Deduplication (Dedupe)
Deduplication (dedupe) is the process of finding records that describe the same person or company in a database or list, then merging or removing the copies so each one appears once.
Also called: dedupe, duplicate management, record merging
Why it matters
Duplicates split activity history across records. One prospect can receive the same sequence twice from two reps, and reports count one account as two. Dedupe matches records on a key: email address for people, web domain for companies, or a LinkedIn URL where one exists. Exact matching on a clean key is dependable, while fuzzy matching on names needs a human check.
Dedupe happens at three points: when a list is imported, before records are pushed into a CRM, and as a regular audit afterward. Order matters, because companies should be matched before contacts so each contact attaches to the right account. Merges are often hard to undo, so the record with the most complete identity is usually kept as the surviving record.
Example
A sales team imports 500 event attendees into its CRM. Forty of them already exist as contacts, and twelve of their companies already exist as accounts under slightly different names, such as Acme Inc and Acme. Matching on email address and company domain catches both groups. The team merges them into the existing records instead of creating new ones, so each rep sees one complete history.
Turn the definition into a working system.
We build the RevOps systems behind terms like this one. Tell us where your pipeline breaks and we will show you what we would fix first.
