You need a PLAN to deal with duplicates

You need a PLAN to deal with duplicates

Here's the thing about duplicate records: No matter what you do, you'll never get rid of them completely, because humans are human. Whether it's a staff member creating a duplicate record because they forgot to check if the record exists, or it's a customer who doesn't want to take the time to reset his password and just creates another record with a different email address, duplicates are going to happen.

And because duplicates are inevitable, you have to have a plan for dealing with them. Here are some suggestions:

  1. Create data integrity reports that will help you identify potential duplicate records, and run those reports consistently. ("Consistently" means at least once a month, if not more often.) And make sure someone (or several someones) on staff has responsibility for cleaning up this data.
  2. Make it everyone's job on staff to identify potential duplicates whenever they are using the database and make sure you have a clear process for how those duplicate records are reported. And make sure someone (or several someones) on staff has responsibility for cleaning up this data.
  3. And did I mention to make sure someone (or several someones) on staff has responsibility for cleaning up this data?

Managing duplicate records is a journey, not a destination. No matter how good your technology is, like weeds in a garden, duplicate records are going to appear. So you have to have a plan for dealing with them, not just now, but always.

Wes's Wednesday Wisdom Archives

Start with “Why” before you move to “How”

September 20, 2023

Start with “Why” before you move to “How” Something I’ve noticed over my years in …

Start with “Why” before you move to “How” Read More »

The power of users groups!

September 13, 2023

The power of users groups! Last week I had the honor and pleasure of speaking …

The power of users groups! Read More »

Associations are complex businesses!

September 6, 2023

Associations are complex businesses! One of the reasons managing data at an association can be so …

Associations are complex businesses! Read More »

Snapshots are required

August 30, 2023

Snapshots are required Recently a couple of different clients have asked me why it’s necessary …

Snapshots are required Read More »

“It’s in the database…”

August 16, 2023

“It’s in the database…” I often joke with my clients that AMS nirvana looks like …

“It’s in the database…” Read More »

Using the Pomodoro Technique for data management

August 9, 2023

Using the Pomodoro Technique for data management I’m a huge fan of the Pomodoro Technique, …

Using the Pomodoro Technique for data management Read More »

Asking for more is a good sign…

July 26, 2023

Asking for more is a good sign… A client who had recently implemented a new …

Asking for more is a good sign… Read More »

Take action…

July 19, 2023

Take action… “The greatest wisdom not applied to action and behavior is meaningless data.” – …

Take action… Read More »

The Rule of 100 and 1,000 revisited

July 12, 2023

The Rule of 100 and 1,000 revisited I’m finding that the “Rule of 100 and …

The Rule of 100 and 1,000 revisited Read More »

You gotta wanna

July 5, 2023

You gotta wanna Long ago I heard a training consultant say you can’t train people …

You gotta wanna Read More »

Scroll to Top