Where details come from
Add to CRM does not keep its own list of people. When you ask for a contact's details it asks several third-party data providers at the same time and combines their answers, preferring the providers in a fixed order when two disagree. Answers are remembered for a limited time, so a second lookup of the same person is quick and consistent.
When a credit is used
A credit pays for finding an email address. One credit is used when a lookup returns an email address, and it is refunded when the lookup returns none. Adding the contact to your CRM does not cost a credit. If you run out of credits we still add the contact, without the paid email address, instead of giving you the email for free or refusing the add.
Phone numbers
Phone numbers are looked up only if you turn that on. A number that is a company's switchboard rather than the person's own line is labelled as the company's, and is left out of what we add unless you ask for company numbers.
People who have moved on
An email address belongs to an employer, so we do not offer an old one as current. When two of our data sources agree that a person has left a company, their address at that company is kept apart as a former employer's address and is not offered as a way to reach them today.
Matching a contact to your CRM
Before adding a person we check whether they are already in your CRM, so you do not end up with duplicates. When the only thing linking a contact to an existing record is a similar name, we show it as a possible match for you to decide. We do not treat it as the same person, and we do not write to that record on our own.
How we write about other tools
Our guides and comparisons follow the editorial policy. How your data and your CRM credentials are protected is on the security page.