Import | 11 november 2022
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How does duplicate detection work when importing?

Of course, you want to avoid entering duplicate data in your CRM at all times. When entering data manually, a check for duplicates is therefore automatically performed. When importing data into Tribe CRM, you probably also want to perform such a check. In this article, we will explain how you can set up this check yourself.

  1. What does the standard duplicate check involve?
  2. On which fields can I set the duplicates check?
  3. How can I adjust the settings of the duplicates control itself?

1 What does the standard duplicate check entail?

The default duplicate check depends on the data you want to import. When importing organisations, a check is performed based on the organisation name as well as the relation type.

As an example, we import Cleaning company Bright clean. If this organisation already exists, it will not be imported again. Unless this organisation is both customer and supplier. When Bright clean is already known as a customer, but not yet as a supplier. The import will not add the organisation again, but will add the relation type supplier additionally to the organisation.

No standard duplicate check is performed when importing individuals.

2 On which fields can I set the duplicates check?

You can decide which fields you want to perform a check on. It is also possible to perform a check on a combination of fields. For the cleanest possible import, set the check on unique data. For example, for a contact person, checking based on an e-mail address is much better than checking based on the surname. A surname is not unique, an e-mail address is.

For an organisation, you could take a combination of fields, e.g. the field name + postal code + house number + addition. The name of just the organisation is probably not always unique. After all, one organisation can be located in different locations. By adding the other fields in the duplicates check, you have a greater chance that any duplicates will be recognised and therefore not imported.

If your import file contains data from another (CRM) system, it probably already contains a unique ID. You can then set the check based on this ID field.

3 How can I adjust the settings of the duplicates check myself?

The duplicates check falls under the advanced settings of your import. To do this, click on the dot menu of the column you want to set duplicate detection for.

In the example below, we set the duplicate check on the organisation name, postcode and house number fields:

  1. Open the advanced settings in your import definition by clicking on the dot menu > advanced.
  2. At the bottom of the list of fields, an additional section is shown ‘Duplicates detection of organisation (relationship)’, open this section.
  3. The fields combination shows the default duplicate detection. The organisation name check is already filled in by default. Here, add the postcode and house number fields one by one by clicking the plus button under organisation.
  4. In the menu, select organisation links > column single: organisation > organisation links > column single: visit address > field: street. Repeat this for the house number field.

In this example, we set the duplicate detection to the contact email address field.

  1. Open the advanced settings in your import definition by clicking on the dot menu > advanced.
  2. At the bottom of the list of fields, an additional section is displayed ‘Duplicate detection of contact (relationship)’, open this section.
  3. For the fields combination, click under person on the plus button to add the e-mail address. In the menu, select contact person > field: e-mail address