Duplicate accounts are multiple accounts for the same individual or company. Duplicate accounts can make managing and reporting difficult in NeonCRM, because multiple accounts have information for the same person.
The primary tool for catching incoming duplicate accounts is the Account Match & Queue. For existing account clean up and merging less similar accounts, use the Duplicate Scan which can be accessed under Tools > Duplicate Management and Duplicate Scan. In addition, you can Find Duplicates for a particular account.
Duplicate Scan
The Duplicate Manager allows you to scan your database for duplicate accounts, merge duplicate accounts, and view your merged account history.
This tool can be found here at Tools > Duplicate Management and scroll down to Duplicate Scan.
From this page, you are given a list of possible duplicate scan criteria.
- Email Match
- Name + Email Match
- Address Match
- Name + Address Match
- Name Match
- Name + Phone Match
- Phone Match
To run a scan, click the Actions menu (three dots) in the row of the scan you wish to run and click Run Scan.
Once the scan has completed, you will be shown a list of results. Continue through the prompts to manage each set of accounts.
Once you run each scan, Neon will update the duplicates found in last scan and last scan date.
To see the remaining results of your previous scan, just click the results number instead.
Duplicate Scan Results
This page displays a list of matched accounts.
The Matched Data column shows the specific piece of information that the matched accounts have in common.
The Matched Accounts column lists the accounts that have been matched.
The Most Recent Account Create Time column lists the date that the most recent account found in the scan was created.
The Actions column lists the possible actions you can take with each set of matches, whether to Compare Accounts (if they may be duplicates or otherwise related in some way), or mark them as Not Duplicates (if you are certain they are not duplicates). Marking two accounts as "Not duplicates" will exclude them from the scan in the future.
For this example, we'll find a set of duplicates and click Compare Accounts.
The duplicate merge process has several steps:
Step 1 of 3 - Choose which account to keep
First, you must decide which account will be kept. The Duplicate Match Details section shows data fields for the possible matches, which should help you decide which account should be considered the "main" account.
The Login Name and Time are listed. NeonCRM will automatically move the most recently used login name to the kept account.
Select This is the main account, and click Next.
Step 2 of 3 - What should we do with these matches?
After you have decided which account is to be considered the "main" account (the account others are merging into), you must decide what to do with the rest of the possible duplicates. Your options are:
- Merge
- Keep this account (Do not merge)
- Link as an Account Relation
- Add to Household
Merge
This means that the account's data will be combined with the "main" account. After the merge is complete, the account will be deleted permanently, with transaction and communication history added to the main account. This option is selected by default for all possible duplicates, as it is the most common scenario.
Keep this Account (Do not merge)
This exempts the account from the current merge operation. The account will continue to show up as a possible duplicate in later duplicate scans if you wish to merge them later.
Link as an Account Relation
This will keep the account as a unique account instead of merging it, and will allow you to define a relationship between the accounts. When you select this option, you will be prompted to assign a role to each account. Read about Neon relationships here.
Add to Household
This will add the account to the "main" account's household. This option is only available when merging Individual Accounts, as Company Accounts cannot be in a household. Read about Neon households here.
Select the appropriate operation for each possible duplicate, and click Next to continue with the duplicate merge.
Step 2a of 3 - Merge Addresses
This page will be displayed if the accounts being merged have existing addresses. In this step, you decide how to handle the addresses associated with possible duplicates. You have two options:
- Replace this Address
- Add New Address
Replace this Address
This option should be chosen when the address matches on both records. The address of the main account will override the merged address.
Add New Address
This option should be chosen when both addresses in question are known to be correct. The address of the "main" account will be kept, and the address of the account to be merged will be added as an additional address to the "main" account.
Step 3 of 3 - Merge Account Data
In this step, you determine which data, from all possible duplicates, will be kept on the "main" account. The far-left gray column, Final Account Details, contains the values for each field that will be kept. For each data field (row), you can click radio buttons to choose a different value for each data field. By default, the Final Account Details column will show the existing values from the "main" account.
When you are satisfied with the data shown in Final Account Details, click Next.
