Contact Verification Workflow
Contact verification workflow is the five-stage validation process—role confirmation, email format check, phone cross-reference, recency gate, and human review—that protects sender reputation and prevents outreach failures from outdated or incorrect contact data.
tact verification workflow is the systematic process for validating email, phone, and role accuracy—using multi-source triangulation, test patterns, and recency checks—before contacts enter outreach systems, preventing bounce rates, gatekeeper friction, and reputational damage from outdated targeting.
Without verification workflow, you're burning relationships. Emails to exited employees. Calls to assistants for principals who left 18 months ago. LinkedIn messages to people who changed firms. With workflow, you're running validation gates: role confirmed via regulatory filing + company site + LinkedIn, email pattern validated via domain, phone verified via multiple directories, recency checked (<6 months for roles).
This is a deliverability and trust issue. High bounce rates trigger spam filters. Wrong-person outreach signals poor research. Contact verification is the operational discipline that protects sender reputation and LP perception of quality.
How allocators define contact verification risk drivers
Teams structure verification through:
- Stage 1 - Role validation: Confirm current title/employer via Tier 1-2 sources (regulatory filing, company website, verified news)
- Stage 2 - Email validation: Verify format pattern (firstname.lastname@domain.com), check domain MX records, test via validation API (not cold send)
- Stage 3 - Phone validation: Cross-reference across directories (ZoomInfo, RocketReach, Lusha), check area code validity, confirm mobile vs office
- Stage 4 - Recency check: Flag contacts >6 months old for re-verification, prioritize recent confirmations
- Stage 5 - Final gate: Human review for VIP contacts, automated pass for standard profiles meeting all checks
- Evidence phrases: "role verified," "email tested," "phone cross-referenced," "last confirmed," "verification status: current"
Allocator framing:
"Is this contact current and accurate—or are we risking bounces and relationship damage?"
Where it matters most
- high-value LP targets (institutional decision-makers, family office principals)
- cold outreach where first impression matters
- email campaigns where bounce rates affect sender reputation
- situations where wrong-person contact damages relationship capital
How it changes outcomes
Strong verification discipline:
- eliminates hard bounces from outdated emails (protects sender reputation)
- avoids gatekeeper friction from calling exited employees' old numbers
- prevents pitching people who left firm 12+ months ago
- keeps spam filtering low via clean contact hygiene
- protects GP credibility by demonstrating current research
Weak verification discipline:
- high bounce rates tank email deliverability for entire domain
- embarrassing wrong-person contact ("That person left 2 years ago")
- LP perception of poor research quality and operational sloppiness
- wasted outreach effort on dead-end contacts
How allocators evaluate verification discipline
Confidence increases when teams:
- show multi-stage verification process (not just "we have the email")
- document source triangulation for role confirmation
- flag verification recency explicitly (<6 months = current; >6 months = stale)
- demonstrate bounce rate tracking and sender reputation management
What slows decision-making
- claiming contacts are "verified" without multi-source triangulation
- no systematic recency discipline (treating 2-year-old contacts as current)
- skipping email validation (hoping addresses work without testing)
- batch importing from databases without re-verification
Common misconceptions
"If it's in the database, it's current." → Databases lag; verification is continuous discipline.
"Email validation = email verification." → Validation checks format; verification confirms current accuracy.
"One source is enough for contacts." → High-value contacts warrant multi-source triangulation.
Key allocator questions during diligence
- What is your multi-stage verification process?
- How do you confirm role accuracy before adding contacts?
- What recency threshold triggers re-verification?
- What is your email bounce rate, and how do you manage sender reputation?
- How do you handle VIP contact verification differently?
Key Takeaways
- Contact verification workflow validates email/phone/role accuracy via multi-source triangulation before outreach—preventing bounces and relationship damage
- Run 5-stage validation: role confirmation (Tier 1-2 sources) → email format check → phone cross-reference → recency gate → human review for VIPs
- Recency discipline is critical: re-verify contacts >6 months old, especially for roles that change frequently (CIO, investment team)