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

Measuring customer service

February 16, 2022

Measuring customer service When I work with clients on AMS selection, one question that often […]

Iterate or innovate?

February 9, 2022

Iterate or innovate? When moving to a new association management system, there is often an implicit […]

Who is in control?

February 2, 2022

Who is in control? Speaking with a client once about their database project, the client […]

Sometimes Staff Has to do the Work

January 26, 2022

Sometimes staff has to do the work… As a child, I was attracted to computers […]

Documentation and the Great Resignation

January 19, 2022

Documentation and the Great Resignation Unless you’ve been living under the proverbial rock, you’ve heard […]

Data Management Strategy

January 12, 2022

Data Management Strategy Do you know what your data management strategy is? If you have […]

It’s always about trust

January 5, 2022

It’s always about trust When I work with clients on almost any data management project, […]

You can’t outsource buy-in

December 16, 2021

You can’t outsource buy-in One factor consistent with all of my most successful projects is […]

Use it or lose it!

December 8, 2021

Use it or lose it! I’m referring here to the data you collect. If you […]

“If I could only do one thing…”

December 1, 2021

“If I could only do one thing…” Managing data throughout your organization can be overwhelming. Do […]

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top