Data Quality Gate (Pre-Automation)

Data Quality Gate (Pre-Automation)

1. 01

   Inventory every source system feeding the client's automation or AI workflow before writing a single rule

   List CRM, ad platform, billing, and support exports with owner, refresh cadence, and record count. Agencies that skip this step discover a fourth data source mid-build and redo the mapping.

2. 02

   Profile each source for duplicates, null rates, and format drift, then score it pass or fail

   Flag any field above 5 percent nulls or with mixed date formats. A browser-based cleaner such as CleanMySheet handles one-off CSV and Excel passes on the client's own device, which matters when the retainer includes a data residency clause.

3. 03

   Define the canonical record shape and the match keys that will govern merges

   Pick the surviving field for each attribute (email, phone, company name) and document which system wins on conflict. Master data platforms like Syncari exist to enforce exactly this kind of multi-system match and survivorship logic at sync time.

4. 04

   Write the gate rules as executable checks, not prose in a slide deck

   Each rule needs a threshold, an owner, and a failure action. A rule that only lives in a Google Doc gets ignored the first week the client's ops team is short-staffed.

5. 05

   Run the gate against a full historical snapshot and record the baseline failure rate

   The baseline becomes the number you report against at 30 and 90 days. Without it, every later improvement claim is unverifiable and the client will treat the retainer as a cost line.

6. 06

   Wire monitoring to the pipeline so failures surface before the client sees them

   Set alert thresholds on volume drops, schema changes, and freshness lag. Observability platforms such as Monte Carlo cover this layer for production data and agent pipelines, which is where silent breakage does the most damage.

7. 07

   Schedule a monthly rule review tied to the client's reporting calendar

   Retire rules that never fire and tighten thresholds that fire constantly. A gate nobody reviews becomes noise within two quarters.