Duplicates are a common problem in CRM software. Usually they find their way through a file import into the system and there they then stay there forever.
CentralStationCRM has an automated duplicate control mechanism that checks all the contacts in your account for duplicates and brings them together automatically.
Please note: The duplicate check can be carried out by the administrator of the CentralStationCRM account.
There are three ways how we can detect duplicates. You can choose which of these options should we use for your account and whether we should examine just contacts or companies as well. The three methods are based on different contact details.
Example situation with three duplicates in the CRM
Man would find relatively quickly in this example that this is actually one person which is three times in the CRM system. Person 1 and 2 have the same email address and Person 1 and 3 share the name and also the company. Pretty sure this is the same contact.
Person 1Person 2Person 3John DoeJohnathan DoeJohn DoeCRM Company CRM ProviderCRM Companyjohn.doe@example.com john.doe@example.com
Method 1: summarize duplicates on the e-mail address
This method is the safest of all three, because it only leads people with the exact same e-mail address together. Since email addresses are globally unique, this method is most clearly and most secure. A merge on the basis of the e-mail address would look like this:
Person 1Person 3John DoeJohn DoeCRM Provider, CRM Companyjohn.doe@example.com
Person 1 and 2 are joined to one contact (now with two companies), Person 3 has no e-mail address and stays therefore untouched.
Method 2: summarize duplicates based on the first and last names
In this method, all persons who have the same first AND last name are grouped together. The method is significantly more comprehensive than the comparison of the e-mail addresses. Also a John Doe from a totally different company and with a different e-mail address would have been joined with the John Doe of the example. So before using this method please double check that they are really duplicates and the same name isn't just a coincidence.
Person 1Person 2John DoeJohnathan DoeCRM CompanyCRM Providerjohn.doe@example.comjohn.doe@example.com
The result would be, person 1 and 3 are merged, person 2 stays untouched.
Method 3: summarize duplicates based on first name, last name and the company
In this method we check in addition to the first and last name, whether the potential duplicates work in the same company. Only if this is the case, they are combined. Here are the results:
Person 1 / 3Person 2John DoeJohnathan DoeCRM Company CRM Providerjohn.doe@example.com john.doe@example.com
Tip: The best results you usually get with a two-stage procedure. First use the first method and join only the people with the same e-mail address. If you still find a large number of duplicates in your account you additionally try the third method.
Sample application in two steps
That would be the end result when you first join contacts using the e-mail address, and then apply the method to the comparison of the first and last name in combination with the company. You would keep only one person only with all the information and your data quality in your CRM would increases significantly.
1 personJohn Doe CRM Provider, CRM Companyjohn.doe@example.com
To remove duplicates please go to the account settings of your CentralStationCRM and select find duplicates and remove in the right column. And no worries, Dduplicates aren't removed right away. You will first get a preview to confirm the results. Please note: this function can only be used by the admin of the account. Normal users can't see the the duplicate filter in the account settings.
This article belongs to Duplicates.