Why Do You Have Duplicate Records in Zoho CRM?

Duplicate records in Zoho CRM clog up reports, confuse sales teams, and waste time.

So the question is: Why do we end up with duplicate records?

The obvious answer is that there is no check before adding records to the CRM.

To help get to the bottom of this problem, I have divided any new records added to Zoho CRM into two categories:

• Manually added
• Automatically added, like a third-party or web form integration with the CRM.

Let's look at each scenario.

Manual Entries

We can use the Zoho CRM unique field feature to avoid manual duplicate entries. This will prevent the selected field from having the same value in multiple records.

The setup is straightforward:

• Identify a unique field – Determine which field should have a unique value in leads and contacts. The most common choice is the email address.
• Enable Check duplicates in Contacts?– This will enable duplicate detection in the contacts module.

If the CRM identifies a duplicate value, it will alert the user. Here is the technote showing more details about this feature.

This simple example will work for most businesses, but you may need to adapt it to your workflow.

?But, If you select using the unique field feature, you must know how it will impact automated entries.

The Problem with Automated Entries and Unique Fields

When you enable the unique field feature, you need to access the impact with any automated entries you may have via third-party integration.?

Let's use the example of a third-party web form integrated with your Leads module, using the email address as the unique field.

Here is the problem caused by using a unique field:

• Due to the current API behaviour, the entry will NOT be added to the CRM?if a record with the same email address already exists in the Leads or Contacts module (if we use the above setup).

Depending on your business, this can cause significant sales loss.

So what is the solution?

Suggested Solution

If your third-party integration doesn’t check for duplicate records across multiple modules, you can implement a step to do so. There are various ways to achieve this, depending on your setup. Here are two:

• Webhooks – Trigger a check before a new record is created.
• Zoho Flow or other integration software like Zapier – Automate duplicate detection and update existing records instead of creating duplicates.

Are duplicate records a problem in your Zoho CRM?

If duplicate records are a problem for your business, then I suggest the following steps:

• Identify the root cause - Knowing the root cause will help you find the right solution.
• Select the solution - Using a unique field is simple but not without impact. For example, do you need multiple records with the SAME email addresses? If yes, then the unique field is not the right solution.
• Impact of unique fields - If you use unique fields, see how they impact third-party integrations, like web forms.

This is not an exciting subject, but I would love to hear about your challenges with duplicates in Zoho CRM.?