In the latest Salesforce release, Spring ‘15, Salesforce introduced a new feature to help users manage duplicate records. This feature, the Salesforce Duplicate Management feature, will warn users when they are trying to save a record that shows a match to an existing record. Salesforce previously did not offer a way to manage duplicate records, and if you wanted to prevent duplicates, you had to integrate with a third party app from the Salesforce AppExchange. With the Salesforce Duplicate Management feature, Salesforce now offers an in-house solution for redundant data. This feature is available on Professional, Enterprise, and Unlimited Editions, and can be used for accounts, contacts, leads, and custom objects.
How the Salesforce Duplicate Management Feature Works
In order to use the Salesforce Duplicate Management feature, you must create and activate duplicate rules and matching rules. Matching rules identify which conditions need to be met for a specific field to be considered a match, and uses criteria to determine if the record is a match overall. Duplicate rules determine what happens when a duplicate is found, such as if a user is allowed to save a record that has a match.
Once these rules are activated, users will be notified if they are creating a record with any potential duplicates. They will be shown a list of existing records that are flagged as matches, and the matching fields will be highlighted.
Benefits of Using Salesforce Duplicate Management
Activating the Salesforce Duplicate Management tool is a great way to keep your data clean. Users often forget to search existing records in Salesforce before they enter a new contact or account, and this new feature acts as a security net. It is a free feature included in your licenses, and investing the few hours to set up the rules can really help keep your company organized and save you time from deduping data in the long run.
For more information on how to activate the Salesforce Duplicate Management system, read Salesforce’s product release notes.
Need help cleaning duplicate records in Salesforce?
StarrData helps you get the most out of Salesforce. If you would like information on the services we offer, call us at (888) 391-4493 x101.