or Timbuktu, you're out of luck.
2. It only works for new entries. Existing phone numbers in your database won't be automatically reformatted unless they already include a country code—and let's be honest, most of them probably don't.

So, while HubSpot's automatic formatting can help keep new entries consistent, it won't solve the problem of your existing data being a formatting free-for-all. And your team must know the country code for each phone number added.

Additionally, HubSpot only offers the international phone number format (+18439494657 ext123"), so you are out of luck if you want something a bit more readable or another format for other reasons.

If HubSpot’s automatic formatting isn't enough, you can roll up your sleeves and standardize phone numbers in HubSpot manually.

Here's what that process looks like:

1. Navigate to a contact record with a phone number you want to update.
2. Click on the phone number field to edit it.
3. Manually remove any existing formatting and enter the number in your chosen standardized format.
4. Save the changes.
5. Repeat steps 1-4 for every phone number in your database.

Yep, you read that right. To standardize your existing phone number data in HubSpot without using automatic phone number formatting, you'll have to click on each individual contact record and update them one by one. Talk about a time sink.

And it's not just the time investment you need to worry about. With manual updates, you also risk human error creeping in. One misplaced digit or errant dash, and suddenly, you've introduced a new formatting inconsistency or an inaccurate phone number. The more records you need to update, the higher the chances of mistakes.

The good news? There's a better way. In the next section, we'll examine how Insycle can ease the pain of HubSpot phone field standardization. Stay tuned for a much-needed dose of data-cleansing relief.

How Insycle Automates HubSpot Phone Number Standardization

If manually updating all your phone numbers in HubSpot makes you want to curl up in a ball and cry, Insycle is here to save your CRM (and sanity).

It simplifies and automates the HubSpot contact data standardization process using the powerful Transform Data module.

Insycle allows you to automatically format phone numbers in HubSpot CRM to several formatting standards based on your needs.

Insycle automatically ignores separators and other non-digits, only analyzing the raw phone number data in each field.

You can also use Insycle’s robust functions to build your own rules and unique formats, based on your company’s needs. For example, you could take a phone number and remove all non digits, apply custom international phone number format, and then add + at the beginning.

Once your formatting is working as you expect, you can automate the Insycle template to run consistently on a set schedule.

It's really that easy. No more manual updates, no more worrying about country codes, just beautifully standardized phone numbers at the click of a button.

Then, to simplify the process even more, Insycle's Recipe feature allows you to automate phone number standardization directly from HubSpot workflows. Set it and forget it, and let Insycle keep your phone numbers in tip-top shape.

Insycle's phone number standardization works seamlessly with HubSpot. You don't have to fight against HubSpot's automatic formatting or worry about compatibility issues. Insycle plays nicely with all your existing HubSpot data and processes.

You can finally remove inconsistent phone numbers and create a cleaner, more reliable database without the manual slog.

Solve Your Phone Number Standardization Issues with Insycle

If you've made it this far, you're well aware of the headaches that come with unstandardized phone numbers in HubSpot. Manual updates are a time sink, HubSpot's automatic formatting has its limits, and all the while, your data quality is suffering.

Enter Insycle. With its powerful Transform Data module and pre-built formatting templates, Insycle makes short work of phone number standardization in HubSpot. Set up automated data cleansing on a schedule or trigger it directly from your HubSpot workflows, and watch your phone number fields improve before your eyes, no manual effort required.

But Insycle's abilities extend beyond just phone number formatting. It's a complete HubSpot customer data management solution, ready to tackle all your data quality woes. From deduplicating contacts to standardizing job titles and industries, Insycle has the tools to keep your HubSpot data squeaky clean and ready for action.

So, if you're ready to take control of your HubSpot data quality once and for all, it's time to try Insycle. To learn more about how Insycle can revolutionize your HubSpot data management, check out our website or contact our team of data quality experts through the live chat in the bottom right corner.