Create Unique Fields to avoid duplicate records.
While it's a good thing to drive all your focus on putting Zoho CRM to its best use, it is equally important to maintain a clean, clutter-free system. With multiple lead sources and multiple people handling your CRM system, the chances of adding duplicate records get higher. Moreover, as your CRM database grows, it is almost impossible to look for duplicate records manually, every now and then. Don't worry, we've got you covered!
Zoho CRM helps you avoid the creation of duplicate records in the first place. How?
Mark a field as unique.
A unique field is a field in a record whose value makes the record unique. For example, the email address field could be marked as a unique field because, clearly, no two people can have the same email address.
Similarly you could include Passport Numbers, Social Security Numbers, and the like as custom fields for leads and contacts and mark them as unique fields. This way, Zoho CRM will not allow the creation of a duplicate lead or contact that holds the same unique field value that's already existing.
Unique fields play vital role in managing duplicate records from various sources like manual creation of records, records created via import, APIs, integration, web forms, etc.
Similarly, create a list of abbreviations and standard data entry formats for postal addresses, company names, designations, templates, etc. This method can also be followed to establish a standard for all types of tasks. This would help you generate accurate reports and filter records based on the exact criteria. It goes a long way in reducing the risk of human error.