What the registry should do
The registry is a living single source of truth for which field in System A maps to which field in System B, who owns it, the simple validation it needs and why any transformation exists. It reduces guesswork when importing CSVs, changing forms or updating automations and stops engineers being the only people who know the mapping.
Keep it pragmatic: a Google Sheet works fine for small teams on the South Coast. Use it alongside your CRM optimisation and marketing automation support activities so the team in Fareham or Hampshire can manage day‑to‑day changes without breaking flows.
Suggested Google Sheet layout, naming and lightweight validation checks
- Column list (one row per mapping):
- Mapping ID (short, stable e.g. MAP‑001)
- Source system (dropdown: HubSpot / Salesforce / Marketo / Pardot / Sheet / CSV)
- Source field API name (exact, copy from system)
- Source display name (human readable)
- Target system (dropdown)
- Target field API name
- Target display name
- Data type (text/number/date/boolean)
- Allowed values / example (comma list or example value)
- Transformation notes (e.g. trim, uppercase, postcode normalise)
- Validation rule (short: regex or rule like "must contain @")
- Owner (team member)
- Sync direction (one‑way / two‑way)
- Source of truth (which system wins)
- Last changed (date) and Change log (brief: who changed what)
- Risk level (low/medium/high) and a quick mitigation note
- Naming conventions: use short stable IDs (MAP‑001), system names from the dropdown, and copy API names verbatim so lookups and scripts can use them reliably.
- Lightweight validation checks to add in the sheet: drop‑down enforced system names, data‑type conditional formatting, a simple regex cell for emails/postcodes, highlight missing owners or blank target fields, and a "mapping health" column that flags missing validation or transformation notes.
Rollout, daily use and how to use it during imports, form changes and automation updates
Rollout steps: pick your top 10 fields that power handoffs and imports, create mappings for them, nominate owners and run a 30‑minute walk‑through with the team. Pair the sheet with a one‑page living checklist: preflight for imports, preflight for form edits and a short automation update checklist.
How to use it in practice: before an import, open the sheet and confirm source/target names, validation rules and owner sign‑off; for form changes, update the mapping row and transformation notes, set risk to medium/high if field names or types change; for automation updates, check the sync direction, source of truth and risk level and log changes in the change log.
Make this low friction: lock the header row, use simple dropdowns and timestamps, keep the Change log as short lines in one column, and run a weekly 10‑minute review on mapping changes. If you want help setting the registry, connecting it into your preflight and automation checks or running a short training session, see our CRM & marketing data optimisation in Fareham — Optira can help set this up and hand it over to your team.