Duplicate Merge Summary
This page shows a summary of all actions that are about to be taken. It will show specifically which accounts will be merged, ignored, linked as relationships, and linked as household contacts. To complete the action, click either:
- Merge Accounts and Return to Scan Results
- Merge Accounts and Continue to Next Duplicate Match
Merge Accounts and Return to Scan Results
This completes the duplicate merge, then returns the user to the list of possible duplicate matches.
Merge Accounts and Continue to Next Duplicate Match
This completes the duplicate merge, then immediately proceeds to the next set of duplicate matches.
Duplicate Checking Current Accounts
You can also check for possible duplicate accounts for a single account by selecting the Find Duplicate button at the top of an account page.
This will take you to the Duplicate Checking page.
Neon will scan for duplicates based on your currently selected duplicate match rules. The Matched Data column shows the specific piece of information that the matched accounts have in common. To change these, click Configure Duplicate Scan Rules.
Duplicates will display in two groups: general/overall duplicates and related accounts.
Related Accounts are accounts with matching contact information that belong to the same household or are contacts in the same company. You can merge these or mark them as Not Duplicates separately from the regular group.
To compare and merge the listed accounts, select the radio button next to the matched data and click Compare Accounts.
The account page that you were looking at before will be marked as the main account by default.
Select a different main account if you wish to merge to it instead.
- Follow steps 1-3 as in the Duplicate Manager, above.
- You'll be given a summary page and the options to cancel or merge and return to the main account.
Scheduled Duplicate Scans
Regularly running duplicate scans is important in order to stay on top of the duplicate accounts in your database. We recommend scheduling three duplicate scans to automatically check for duplicates and notify you of the results.
Navigate to Tools > Duplicate Management and scroll down to Duplicate Scan. If the Next Scan Scheduled For column is populated, that scan is currently scheduled.
Click the Actions menu (three dots) to edit scheduled scans or to schedule a new scan.
If you try to schedule a new scan and it is unavailable (greyed out), you already have three scheduled scans. Unschedule an existing scan in order to schedule a new one.
You can also configure this from the Scheduled Duplicate Scans Widget on any Dashboard. This contains a list of the latest scans run on your Accounts and buttons for acting on these scans. Clicking on the Merge Duplicates button for a scan will take you to the results page for that scan.
To set up a new scheduled duplicate scan, click Configure Scheduled Scans button above your scans list.
This window will show any existing duplicate scans. You can set up as many as three scheduled duplicate scans. To add a scheduled scan, click the + Add Scheduled Scan button.
Scans can be set to run every day, every week, or every month.
If running the scan every week, select on which day of the week you'd like the scan to run. If running the scan every month, select on which day of the month you'd like the scan to run.
Then, select which type of scan you wish to run.
When everything's ready, click the Save Settings button, and the duplicate scan(s) will be scheduled to run regularly.
Merging FAQ
A. All transaction history on a merged accounts will be moved to the kept account.
A. Custom fields on the merged account will be transferred to the kept account. For conflicting options where only one answer is allowed (different radio buttons, free-entry, or drop-down options) the kept account will override the merged account. Multiple entries in a single checkbox field will be combined. Note that the Account Match & Queue setting for how to handle checkbox custom fields does not apply to accounts merged with a Duplicate Scan.
A. No. The kept account will automatically be given the most recently used login information.
A. The phone numbers will appear listed on step 3, data compare page, so you can choose which to keep.
A. Accounts that you choose to keep will not be merged into the kept account, however, they will reappear as possible duplicates the next time a scan is run. Until a new scan is run, they will not display as duplicates. Most can be avoided by using the Name + Email match or the Name + Address match.
If you must use that scan again, you can prevent the false match from showing up again by clicking "Not Duplicates" next to the name(s) in question.
Q. Will the email addresses on both accounts be kept?
A. If your duplicate accounts have different emails and you want to retain both, you will get a chance to do this in step 3 of the duplicate merge process.
Q. Is there a way to tell the Duplicate Manager that certain items are not duplicates of each other?
A. The "Not Duplicates" action can be used to mark false positives. They will not show up as duplicates of each other in future scans.
Q. A certain match was marked as "Not Duplicates". Where can I find it?
A. At the top of the Duplicate Management page, there should be a link called "Accounts Marked As Not Duplicates". The "not duplicates" matches can be found there.