Why Messy Data Is Costing You Credibility

We’ve all been there. A client sends over a spreadsheet, or a vendor drops 1,200 pages of crosstabs in your inbox. You open the file and immediately think: What am I supposed to do with this?

Messy data isn’t just frustrating—it’s dangerous. It can make you spin your wheels, misread the story, or worse… walk into a client meeting looking unprepared. And in agency life, credibility is everything.

The Problem With Messy Data

When data is weak, incomplete, or just plain confusing, the risks stack up fast:

• Shaky strategies. If the foundation is bad, the big ideas built on top of it can crumble.
• Lost time. Instead of focusing on strategy, you’re stuck translating crosstabs into something that resembles a story.
• Client doubt. If you can’t explain the “why” behind the numbers, you risk losing trust—and once it’s gone, it’s hard to win back.

The reality? Garbage input = garbage output. And no matter how clever the creative, your clients will feel it.

Agencies Deserve Better

Your clients count on you to bring clarity and confidence to the table—not caveats and confusion. That’s why we put together a simple tool to help you separate the good data from the garbage.

It’s not complicated. Just a quick gut-check you can use the next time someone hands you a chart, a topline, or a survey link and says, “Here’s what we’ve got.”

The 8-Point Gut Check

Our checklist walks you through the key questions you should be asking every time data lands in your lap:

• Does it pass the “WTF Test”?
• Can you tell where it came from?
• Is the sample legit?
• …and five more points that keep you from betting your strategy on shaky ground.

Take the Guesswork Out of Data Quality

Messy data costs credibility. Clean, trustworthy insights win it back. And the difference between the two? Often just knowing what to look for.

That’s what this checklist gives you—a fast, practical way to spot red flags before they derail your next pitch or presentation.

✅ Download the 8-Point Gut Check:

How to Know if Your Data is Worth a Damn