I think the native Manage Duplicates function needs improvement. For starters, it is a very manual process to manage duplicates in the CRM. It would be great if we could automatically flag an item when it is created based on a column (or multiple columns) that it is a duplicate- either by a status, conditional coloring or a pop up. Also, I would like to be able to Manage Duplicates based on a Phone column.
Hi Darian,
It is possible to flag duplicates on item creation simply by using a connect board column that creates a connection within the same board.
This can easily be enhanced to provide the outcome you require via Conditional Colouring & the use of the Formula Column.
Below are steps to achieve this:
-
Add a Connect Board Column to you board
(In my example I have labeled this column *Deal Duplicated Detector) -
Set up a match automation as follows:
When an item is created in this board, CONNECT the item where COLUMN matches COLUMN in BOARD by this LOGIC
CONNECT = Select the connect board column (*Deal Duplicated Detector)
COLUMN = Select the column that you are using to define a duplicate (Deal #)
COLUMN = Select the same column that you are using to define a duplicate (Deal #)
BOARD = Select the board we are working in (Ferry Road)
LOGIC = Choose overwriting new matched item
Simply, we are asking the match automation to search the board for items with a matching Deal # upon item creation - you can substitute this to whatever column you’d like to use to search for duplicates, Phone, Name, Email etc. Anything that is a unique identifier. If a MATCH is found, the connect board column connects to the original item on the board & identifies the the item just created as a DUPLICATE via a Formula Column.
I’ve used the below on my board in the Formula Column:
IF({*Deal Duplicated Detector#Count}>0,“Duplicated Deal”,“-”)
Again, you can substitute “Duplicated Deal” to display whatever message/warning you like. You can also add conditional colouring to any item which has “Duplicated Deal” as a return value.
As per below, the second item has been entered with a Deal # which already exists in the board, the match automation has connect the new item to the original entry & the formula has identified that the connect column is not empty and displayed our desired message. I also have a dedicated view “Duplicates” so it’s easy to monitor.
Couple of things to note, the match automation will only connect to the first matching item on the board & the match value is case sensitive, email can be tricky if some come through in upper case and others in lower, or a combination of both! I’d suggest using a Phone column if possible to prevent this.
I hope you find this helpful.
Cheers.
Kyle.