Compare email, domain, phone, account name, and recent activity. Treat similar names as a review signal, not proof of identity.
Choose a survivor
Keep the record with the strongest ownership, consent history, activity, and required fields. Preserve notes and associate open opportunities before merging.
Record the decision
Log merged IDs, reviewer, date, and reason. Sample the result for broken ownership, missing tasks, or misattached opportunities.
Use a review threshold
An exact email match may justify a merge suggestion, but a shared domain is only a clue. Compare activity, consent, role, account relationship, and ownership. Route uncertain cases to the record owner.
Protect history
List open tasks, opportunities, notes, subscriptions, and preferences before merging. Verify ownership and next action afterward. Audit both IDs and sample more records from the same import because repeated source defects matter. Begin a crm duplicate record resolution review with a small, labeled sample and a clear survivor rule. Compare email, account, lifecycle stage, and recent activity before merging; similarity alone is not proof of identity.
Log every merge decision and its reviewer, including records deliberately left separate. Recheck linked tasks and ownership after the merge so cleanup does not erase a sales commitment or create a silent reassignment.
