What happens to an email address when someone leaves a company?
When someone leaves a company, their work email is usually deleted, forwarded to a manager, or kept open with nobody reading it. Deleted addresses bounce; kept ones may still accept mail even though the person is gone. Check that a contact still works there before you send.
People change jobs all the time, and many B2B contact lists lose a large share of their accuracy every year as a result. The email address on your list might still look perfect. The person behind it is gone.
Three things companies do with old addresses
- Delete the mailbox. Mail to the address bounces. This is the easy case: a verifier catches it.
- Forward it to a manager or a shared inbox for a while, then delete it.
- Keep accepting mail. Especially at companies that accept every address (catch-all), the message is accepted and nobody reads it.
Cases 2 and 3 are the dangerous ones. Your email "arrives", but it never reaches the person you wanted, and it may annoy whoever reads it instead.
How to tell if someone has left
- Their public profile shows a new company, or an end date for the old job.
- The company's team page no longer lists them.
- News or press releases mention their move.
- Your last email to them bounced.
How Domailfix checks it
When the mail server cannot confirm an address, Domailfix also looks for clear public proof that the person has left. If it finds it, the result is Undeliverable: left the company, and the proof is shown with the result. If several people share the name, or the proof is not clear, it makes no decision rather than guess.
A contact who left is often a good lead at their new company. Look them up there with the email finder.
Keep your list current
Re-check business lists every few months, remove people who left, and look them up at their new company.
FAQ
Does an email bounce when someone leaves a company?
Only if the company deletes the mailbox. Many keep it open or forward it for a while, so the email does not bounce.
Can Domailfix tell me if a person left their company?
Yes, when there is clear public proof. The result is marked Undeliverable with the proof. In the email finder this uses 2 credits, because it still answers your question.
What should I do when a contact has left?
Remove the old address and find their new work email at their new company.