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01.02 Audit your CRM in one sitting

01.02

Audit your CRM in one sitting

Count what is really in your HighLevel or Follow Up Boss account (contacts, unassigned leads, untouched leads, stage hygiene, duplicates, tags, sources, opt-outs) and record it on a worksheet.

60 minNeeds verificationChecked 2026-10-20

Video walkthrough

Coming soonWhat is really in your CRM: the 12-check audit
It will cover
  1. Why you audit before you automate
  2. Counts that matter: total, unassigned, untouched, stuck
  3. Hygiene: stages, duplicates, tags and sources
  4. The compliance check: who opted out and whether the CRM knows
  5. Turning the worksheet into a short fix list
This chapter is complete without it. Every step is written out on this page.

What you're building

A filled-in audit worksheet: twelve numbers that describe the real state of your database, each with the exact place you found it, a red or green flag, and the chapter that fixes it. You will re-run the same audit every quarter.

Why it matters

Every automation in Part 03 reads your CRM. If 30% of leads have no owner, alerts go nowhere. If stages are meaningless, Smart Lists return the wrong people. If opt-outs are not recorded, automation can text people who asked you to stop. An hour of counting now prevents months of automating a mess.

What you need

  • Admin access. In Follow Up Boss, only admins see every contact (agents see only their own, collaborations and ponds). In HighLevel, Manage Duplicates is admin-only.
  • The audit worksheet (download below) open in a spreadsheet.
  • 60 uninterrupted minutes. Do not fix things during the audit; write them down.

Time and cost

Time
45 to 90 minutes
Cost
$0

Step by step

  1. Export a backup first

    Follow Up Boss: People > All People, check the box next to Name, Select All, click the export icon, tick All Columns, then Yes, Export People. Exporting never removes data; the account owner is notified of every export.

    HighLevel: Contacts, select all contacts, and use the export action in the bulk actions bar. Store the file somewhere access-controlled; it contains personal data.

    Check: You have a dated CSV of every contact saved somewhere only you and your admin can open.

  2. Count contacts and new leads

    • Total contacts. Follow Up Boss: the count on People > All People (as an admin). HighLevel: the total shown on Contacts.
    • New leads in the last 90 days. Follow Up Boss: filter Created less than 90 days ago. HighLevel: Opportunities in your lead pipeline with Created On in the last 90 days (if every lead gets an opportunity), or a contacts filter on created date.

    Check: Rows 1 and 2 of the worksheet are filled.

  3. Count unassigned leads

    • Follow Up Boss: People > All People > Filters > Agent is empty. Also note how many sit in each pond (Pond filter).
    • HighLevel: in Conversations, filter Assigned to unassigned. On Contacts, add the assigned-user filter set to empty. The contact filter label varies by account; search the filter panel for 'assigned'.

    Check: Row 3 has a number. Anything above zero for leads created in the last 30 days is red.

  4. Count leads with no activity in 30 days and leads never contacted

    • Follow Up Boss: Filters: Last Communication more than 30 days ago, plus Stage excludes Closed and Trash. For never contacted: Last Communication is empty with Created more than 2 days ago. Time to First Call empty shows leads never called.
    • HighLevel: Opportunities, Status Open, Last Stage Change Date more than 30 days. For contact-level activity, use the last-activity date filter in the contacts filter panel (label varies by account; verify it before relying on it).

    Check: Rows 4 and 5 have numbers.

  5. Check stage hygiene

    • List every stage and its count. Follow Up Boss: Stage filter on People. HighLevel: the column counts on each pipeline board.
    • Flag any stage holding more than 40% of open leads, any stage nobody can define, and any lead older than 90 days still in a 'new' stage.
    • Pick 10 leads at random. For each, can you say from the history why it is in its stage? Count how many you can.

    Check: Row 6 lists stages and counts; row 7 has your 'x of 10 explainable' score.

