We now have the ability to merge duplicate contacts in Command! This is a quick and easy process where you choose the contact you want to keep, and the system will merge the information from the other contact into the primary. You have the ability to see how the data will merge before completing the action. Once this is done, the information from the other contact will merge with the primary, and the other contact will be permanently deleted (with no way to undo).

Team Considerations

Team members with Enhanced or Unlimited permissions have the ability to select and merge any two contacts in the team Command account. That means you have to be very purposeful here. If you merge a contact a team member owns and select it to be the one that is merged (and lost), they will lose access to that contact.

Team members with Standard permissions can only use Bulk Actions in Contacts to merge (see the note in step 1 of the Merge Contacts section), and won't have access to the Database Cleanup Settings page. They can only merge contacts they own. If a team member with Standard permissions tries to merge a team-owned contact, even if just one of the selected contacts is team-owned, the system will stop you and let you know why.

Data Considerations

Before you start merging contacts, it's important to know how the data will merge. Empty fields will be populated with the information from the other contact. Some of the data will truly merge (tags, notes), with you not losing the information. Some information from the other contact will be merged, but moved from the "Primary" spot (contact information), and some information will be lost totally if both contacts have that field populated (description).

Click here to see a full breakdown of how information is merged.

We now have a new Settings page where you can automatically check for duplicates (Enhanced or Unlimited permissions only), choose to merge or ignore, and where you can see a history of contact merges you have done in the past.

To identify and merge duplicate team contacts in Command:

Access

1. Log in to https://agent.kw.com with your KW login credentials.

2. Click your name, at the top right of the page, and ensure that your team is selected, not your personal account.

3. Click your Name in the top right corner, and then select Settings.

3. On the left side of the page, select Command Settings, then open the Contacts section, and select Database Cleanup.

team settings choose database cleanup.png

Check for Duplicates

On the Settings page, you can easily have the system run a process to check for duplicates automatically. This duplicate check looks for matching names, email addresses, and/or phone numbers. There are automatic blockers in place that prevent matching "Primary" email addresses and phone numbers, but you might find duplicates in the "Other" or "Additional" contact info fields.

1. At the top right of the page, click Check for Duplicates.

2. The duplicate scan should happen within 30 seconds or so, but people with larger databases might see it take several minutes. Once it completes, you will see a Command notification letting you know it is complete, though you will need to refresh the page to see it.

Merge Contacts

1. You will see all of the potential duplicates you can review, click either Ignore or Merge.

When you ignore a duplicate, it will not be picked up by future duplicate check scans. If you wanted to merge them in the future, you would need to use Bulk Actions in Contacts (see the note below).

You can also go through the Contacts Applet to merge contacts. This is especially helpful for sets of duplicates that you have Ignored on the Settings page:

1. Access the Contacts Applet, , and select the contacts you want to merge by checking the check box to the left of their names.

teams contacts select for merge.png

2. Click in the Select Bulk Action drop-down, above the Name column, then select Merge.

teams contacts bulk merge.png

2. Next, choose the contact you want to keep, then click Continue, at the bottom right of the screen.

While you are looking to see which one to keep, you can click Show More, at the bottom of the screen, to see more information about both contacts.

There are a few reasons why a contact cannot be chosen as the contact to to merge (and lose):

The contact is active on a SmartPlan - if you have added the contact to a SmartPlan, and it hasn't gone all the way through the workflow, you won't be able to select the contact as the one to merge (and lose) until you remove the contact from that SmartPlan.
The contact is associated with an Opportunity - if the contact is associated with an Opportunity, you won't be able to select the contact as the one to merge (and lose) until you remove that contact from the Opportunity (you can then replace it with the contact you want to keep here).
The contact is registered and connected to your KW App/Site - if the contact registered on your KW App or Site, you won't be able to select the contact as the one to merge (and lose). There is no way to remove the connected status for a contact.

The system will prevent you from selecting contacts in these situations as the one to merge (and lose) and will let you know why. If both contacts are in any of these situations, you won't be able to merge the contacts until you take action on at least one of the contacts.

3. Finally, there is a review step which will show you a high-level view of how the data will merge. Once you are sure about your selection and ready to merge (which will cause the other contact to be deleted without the ability to undo) click Merge & Delete Duplicate.