Reduce Duplicate Records in Your CRM

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The Leads module in Zoho CRM is a common place for new records to originate as you integrate webforms, data imports, and other sources of new records for your CRM. A common challenge with new Leads is data duplication and consistency of data.  Up until recently, Zoho CRM had limited capabilities to match a Lead that you are converting to existing Contacts and Accounts in the system but that has now changed.

System Fields vs. Unique Fields

In the past, only system-defined fields like the Lead's email address and company name were used to determine if a matching Contact or Account might already exist in your CRM, when attempting to convert a Lead.  Now, your options are expanded to include any "unique" fields that you've designated on Contacts and Accounts and where you are mapping that field from the Lead record on conversion.  Let's say that mobile phone is a "unique" field in your Contacts module or maybe the website is another you've specified as "unique" within your Accounts module.  Once you have specified those as "unique" and have confirmed they are mapped properly from Leads, new conversions will take these into consideration.

Use Case Example

In this example, we have a Lead with a website of zylker.com.  We also have an Account with the same website.  On conversion, you will be prompted to add the converted Lead as a new Contact to the existing Account.  Note: you will not be able to create a new Account because the Website must be unique and duplicate values are not allowed.  

Unique Fields Prioritized Above System Fields

The system-defined fields for the Contacts and Accounts modules will still be considered, but priority will be given to those you've specified as "unique".  So if the website were not a match in the scenario above but you still had a matching company name, you would indeed be prompted about that match.  Different from above, however, is that you could opt to create a new Account of the same name, since company name has not been specified as unique.

Want more assistance with your Zoho CRM?

We hope you enjoy Zoho CRM and are taking advantage the powerful lead capture and conversion tools available to you.  If you require any assistance, please do not hesitate to reach out to our team.