HubSpot Duplicate Contacts: A Clear Strategy to Enhance Your CRM’s Performance

You’re planning to launch a client outreach program to promote your latest product. This special campaign targets a carefully selected list of engaged customers. Your goal is to clear out inventory while enhancing customer loyalty.

But there’s a hidden problem you aren’t aware of - duplicate records in your CRM are about to complicate things. Here’s how duplicate records are quietly slowing your business processes:

• Inflated Data: Duplicates give a misleading view of your customer base, making it difficult to gauge accurate engagement levels.
• Workflow Disruptions: If your system has duplicates, sales teams might contact the same prospect multiple times, leading to internal conflicts and a tarnished professional image.
• Customer Service Setbacks: Multiple profiles for a single customer can confuse service efforts, prolonging issue resolution and decreasing customer satisfaction.
• Compromised Personalization: When customer views are fragmented, personalized marketing efforts falter, increasing the likelihood of sending repetitive communications that can annoy customers and damage loyalty.

Managing duplicates effectively is not just about cleaning data; it's about enhancing the overall customer experience and ensuring that every interaction with your brand is a step toward building a loyal customer base.

Let's take a closer look at how cleaning up contacts in CRM data can help you connect better with customers and make smarter choices.

Why Is It Crucial to Clean Up Your HubSpot Contacts?

Cleaning up your HubSpot contacts is crucial for keeping your interactions smooth and efficient. Let’s look at why keeping your CRM neat and updated is so important.

Enhancing Data Quality

Regularly cleaning your contacts ensures you have the most current and accurate information, helping you make better decisions.

Boosting Engagement

By removing uninterested or inactive contacts, you focus your efforts on those more likely to engage, enhancing overall campaign effectiveness.

Saving Time

Cleaning up duplicates and outdated information lets your sales and marketing teams concentrate on nurturing valuable leads instead of chasing dead ends.

Improving Email Performance

Regular maintenance helps avoid high bounce rates and enhances email deliverability by keeping your list free of invalid addresses. This boosts your performance metrics and protects your sender's reputation.

What Causes Duplicate Contacts in Your CRM?

Despite the convenience, this process can lead to the creation of duplicate contacts. Here’s why duplicates might appear in your HubSpot system:

Typos and Misspellings

Small errors, like misspelling an email address, can create a new contact instead of updating an existing one. This often happens during manual data entry or if the contact themselves makes a mistake while filling out a form.

Different Domains

A contact might use multiple email addresses (such as work and personal) to interact with your content. HubSpot treats each unique email address as a separate contact, which can lead to duplicates.

Lack of Data Hygiene

Without regular maintenance, your contact list can become duplicated. This issue stems from inadequate data entry protocols and cleanup routines.

How Are Contacts Created in HubSpot?

In HubSpot, contacts are typically created when individuals fill out forms on your website, when you upload lists, or when you manually enter information. The platform also integrates with various marketing and sales tools, pulling data from emails, social media interactions, and customer service conversations.? Here is how you can clean up duplicate contacts in HubSpot: to?

Identifying Duplicates with HubSpots Manage Duplicates Tool

1. Access the Tool: Start by navigating to 'Contacts' or 'Companies' from your HubSpot dashboard.

2. Launch Manage Duplicates: Click 'Actions' and then select 'Manage duplicates'. This tool automatically flags potential duplicates based on criteria like email, phone number, and company name.

3. Review and Select: You'll see a list of potential duplicate pairs. Review these to decide which contacts or companies to merge.

Merging Contacts Manually

1. Select Primary Contact: In your Contacts list, click on the contact you want to keep as the primary record.

2. Initiate Merge: Click on 'Actions', then 'Merge'.

3. Choose Secondary Contact: In the merge dialog, use the 'Search' to find and select the secondary contact you wish to merge with the primary. Confirm by clicking 'Merge'.

Fine-Tuning the Merge Process

• Manual Review: Sometimes, you'll need to compare contact details manually. Click on 'View all properties' to examine all relevant contact information.

• Customization: Customize property views and activity icons to streamline identifying duplicates.

Best Practices for Preventing and Managing Duplicates

Managing duplicates effectively is key to maintaining a clean and efficient database. Here are some best practices to help you prevent and manage duplicates, ensuring your data stays organized and reliable.

Regular Contact Review

Make it a habit to review your contacts regularly. Schedule periodic cleanups to keep your database current and accurate. This ensures you're working with the latest information and enhances engagement by focusing on active contacts.

Utilizing Filters Effectively

Apply filters to isolate contacts who haven't engaged recently, have outdated information, or are suspected duplicates. This helps prioritize which contacts need updates or removal, streamlining your management process.

Preventing Duplicates with Data Quality Automation

Use HubSpot’s Operations Hub to automate the formatting of property values. This keeps your data consistent and reduces the chances of duplicates. Create up to ten unique custom properties for contacts to ensure each record is distinct and easily identifiable.

Standardize Data Entry

Set clear rules and routines for your teams to follow during data entry. This minimizes errors and helps maintain a unified view of customer data, crucial for effective marketing and sales strategies.

Improve Form Submission Handling

Ensure clean form submission practices. HubSpot checks the user token from form submissions to determine if it should merge new information with an existing contact or create a new one. Adjust settings to 'Always create a new contact for new email' if needed, allowing for distinct records for different email addresses.

Effective Import File Preparation

When importing data into HubSpot, make sure your files are well-prepared:

• Use formats like .csv, .xlsx, or .xls.
• Organize your file with a single header row and columns corresponding to contact properties.
• Include unique identifiers such as email addresses or domain names.
• Ensure all data fields follow standardized formats to avoid discrepancies.

Using Bulk Tools for Efficiency

Employ tools like Superjoin to manage large datasets. These tools help with bulk updates and data synchronization, enhancing overall efficiency.

Monitor Email Performance

Monitor bounce rates and regularly remove contacts with invalid email addresses. This improves your email campaign's deliverability and performance by reducing wasted efforts on non-existent contacts.

By implementing these practices, you can maintain a cleaner, more effective HubSpot database, leading to better management and engagement with your contacts.

Are You Using Your HubSpot at Its Full Potential?

As a HubSpot Diamond Solutions Partner, INSIDEA is uniquely positioned to help you unlock the full potential of your HubSpot investment. Begin with a free, comprehensive audit of your HubSpot portal and discover the various features and tools waiting to transform your business operations.

Get your free portal audit today!

You can also book a meeting with HubSpot experts to explore how INSIDEA can help you with your upcoming projects.