Purge Your Data from ChurnZero

You can permanently delete data from ChurnZero to address specific situations. In ChurnZero terms, we call this "purging." It's important to understand when to purge data, how to purge data, and what will happen when a purge occurs. We'll discuss the details and ramifications of purging data from ChurnZero in this article. Use the links below to jump straight to the information you need: 

• When/why WOULD I purge data from ChurnZero?
• When/why would I NOT purge data from ChurnZero?
• What happens when data is purged from ChurnZero?
• Processing large purges (200+ records)
• How to purge data
• Reviewing in progress and recent purges

When/why WOULD I purge data from ChurnZero?

Purging (i.e., permanently deleting) data from ChurnZero should be uncommon. Purging is primarily appropriate when the incorrect data has been sent to ChurnZero and needs to be completely removed, as though it never existed in ChurnZero.

Purging is a permanent and irreversible action that should only be done when absolutely necessary, with extreme confidence in the exact you're deleting, and with full clarity about the implications of the action.

If you find that data needs to be purged from your ChurnZero instance on an even semi-regular basis, please contact your ChurnZero CSM to get guidance on managing your data quality. 

When/why would I NOT purge data from ChurnZero?

There are a few scenarios where purging may seem like a good idea but is NOT advised:

1. To remove/hide historical data within ChurnZero.
   • Example: Bob Jones no longer works at Acme Company. It would not be appropriate to purge Bob from ChurnZero, as his history with Acme Company is relevant to the account's overall history after his departure.
   • Instead: Find a way to flag Bob - and other former contacts - as inactive/no longer with the company (likely with a contact attribute). You can then exclude him and all former contacts from segments and automation while maintaining their history. 
2. To remove unwanted data coming into ChurnZero from your CRM. 
   • Example: Dunder Mifflin and Stark Industries are prospect accounts in your CRM but shouldn't be in ChurnZero because they're not customers. It would not be appropriate to purge these accounts from ChurnZero. Since your CRM sync settings are dictating their push to ChurnZero, they'll come back into ChurnZero during the next sync. 
   • Instead: You should update the account sync settings for your CRM's integration with ChurnZero so that prospect accounts are excluded or not synced. Changing this logic will cause all accounts that no longer meet the sync criteria - including Dunder Mifflin and Stark Industries - to be removed from ChurnZero. 
3. To remove data coming into ChurnZero from your product - at least not until AFTER logic issues have been corrected on your product's side.  
   • Example: You have an event type called "Viewed Settings" coming into ChurnZero but this information is noisy and your CSMs don't need it. It would not be appropriate to purge the instances of this event type from ChurnZero. Removing instances that have already sent will not stop future instances from coming into ChurnZero. 
   • Instead: Work with your Development team to stop this event type from being sent to ChurnZero. Once the event type is no longer being sent to ChurnZero, THEN it would be appropriate to purge all previous instances of the event if they truly aren't needed. Waiting to purge the unnecessary instances until after the logic is updated on your product's side allows you to fully clean up/remove this event type from ChurnZero. (Event types cannot be deleted from ChurnZero until all instances of that event type have been deleted.)

What happens when data is purged from ChurnZero?

Purging deletes the selected records plus all their associated data from ChurnZero; when the purge is complete it is as though that data never existed in ChurnZero. Purging is a permanent and irreversible action that should only be done when absolutely necessary, with extreme confidence in the exact you're deleting, and with full clarity about the implications of the action.

A few important details:

• "Associated data" refers to all data related to the purged record.
  • For example: If you purge an account, the account is not the only thing permanently deleted. You will also delete all associated data for the account, including contacts, events, tasks/activities, automation history from plays, journeys, etc, custom table data, and more. 
  • Note that "associated data" specifically refers to data beneath the purged record in the hierarchy.
    • For example: Purging an account WILL delete any contacts associated with that account because contacts stem from accounts. Purging a contact will NOT delete the account the contact was connected to, since accounts are above contacts in the hierarchy. 
• Purging is generally a ChurnZero-only action, but there are important exceptions!
  • If the data is ChurnZero-only data (i.e. NOT connected to another system): Once data is purged, it will be like it never existed in ChurnZero at all, ever. There is no way to restore purged data. 
  • If the data is connected to another system (like a CRM): The data will be purged in ChurnZero but will NOT be deleted in your connected system. Depending on your sync settings, the data could be restored to ChurnZero during the next sync.
    • Important exception! Tasks and activities are typically configured to sync bi-directionally between ChurnZero and your CRM. If this is the case, purging tasks/activities from ChurnZero will also delete them from the CRM. 
      • To determine if tasks/activities are set to bi-directionally sync between your CRM and ChurnZero, go to Admin > Integration Hub and review the settings for your CRM. 