  6. Find duplicates

    • HighLevel: Contacts > the three-dot menu > Manage Duplicates. Find By Email first, then Phone, then Name. Record the number of duplicate groups. Do not merge yet.
    • Follow Up Boss: there is no duplicate finder in the help center. Sort the export by phone and by email in your spreadsheet and count repeats. Merging later is done by searching the name, selecting the contacts, then Mass Actions > Merge People (up to 10 at once, cannot be undone).

    Check: Row 8 has the number of duplicate groups.

  7. Review tags and sources

    • Tags. Follow Up Boss: Admin > Tags shows every tag and a Used count. HighLevel: the tags list in Settings (location may vary by account). Count tags, and count near-duplicates (buyer, Buyer, buyers).
    • Sources. Follow Up Boss: Source filter or Reporting > Lead Sources. HighLevel: the Lead Source Report dashboard widget (total, open, won, lost, abandoned per source). Count sources and how many leads have no source.

    Check: Rows 9 to 11 are filled: tag count, near-duplicate tags, leads with no source.

  8. Check opt-outs and DND

    • Follow Up Boss: opted-out numbers show in orange on the lead profile. Count leads tagged Do Not Text or unsubscribed (action plan unsubscribes are auto-tagged unsubscribed).
    • HighLevel: use the DND filter in contacts to count contacts with DND on any channel.
    • Then search notes and conversations for 'stop', 'remove me' and 'do not' to find requests that were never recorded.

    Check: Row 12 has the opt-out count and the number of unrecorded requests you found (which should become zero after Part 03, chapter 2).

What success looks like

  • All twelve worksheet rows filled with a number and where it came from.
  • Each red flag linked to the chapter that fixes it.
  • A backup export saved before anything changes.

Copyable templates

CSVCRM audit worksheetTwelve checks with the exact location in HighLevel and Follow Up Boss, a column for your number, the red-flag threshold, and the fixing chapter.

Try it

Example results (fictional: Coastal Key Realty, 6,400 contacts) and what they mean.
CheckResultFlagFix
Unassigned leads, last 30 days23RedPart 03, chapter 3: routing
Leads never contacted61RedPart 03, chapters 4 and 5: list 1 and alerts
Open leads in 'Prospect' stage48% of open leadsRedPart 03, chapter 1: stages with rules
Duplicate groups (email)212AmberMerge before automating
Leads with no source1,140AmberFix sources going forward; do not guess old ones
Unrecorded opt-out requests4RedPart 03, chapter 2, today

How to test it

  1. Re-run two of the counts a day later. They should match within new-lead noise.
  2. Have someone else run check 3 (unassigned) using only the worksheet's instructions. Their number should match yours.

Troubleshooting

My Follow Up Boss counts are much lower than expected.

You may not be an admin, or you are viewing 'Mine' instead of everyone. Agents only see their own leads, collaborations and ponds. Leads in ponds may not count toward the Everyone total.

I cannot find Manage Duplicates in HighLevel.

It is admin-only. Ask the agency or sub-account admin to run it.

The contact filter names in HighLevel do not match this chapter.

HighLevel's filter panel groups filters by category and lets you search. Search for the concept (assigned, activity, DND) and write the exact label you used in the worksheet so the next audit matches.

Advanced technical details

Optional. You can follow every step above without these.

Technical detailsWhat could not be verified
  • HighLevel contact filter labels for assigned user, last activity and created date, and the exact location of the tags list. HighLevel documents the filter panel but not every filter name.
  • The HighLevel contact export path (it is not in the Smart Lists article). If you do not see an export action, ask your agency admin.
  • Follow Up Boss has no documented duplicate finder; the spreadsheet method above is a workaround.
Technical detailsWhy counts differ between screens

HighLevel separates contacts and opportunities: a contact can have zero or several opportunities, and Smart Lists are per user. Follow Up Boss separates people (stages) from deals (pipelines), and deleting a contact removes its history from reports, so the Trash stage is safer. Decide which object each metric counts and keep it fixed between audits.

Sources

Written from the best available information. One or more steps could not be confirmed; see the notes in the chapter. Last checked 2026-10-20.