Finding and Merging Duplicate Contacts
Keep your contact database clean by identifying and merging duplicates without losing data.
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Why Do Duplicates Happen?
Duplicates occur in various ways:
- Multiple imports: Same contact imported from different sources
- Spelling variations: 'John Smith' vs 'J. Smith' vs 'Jonathan Smith'
- Team input: Multiple teamlids add the same contact
- Lead conversion: Lead becomes contact but old lead remains
- Email variations: [email protected] vs [email protected]
- Typos: [email protected] vs [email protected]
Impact of Duplicates
- Confusing communication (emails to wrong version)
- Incomplete history (data spread across multiple records)
- Inefficient filters and reports
- Storage waste
- Loss of trust in CRM data
Finding Duplicates
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Method 1: Automatic Detection
Tesoro has built-in duplicate detection:
- Go to Contacts > Tools > Find Duplicates
- Tesoro scans your database
- Duplicates are grouped based on:
- Email match (highest priority)
- Name + phone match
- Similar names (fuzzy matching)
- You see groups of potential duplicate contacts
Matching scores:
- 🔴 95-100%: Very likely duplicate (same email)
- 🟡 80-94%: Likely duplicate (name + phone)
- 🟢 60-79%: Possible duplicate (similar name)
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Method 2: Manual Search
Search for specific duplicates:
- Use global search with part of a name
- Look at results - do you see similar contacts?
- Filter by email domain (@gmail.com) to find duplicates
- Sort by creation date - recent duplicates first
Useful filters for duplicate hunting:
- Same email domain
- Same phone area code
- Same city + similar name
- Created within same week (bulk import duplicates)
Merging Duplicates
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Step 1: Select Master Record
When merging you must choose which contact becomes the 'master':
- Click Merge on a duplicate group
- Tesoro shows the contacts side by side
- Select the most complete record as master
Choose master based on:
- Most filled fields
- Most linked deals/properties
- Longest activity history
- Correct/most current information
The master record is kept, the other(s) are removed.
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Step 2: Select Fields to Keep
For each field you can choose which value to keep:
Tesoro shows:
- Master record value (left)
- Duplicate record value (right)
- Differences are highlighted
Per field you can:
- Use master value (default)
- Take over duplicate value
- Manually enter new value
Fields that are automatically merged:
- Tags (both sets combined)
- notes (all notes kept)
- Activity history (both histories combined)
- Linked deals/properties (all links kept)
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Step 3: Confirm and Merge
- Check all selected values
- Read the warning: This canniet be undone!
- Click Confirm Merge
After merge:
- Master contact has all combined data
- Duplicate contact is deleted
- All links (deals, properties) are transferred
- Activity history is merged
- Tags are combined
Important: Merge is permanent! Test first with test data if uncertain.
Preventing Duplicates
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I undo a merge?
No, merge is permanent and canniet be undone. That's why it's important to check carefully before confirming merge. Make a backup export before starting large merge operations.
What happens to deals and properties during a merge?
All links (deals, properties, tasks, meetings, etc.) from the duplicate record are automatically transferred to the master record. niething is lost - everything is combined.
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