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Lead2Contact DeDuplication

Capabilities & Features:

 

  • Identification and consolidation of Leads and Contacts that are duplicates of one another
  • Ability to compare all Leads to all Contacts or only designated subsets of the records (ex: Only Leads in the US compared to only Contacts in the US)
  • Campaign and Activity preservation upon merger
  • Lead2Contact uses the Lead Convert API call making the operation identical to the conversion of a Lead from within the Salesforce interface
  • Communication/Task option to keep team members up to date on data movement
  • Option to create an Opportunity upon the conversion/merger of the Lead into a Contact

DeDuplication Best Practices & Guidelines:

  • Run the SingleTableDedupe and clean up the Lead and Contact Tables prior to running the Lead2Contact module
    • It is important to not have any duplicate Leads or Contacts in Salesforce as they will add to the complexity of the Lead2Contact clean up and increase the number of found matches.

Screen One:

Step 1.  Determine the Leads and Contacts to compare

  • "Use All" radio button will include all Leads in the duplicate finding process
  • "Use Conditions" radio button allows the user to subset the Leads to only include some in the duplicate finding process
    • Using conditions can be done for many reasons, however users with large databases will more than likely opt to use conditions to ensure quicker processing and less dupes to sift through at one time
    • The grid may also take a long time to render if there are in excess of 500 matches found
    • Conditions do not have to be the same for Leads as they are for Contacts and vise versa; it is all very dependant upon what the user is searching for to merge


Image Using Conditions (subsetting the Leads and Contacts that are used in match finding)



Adding Conditions and Using Expert Mode:

Conditions are used when subsetting which objects will be updated, exported, and/or searched, depending on the module.  In most cases the option to use all objects or specify conditions on which object(s) to use will be available.

 

When "Use Conditions" is selected the conditions area is no longer greyed out and open for criteria specification.



Step 1.  Select the Field on which to Base a Condition 

  • Fields from the selected table will be listed on the left.
  • To access fields in a related table select the "+" to the left of the table name. This will display the fields from the related table.  Multi-table joins are available for Parent tables only and based on foreign key relationships between tables.  For example, you can access the Account table from within the Contact table, because the Account ID is physically stored on the Contact Table. You cannot access the Contact table from the Account table.

Step 2.  Select the Operator

  • Available operators will change based on the type of field selected.
  • "!=" represents "not equal to".
  • When using dates, operators will include "Today", "Yesterday", etc.".

Step 3.  Specify a Value(s)

  • Text Fields:  Type in the value.  Multiple values for the same field are to be separated by commas. DO NOT PUT A SPACE AFTER THE COMMA. Commas are translated as "or".  For example, "ma,nh,me" will be translated to "ma or nh or me".  Note:  values entered are not case sensitive.
  • Picklists:  Select the value from the specified list.  Multiple values can be selected and will be translated as "or".
    • Valid picklist values are shown (as defined in Salesforce.com).  Right click on a list of picklist values to "Add a Value".  This is used to add a value not currently in the picklist and make it available for use in the criteria. The value is added for the purpose of selection and will not be added to the actual picklist in Salesforce.
    • Right click on a list of picklist values to "Filter List" to subset a long picklist based on a search string to quickly find a value(s).
  • Dates:  The current date will default in the value window. Click the arrow on the right to access a calendar and select a specific date.

    • To isolate a specific day, regardless of time, when dealing with a Date/Time field (i.e. created date), specify 2 conditions, greater than the day before and less than the day after.  This is not necessary when using an operator such as "Today" or "Yesterday".

Step 4.  Add Condition(s)

  • Select "Add Condition" to add the condition to the list of current conditions.
  • By default, all conditions are "and'd" together.  To create "or" groups see Step 5.
  • To delete one condition from the list, click the box to the left to highlight the condition and press the delete key on the keyboard.

Step 5.  Creating "OR Groups" (this option is not applicable to all modules)

  • To create "or" groups, check the "Expert Mode" checkbox.
  • Change the "OR Group" number for specific conditions (click on the number on the right and adjust up or down).  All conditions WITHIN a group/have the same group number are and'd and BETWEEN groups/different group numbers are or'd.  For example:


    Reads as:

    (MailingState=ma AND LeadSource=External Referral) OR (MailingState=ny AND LeadSource= Trade Show)
  • Unchecking the "Expert Mode" checkbox will cause all conditions to be and'd once again.


