How do teams actually keep CRM data accurate as they scale?

Serious question for operators and founders.

In the early days, CRM data usually looks clean. Fewer people touch it, fewer imports, fewer edge cases. But as teams grow, things slowly drift.

You start seeing the same contact saved multiple times.
Different formats for the same fields.
Inactive or unreachable customers sitting next to active ones.
Reports that look fine on paper but don’t match what sales is seeing day to day.

From what I’ve seen, the software isn’t really the issue. Most CRMs are capable enough. The real challenge is maintaining data discipline over time, especially when more people and channels are involved.

I’m curious how others handle this in practice, particularly in fast-growing regions like the Middle East:

Does someone actually own data quality inside the team?
Are activity checks and cleanup routines part of a regular process?
Or does cleanup only happen once performance drops or reporting feels off?

In one setup, we added a lightweight data validation step (using tools like the TNTwuyou data filtering and validation tool) mainly to keep inactive and unreachable records from quietly polluting the CRM. It helped, but it didn’t replace the need for clear ownership and habits.

Interested to hear what’s worked long-term for others.