Delete auto-generated tags and any tag with fewer than five people; tags are where overthinking starts.
The idea
Tags are a stressor. They're the first place people start to overthink the process and obsess over details, and from there it's a short slide into avoidance. A quick cleanup keeps them useful: delete what software made for you, and delete what's too small to matter.
How to do it
Remove auto-generated tags: "Imported on" dates, mass-import artifacts, and one-off labels like property addresses.
Remove any tag with fewer than five people.
Keep groups and tags separate. How you know someone is a group; tags are custom, for the rest.
Tie tags to goals. The order in my coaching: goals, then the types of people who can help with those goals (tags), then the people who fit those types.
Example
The version of this in my coaching was taught to real estate agents, whose databases filled up with property-address tags. Our line: "8 months later, you don't need to know what open house someone visited." And on tiny tags: "three people tagged 'friends' is not very useful."
Sources
From Zvi's coaching program
Relatable: In Relatable you can filter to a tag and remove it from everyone in one bulk action. How-to: Bulk-update many contacts at once.
Related frameworks
Groups vs. Tags: Put each person in one group by how you know them (client, past client, sphere, prospect, vendor, peer) and use tags for everything else.
The Common Model: Tag people by what they have in common, like kids, hobbies, careers and life stage, instead of business labels, starting with your A's.
Simple Systems Win: The tactic that works is almost always tiny and simple, and simple still takes consistent effort. Remove things before adding them.