Match with multiple signals
Exact email can be strong for a person but shared inboxes and aliases complicate it. Company domain, normalized phone, external IDs, address, and name similarity can contribute. Keep deterministic rules separate from probabilistic suggestions.
Never use a weak fuzzy-name match as an automatic merge on its own.
Define survivorship per field
The oldest record should not automatically win every value. Choose rules by field: verified data over unverified, recently confirmed over stale, system-of-record values over enrichment, and non-empty only when the source is trusted.
Keep source identifiers and a merge audit so integrations can reconcile references.
- Candidate pair
- Match evidence
- Surviving record
- Field-level decision
- Moved relationships
- Undo reference
Merge relationships and permissions carefully
Activities, opportunities, subscriptions, cases, and ownership must move without duplication. Consent and suppression state should resolve to the most restrictive applicable choice unless policy says otherwise.
Perform merges in batches with review thresholds, backups, and a reversible mapping.
Merge a test pair containing conflicting consent, ownership, and linked activities, then verify the survivor, audit trail, integrations, and undo path.