Processing large purges (200+ records)

Isolating and fully deleting data can be an extensive effort depending on specifics of the purge and the associated data. This makes purges resource-consuming jobs. To ensure your tenant continues to work quickly for your team, we do not process purge requests of 200 records or more immediately. Large purges are only processed during off hours to minimize the impact on your users. 

Details on processing large purge requests:

• Large purges are processed only during off hours, which are:
  • Monday through Friday between 8 PM and 4 AM in your tenant's time zone (to see your tenant's time zone, go to Admin > General > Org Settings).
  • All day on Saturdays and Sundays.
• If the purge cannot be completed during off hours, it will pause and resume when off hours resume. 
  • Example: Let's say you initiate a purge of 30,000 accounts at 4PM on Thursday. The purge would not begin until Thursday at 8PM. The purge was not completed by 4AM on Friday so it pauses, then resumes on Friday at 8PM. The purge would continue through the weekend (Saturday and Sunday) until completed.

How to purge data

The "Purge Data" permission is required to purge data from ChurnZero. This permission is never on by default for existing or new permission groups. It must always be explicitly granted.

Because purging permanently deletes data from ChurnZero, it is strongly recommended that this permission be granted thoughtfully and sparingly. Please remember that purges cannot be stopped once initiated, and the results cannot be reversed. 

• Best practice recommendation: Create a new permission group called something like “Purge Permissions” and turn on purge permissions for this group ONLY. This will allow you to be extremely specific about who receives purge abilities. It is unlikely that every user with admin permissions in ChurnZero should also have purge permissions; a distinct permission group provides the most control and safety. 

Follow these steps to purge data:

1. Confirm a purge is the correct course of action. Before proceeding, please:
   • Review the above information on the implications and ramifications of purging data. Review the scenarios in which purging is not the best course of action to ensure there isn't a better solution for your current situation. 
   • Triple-check the list of records you intend to purge. Remember that purging records not only deletes the records themselves but also all associated data as well. 
   • Be confident in your decision to purge. Remember, purges cannot be stopped and the results cannot be reversed.
   • If you have questions or concerns, reach out to your ChurnZero CSM or ChurnZero Support before doing anything. 
2. Go to Segments on the navigation bar and select the appropriate segment type. 
3. Make a segment of the records you want to purge and/or select the specific record(s) you want to purge.
   • Remember that the records you select will be permanently deleted, as will all data associated with those records. 
   • Check your selection accuracy several times before proceeding!
4. Click the Bulk Actions button and select Purge.
   
   
5. Review all the information provided in the purge confirmation modal. When confident you are ready to purge, type in the required prompt to confirm your understanding and click Confirm. 
   
   
6. If your purge request is for fewer than 200 records, the purge will start immediately. If your purge request is for more than 200 records, the purge will not begin until off hours (see Progressing large purges (200+ records) for more detail). 
   • A log of in-progress and recent purges can be found under Admin > Data > Purge Log. See the next section for more details. 
7. When the purge is complete, you will receive a notification by email and within your ChurnZero alerts panel. 

Reviewing in progress and recent purges

A log of in-progress purges and completed purges from the last 90 days can be found under Admin > Data > Purge Log. 

The following information is available for each purge request: 

• Initiated On: The date and time the purge was initiated in ChurnZero. The log is sorted descending by this field. 
• Initiated By: The first and last name of the user who initiated the purge. 
• Entity: Accounts, Contacts, Opportunities, etc.
  • Note: This shows the entity where the purge was initiated. Because purges permanently delete records and the associated data, it's important to note that other entities could have been impacted and will not be listed here.  
• Record Count: The number of records in the purge request.
  • Note: This shows the number of records selected when the purge was initiated. Because purges permanently delete records and the associated data, it's important to note that more records could have been impacted but will not be counted here.  
• Status: The status of the purge:
  • Pending: The purge has not started.
  • In Progress: The purge is processing; if a large purge, this may be temporarily paused, waiting for off hours to resume.
  • Complete: The purge is done.
• Started On: The date and time the purge was started. Note that, for large purges, the "Purge Initiated On" date/time and the "Purge Started On" date/time may not be the same.  
• Completed On: The date and time purge was completed. Notification of a purge's completion will also be sent to the requester by email and within the ChurnZero Alerts Panel.