Don’t Be Scared By Lead Duplicates

Key Data Considerations for Insurance and Mortgage

“Come play with us, Danny.”

What does that remind you of? Like most people, the words uttered by the ghostly twins in “The Shining” probably send chills down your spine. That is because unexpected doubles can be terrifying.

B2C businesses have their own scary doppelgängers: lead duplicates. Disorganized lists jammed with duplicates undermine efforts to get new customers. Also, sales people mired in duplicate leads can get a little spooked … to show up for work.

Arm yourself with the important concepts you need to stop seeing double:

4 Considerations that Keep Doppelgängers Away

1. Lead Source

Many channels can produce leads: the customary phone calls and chat messages, bulk Salesforce uploads, manual entries from sales reps and website submissions. This variety can cause trouble, since data types in a company’s CRM differ depending on the lead source. For instance, a sales rep may get a prospect’s name and cell phone over the phone versus just an email address over chatbot.

Here’s the tricky part: it’s up to businesses to determine what is the lowest common denominator for lead data across all sources. That baseline information then becomes a way to consolidate leads and avoid the evil curse (okay, just kidding).

2. Matching

Each new lead can have multiple phone numbers, emails and other data. Let’s say a certain Jack Torrance, manager of the Overlook Hotel, submits his cell phone number on a web form Later, he fills out another form, listing the same number as a work number. To resolve this duplication, Salesforce has to check the phone number Jack provided against data across all phone number fields.

B2C businesses must decide whether they’re deduplicating against other leads, contacts, opportunities or accounts. Those scary doubles can creep up anywhere.  

3. Prevail Options

Imagine a new lead submitted a form stating he is 45. Today, his undead double spoke to a rep and admitted he is actually 112. This gives rise to some confusion about which data to keep.

Consider using prevailing options rules to determine whether original data overwrites the newest, or vice versa. It can be possible for these rules to vary by field. Savvy insurance and mortgage agencies might even take advantage of custom settings to suit specific needs.  

4. Record Creation

Knowledge is power, and you can’t have knowledge without accurate data. Prospects often shop around and interact with an agency multiple times before buying. Each of those interactions has to be carefully preserved without duplicating leads.

One option is to add every new lead to a campaign. For instance, Jack Torrence’s form submissions could all be filed under a campaign for haunted-hotel managers. Salesforce also has options for creating a case or opportunity linking those extra details to the original record.

‍We’ll Protect You

How these settings should be configured varies based on the business and industry. If you’re in insurance or mortgage, we urge you to think about lead sources, matching, prevailing rules options and record creation.

We know a few things about protecting you from scary doubles since we’ve helped more than 300 clients. Without carefully considering these points, Salesforce can quickly become cluttered with duplicate leads that confuse sales reps and analytics reports. We start by asking clients these questions upfront so that no one tears out their hair. It’s time you do the same.

If you still have questions, give us a call! We’ll make all those doppelgängers vanish.