The deduplication of Contacts is not an exact science. It will require multiple passes of the deduplication wizard to clean out the various types of duplicates. Below we have listed a sample methodology for removing Contact dupes in a multi-stage process:
- Run your first deduplication on a very specific criteria that will produce known duplicates.
- For example, if you used First/Last Name, Email, and Contact Phone you would generate a list of duplicates that you will be close to 100% sure are true dupes. You may even want to automatically de-dupe these Contacts specifying that the ones with the greatest number of Tasks and Events become the master Contact.
- Run your next few deduplications on gradually reduced criteria.
- You will need to pay more attention to the names of the Contacts that are found as criteria loosens and you will definitely want to see a detailed view of the Contacts.
- Use a "Fuzzy" match last as it will require you to review all potential duplicates.