Screen Two:

Step 1.   Mapping Lead to Contact Fields

  • This is the most important part of the process as it is where the user dictates how Leads will match Contacts.
  • Depending on the data, several different combinations of field selections and mapping types will need to be tried in order to find the Leads that match existing Contacts.
    • Note that the complexity of the mapping will determine the number of found matches and the confidence level on the validity of the matches.
    • The Image below shows a match only using the email address field and the exact mapping type




    • The image below shows another option of matching using more fields and specific mapping types (see below for mapping type definitions)


    • If a row/condition needs to be added, click the "Add Mapping Condition" button (on left of the screen)
    • If a single row/condition needs to be removed, click the box to the left of the criteria and click the "Delete" key on the keyboard

    • To clear out all mapping click the "Clear Mapping" button (on left of the screen)
    • Note: To access the Account Name field (or any field on a joined table), click the "+" next to the Account field (or corresponding table) and scroll down to Name [Account Name] (see below image)

       

[snippet:MappingTypes]

Step 2.  Selecting Fields to Display

  • Choose fields to display on the dupe grid by placing a check in the fields checkbox
  • Lead fields are selected in the left pane and Contact fields are selected in the right pane
  • Be sure to select fields that will aid in recognizing duplicates that should/could be merged accurately
  • For comparison purposes, the grid is easier to read if the same fields have been selected for Leads and Contacts
  • To access joined table fields follow the example above and click on the plus sign next to the table of choice
  • The more fields that are selected, the longer the duplicate grid will take to process
  • Fields will be shown in the order they were selected, but can be rearranged on the dupe-grid
  • If the user forgets to select a field they will need to go back to Screen 2 to make the selection, this will result in a reprocessing of matches

Screen Three:

Step 1.  Selecting the Leads to be Converted and Merged into Contacts

  • The status bar will indicate to the user the Lead and Contact processing advancement
    • The processing is based on the criteria setup in Screens 1 and 2
  • The image below represent how the found matches will appear once processing is complete (see more images below for more detailed information and suggestions)



  • Select the "+" sign next to the Lead to view the found Contact match(es)
  • To  make viewing easier select the "Headers" checkbox on the bottom left of the screen
    • This will keep the yellow header present on all match groups, making it easier to identify a new match group
    • Clicking the "Expand/Collapse" button will expand (or click all plus signs) all duplicate groups, clicking it a second time will collapse all of the groups

      • NOTE: Checking the box in any yellow header will select a Lead and Contact for every group, and unchecking any yellow header checkbox will deselect all Lead and Contact selections
      • To make a selection for only one group at a time, select the Contact or Lead record in that group
    • It is beneficial to arrange the Lead fields and Contact fields in the same order on the found matches grid, as it makes the data comparison easier for the user
      • To rearrange the fields, drag a field to the desired location and when the red arrow appears drop the field to the new spot by releasing the mouse click 

      

                • Details of the Lead and Contact can be viewed by clicking on the icon button at the beginning of each row, for Lead detail and  for Contact detail
  • All checked Leads will be merged into the matching Contact
  • If more than one Contact is matched to a Lead, the user will need to select the Contact in which to merge the Lead 
     

When more than one Contact match for a lead is found the default selection of the Contact is controlled by the "Default Contact Selection" area. 

When there are 2 or more matching Contacts to a Lead this is an indication that there are duplicate Contacts in the database. The Lead -> Contact Dedupe should be stopped and the Contact Deduplication wizard should be revisited.

The "Update Checked Leads" button will update any contacts (where 2 or more have been found) so that the selected one below the lead matches the condition set by the "Default Contact Selection"
The conversion of the Lead to a Contact is controlled by the "Convert Settings." 

Lead Status is the new status of the Converted Lead and for most cases it is set as Qualified.  If you are tracking lead conversions for analysis of campaign success you may want to create your own lead status for converted leads found by the tool.  You must ensure that this status is valid for "Converted" Leads.

If the "Overwrite Lead Source" is checked the Lead Source in the Contact will be superseded by the Lead Source in the Lead.

You also have the option of creating an Opportunity for each converted Lead with the option of giving a default Opportunity name or using the Lead company name.

By selecting the "Process Merge" button the process starts and the Leads are converted into Contacts in batches of 100. 
This process can take some time depending on the total number of Leads that are being Converted.

See also

Single Table Dedupe
Lead2Account Deduplication
Mass Lead Convert
DeDupe Best Practices
Mapping Types