Introduction

LoftyWorks has certain restrictions in place to avoid duplicates being added to the database, as well as to make users aware of contacts that are potentially the same person to avoid wasted efforts by any party involved. This feature cannot be deactivated and is built in by default. There are three different situations where duplicate contact logic will apply:

• (a) When doing a CSV contact import into LoftyWorks
• (b) When trying to manually add contacts that are already in the system
• (c) When contacts are added via email parsing

LoftyWorks account owners have a way to override this logic. This setting can be enabled in Company Settings > Contact Capture > Duplicate Contact Settings.

Toggling on this setting will allow duplicate contacts to exist, as long as they have different owners. This means they can be owned by two different agents. 

Summary

• (a) When contacts are added via contact import
  • Option 1: Merge Contacts
  • Option 2: Skip Contacts
• (b) When contacts are added manually
• (c) When contacts are added via email parsing
• Merging Contacts
• Merging Permissions

(a) When contacts are added via contact import

More information regarding the basics of contact importing can be found here: Contact Import or Contact Import (via Google Contacts).

Here are the situations when a contact would be considered a "duplicate" per LoftyWorks's logic: 

1. If the CSV contact and the CRM contact both have the same email address
2. The CSV contact and the CRM do not have the same email address, but...
   • The contact's name and phone number are the same in the CRM and CSV
   • The contact's name is the same in the CRM and CSV, but neither has a phone number
   • The contact's name is the same in the CRM and CSV, but neither has a phone number or email address

When importing, there are two options available to select from after marching up the columns but before finalising the import. Here is where both options will appear during the import process:

Option 1: Merge Contacts

Selecting this option will merge the duplicates from the CSV with those that match already in the database per the four points listed above.

Merging will not update the following if it is different in the CSV. The primary contact will be the existing contact and will not have these fields overwritten. 

• Assignee
• Search Criteria (you are not able to import a CSV to add search criteria later, even if the existing contact has none already)

Merging will update the following if it is different in the CSV

• Contact Type. But only in certain instances: only 2 principles will change the contact type:
  • If one of the two contacts being merged is the contact type of "Buyer & Vendor", then the contact type will be "Buyer & Vendor" after merging.
  • If one of the two contacts being merged is the contact type of "Vendor", and the other is not the Vendor (meaning it could be Buyer, Tenant, Other), then the contact type will be "Buyer & Vendor" after merging. 

Option 2: Skip Contacts

This option will simply make it so that contacts that match the four points above will not even be imported into LoftyWorks and will instead be skipped.

(b) When contacts are added manually

LoftyWorks uses a contact's email address to flag as potential duplicates. Users can choose to act on that notification or dismiss it.

If the email address does not match, LoftyWorks will use the following to confirm duplicates:

• if a contact's phone is the same as the other contact's phone
• if a contact's name is the same as the other contact's name

The best way to find a potential duplicate in your system is to search using their email address. 

 If a duplicate is suspected, LoftyWorks will notify you in two different spots:

(1) When adding a contact manually via the Contacts page. This is only triggered based on the phone number or email address.

(2) When looking at a contact profile that has triggered a duplicate. Here, the user can see the duplicate contact's name and who owns the contact. If the user has access to both contacts, they can merge the contacts with the "Merge" button.

Another option is to choose two contacts manually on the contacts page and then select the "Merge" option.

(c) When contacts are added via email parsing

Many contacts enter LoftyWorks via email parsing when a new contact email alert from a third-party service is parsed into the LoftyWorks platform automatically. If a contact is a duplicate, it will not be parsed into LoftyWorks. The following are the most typical scenarios: 

• Contact A and Contact B both have email addresses, and they are both the same email address. This contact will not be imported into LoftyWorks.
• Contact A and Contact B do not have email addresses, so the system will check the phone and name (first and last). If the phone and name are the same, the contact will not be imported into LoftyWorks.
• If a contact does not have an email/phone, it will not be imported to LoftyWorks.

Keep in mind that even if the contact is not brought into LoftyWorks via email parsing in the above scenarios, it will still trigger a "Back On Market" opportunity notification (see Opportunity > Back on Market). 

Merging Contacts

When merging contacts, you have to select a contact as primary.

• The other contact's information will be merged with the primary one. LoftyWorks recommends selecting the "Primary contact" as the one with the most communication logs (calls, emails, texts, etc.), as this is likely the main person with whom you have already been interacting.

**IMPORTANT: If the LoftyWorks user does not want to ever merge the duplicate contacts, they can click the ‘X' on the right side. After the user confirms that they want to dismiss the duplicate reminder, the yellow prompt will never appear again on this contact. If contact A is a duplicate of contact B and contact C, the prompt will show up on one contact at random. After closing one prompt, another will appear for the other duplicate contact and will have to be dismissed if needed.

 

Merging Permissions

Users who do not have the "Access All Company Contacts" permission (see Permissions relink) will not be able to merge duplicate contacts or click on the duplicate contact to see their information. They will only be able to see the name of the contact and whose account it already exists in.

• For example, if a user does have the "Access All Company Contacts" permission, they will see a message showing the contact's name as a hyperlink that can be clicked, the account the contact is in, and the option to merge the contact.
• But if they do not have this permission, the message will simply show the contact's name, but it is not a hyperlink. The message will, however, display whose account the contact is in.

Questions?

If you have any questions about this topic or anything else, please get in touch with our Support Team. You can email us at <Support@LoftyWorks.com> or call us on +44 330 321 3500.