When I upload the csv that includes updated info for, say, Jim Smith and he already exists as a contact, I just get two contacts listings for Jim Smith- one with the old info and one with the new.
I'd like to import infomration and have it create new contacts, if none of the same name exists, or update if one of the same name already exists.
I've followed the upload wizard, but can't get the merging to happen.
Thanks!
Resolution
Salesforce.com customers can benefit from several de-duplication tools.
Account/Contact Import:
The salesforce.com import wizard will de-duplicate records based on the spelling of the account and contact name. When importing a record, if an account or contact already exists (even if the record was created earlier in the import process), the import wizard will attempt to update the existing record. Note that unless you select the "overwrite existing account values" checkbox, the import wizard will not overwrite any existing information. In other words, it will update any empty fields but leave untouched any fields with data. Salesforce.com will attempt to find the best match on the Account Name by ignoring certain prefixes and suffixes (ie, "The", "Inc.", ect.)
Account & Contact Merge:
For the ongoing maintenance, users can manually merge accounts and contacts to eliminate duplicate entries.
Lead Conversion:
When an Account is created as a result of a lead conversion, salesforce.comwill search to see if the Account already exists. If the Account is found to already exist the user is given the option to merge the new lead information with the existing Account, or to create a new Account with a different name.
Note that unless you select the "overwrite existing account values" checkbox, the import wizard will not overwrite any existing information. In other words, it will update any empty fields without overwriting the current data.
Salesforce.com has enhanced the import wizard with the following features to reduce the risk of duplicates:
1. The import wizard is NOT case sensitive (Forbes is the same as FORBES).
2. The import wizard will ignore punctuation (IBM is the same as I.B.M.).
3. The import wizard will ignore spaces (Home Link is the same as Home link).
4. The import wizard will ignore the following pieces from account names when matching account names: THE, CO, INC, CORP, CORPORATION, COMPANY, INCORPORATED, LTD, INTERNATIONAL, PLC, LLC, INTL, LIMITED.
Because no checks can be perfect, we still recommend that you clean all data before importing it into
salesforce.com to reduce the risk of duplicates that may be caused by numerous inconsistencies.NOTE: - COM is purposefully not on this list, therefore "Forbes" and "
Forbes.com" would be imported as two different accounts. - Abbreviations will not be recognized as duplicates. (HP and Hewlett Packard would be imported as two different accounts) - This affects import only, not the rest of the application.
