Pomio CRM archives records instead of hard-deleting them: an archived company or contact leaves the daily views, keeps its links to deals and activities, and can be restored when it turns out to be needed after all.
Why deleting feels tidy
A CRM fills up with companies you never closed, contacts who changed jobs and deals that went nowhere. Deleting them makes lists shorter and searches faster, so it feels like good hygiene. The cost shows up later: a former customer calls again and nobody can see what was offered last time, last year’s won revenue shrinks in a report, or a bulk action removes the wrong hundred records and there is no way back.
What archiving keeps that deleting throws away
Archived records keep their history. The activity timeline still shows what happened and when, which is only useful when every activity is linked to a contact or deal in the first place. Relationships between companies, contacts and deals stay in place, so a returning customer comes back with context instead of as a blank record. Past results stay explainable, because the deals behind them still exist. And a mistaken cleanup is a restore, not a rebuild.
When permanent deletion is the right call
Some data should really go. A privacy erasure request for personal data you have no legal reason to keep is the clearest case; test records created during setup and personal data that should never have been entered are others. Treat these as a deliberate, recorded step with a named person responsible, not as part of the weekly tidy-up. Check retention and any legal hold first, because some records must be kept for a set period even when nobody works with them anymore.
Who should be allowed to archive
Archiving is reversible, but it still hides records from colleagues. Let sales reps archive within their own scope and keep bulk archiving with managers or admins; see own, team and tenant scope. Before a large cleanup, take a CSV export as a snapshot; see exporting CRM contacts to CSV. And stop the clutter at the source by checking every import for duplicates first.
How Pomio CRM supports archiving
Companies, contacts and deals can be archived and restored, relationships between them are kept, and bulk actions are available where a role permits them. Important actions are recorded in the audit log, so it stays clear who archived what and when. Privacy requests, retention and legal hold are handled in the same environment as the CRM data, so a real erasure request does not have to be improvised.
A practical archiving checklist
Before each cleanup: agree which records count as inactive, for example no activity for twelve months; archive instead of delete by default; keep bulk archiving with managers or admins; take a CSV export before a large cleanup; handle privacy erasure requests as a separate, recorded process; check retention periods and legal hold before anything is removed for good; review archived records once a year against your retention policy.
Go deeper
Should we archive a contact who left the customer’s company?
Yes. Archive the old contact so the history stays linked to the company, and add the new person as a fresh contact. Overwriting the old contact with the new name mixes two people’s history.
Does archiving handle a privacy erasure request?
No. Archiving hides personal data but keeps it. When an erasure request applies and there is no legal reason to keep the data, it needs a deliberate, recorded handling of its own.
How long should archived records be kept?
As long as your retention policy says, and no longer for personal data than you need it. Set the period per type of record and review archived data against it at least once a year.
Does Pomio CRM decide what gets archived?
No. Your team decides which records are inactive and who may archive them. Pomio CRM makes archive and restore available within each role’s scope and records important actions in the audit log.