If you already have duplicates in your system, you should review the records and delete the ones you don't want to keep (probably the ones containing the least data).  The best method to identify duplicates is to open the relevant Landing Page, sort the records alphabetically and review them 'by eye'.  Alternatively, export the records to Excel and use the Data > Remove Duplicates functionality to work out which dupes need to be deleted from Workbooks.

To avoid creating duplicate records in the future we recommend that you use the Search functionality to check if the information is already on your database.

If you try to add a new Person record with an email address which matches that of an existing Person, Workbooks will pop up a notification that there is already a matching person in the system when you try to save the new record and will ask you whether or not you want to proceed.

Also, when you convert a Sales Lead to an Opportunity the Sales Lead Conversion screen will notify you if similar Person or Organisation records already exist.

As a consultant to major professional services firms on CRM systems, this becomes unworkable.  I would suggest that you need to develop some data management capabilities within the system which allow for designated users to:

• Identify potential duplicates
• Merge organisation records
• Merge people records
• Deconflict changes created through the PIM syncrhonisation

Without the latter, changes may be made to data that is deemed to be personal that creates a bunch of emotional challenges which then impact on adoption.

I would be very happy to share my experience if you wanted me to.

You may have already noticed that our new release includes the introduction of the functionality to find and merge duplicate People or Organisation records. For more information on this, please read the Knowledge Base page.