How to Choose the Survivor when Merging Duplicate Records

Creating the ‘Primary Record’: Merging Duplicate Records with ActivePrime CleanData

Identifying duplicate records in Salesforce is only the first step in ensuring high-quality customer data. The real value comes in the next phase, determining which record should survive the merge. This “primary record” becomes the single source of truth and serves as the foundation for many business initiatives such as AI, marketing communications, customer service, and more.

In this article, we'll discuss several key areas to consider when merging duplicate records and how ActivePrime CleanData can make this process simpler.

Challenges in Deciding the Primary Record

Determining the correct record to retain during a merge can vary in complexity depending on several factors:

1. Data Completeness

One record may contain more complete information than another, such as additional contact details. Choosing the most complete record ensures that no valuable data is lost.

2. Data Currency

More recent updates may hold more relevant and accurate data, particularly when Salesforce is not the originator of the data. In this instance, fields like “Last Modified Date” or timestamps from integrations can help prioritize the most recent updates.

3. Field-Level Merging

Sometimes, no single record is the perfect record. Your organization may need to merge data field-by-field from different records. For example, keeping the mailing address from the primary record and rolling up the email address from another to create the most complete and accurate final record.

How ActivePrime CleanData Helps

ActivePrime CleanData helps your organization address the challenges in deciding the primary record to keep when merging duplicate records. ActivePrime CleanData simplifies and enhances the merge process with custom merge rules.

1. Pre-selecting the Primary Record

With ActivePrime CleanData, your organization can create zero-code custom merge rules. Your organization can easily define simple logic to pre-select the primary record. For example, the oldest record in Salesforce will survive. Your organization can define complex logic to pre-select the primary record as well. For example, select the primary record only when certain criteria are met.

2. Field-Level Control

With ActivePrime CleanData, your organization can define simple merge rules that retain all the values from the pre-selected primary record. Alternatively, your organization can easily define complex merge rules that roll up data from multiple duplicate records based on the defined business logic. Simple and complex logic are both defined with zero-code.

3. Guard Rails

With ActivePrime CleanData, your organization has full control over how fields from duplicate records are merged into the primary record. If records were incorrectly merged, ActivePrime CleanData’s Smart Undo feature restores the records to their original state. Your organization can easily merge duplicate records automatically or manually with confidence.

Final Thoughts

The journey to a primary record starts with identifying duplicates, but it ends with confident, informed merges. ActivePrime CleanData eliminates the guesswork from the process, making it easier to maintain data quality in Salesforce.