Broadly speaking, when collecting data on contacts (individuals or organizations), there are three "buckets" of data being collected:

1. Contact information (name, address, phone, email)
2. Transactional information (stuff they've purchased)
3. Demographic data (information about the individual or organization, e.g., lines of business, areas of interest, professional status, etc.).

Of these three, the most difficult to manage is demographic data. For demographic data you have to answer three questions:

1. What data will you collect?
2. How will you use it?
3. How will you maintain it?

Working with my clients, I often see that question #1 is easily answered, but they struggle with questions 2 and 3.

And here's the thing: If you collect demographic data, you really need to be able to answer both questions 2 and 3 before you start collecting that data. Because if you don't, I can almost assure you that the data you collect now will become stale in very short order. Most demographic data changes over time. And since it changes over time, you have to have a process in place to continually update it (question 3 above).

And equally important, you need to have a reason to collect the data (question 2) that is more than "That would be interesting to know."

So ask yourself: for all the demographic data we collect, do we have an answer to questions 2 and 3? And if not, should we be collecting that data at all?