Master Data Management Challenges

Master Data Management Challenges and how clearMDM alleviates those challenges

Why do you have Duplicate Records?

Salesforce CRM Data can be input in many ways which can subsequently lead to duplicate records. Some examples of how this occurs are:

  • Importing Data – this could be records that have been exported from older legacy systems and imported into Salesforce.  
  • Manual Processes – users do not follow the same process when creating new records, particularly across different teams and different management. 
  • Multiple Systems  – there could be numerous systems used that record data and upload to the Salesforce CRM system. These systems could have different data capture techniques.
  • Incorrect Data – users or customers could enter information that is incorrect, just to get the form completed, e.g. test/dummy data.

What impacts do Duplicate Records have?

Here are just a few negative impacts that have duplicate records can present:

  • Unhappy Customers – poor communication due to duplicate emails, calls from Marketing Professionals quoting incorrect data.
  • Non Compliance – risking not being compliant with regulatory requirements. 
  • Incorrect reporting – reports will be inaccurate, and will not provide a clear picture or numbers for Management and Marketing.
  • Storage – numerous unnecessary records being stored and taking up valuable space.
  • Incorrect Marketing Material – incorrect data, leads to incorrect information being sent to the Customer.

Data Usage

Understanding how data is used across Multiple departments, teams and users will help identify the key information they require and how they input this information.  

Analyse a small dataset 

Once you have built a bigger picture of data usage across the different departments and teams, you can then start to look at a group of records in detail and identify which information is consistently required, e.g. First Name, Last Name, Address, email.  

Match Criteria 

Determine the criteria to be used for identifying a match. This can be based upon a number of factors, most commonly a combination of Name, Address, Mobile Phone Number and Email.  

Merge Rules 

Once you have determined the matching criteria, it is then time to analyse the records and decide which field values should be retained on the Master Record and how the field content is determined. The following Training Guide provides information on how to setup the configuration for Merge Rules within clearMDM.

You can add as many Merge rules as required and they can also be amended at any time using the Attribute Group settings within clearMDM. 

Key Considerations

When thinking about Matching and Merging rules, there are a number of factors to consider:

  • Should some fields never be over-written ?
  • If there is a blank field on one record, but populated on another, do you want the populated value to be retained ?
  • Are there some instances where records should not merge ?
  • Would all values within the field need to be retained ?
  • Do you want the merge to happen automatically or manually?
  • Should the quality of the field values be assessed?

Testing

Once you have determined Matching and Merging rules, it is best to preview how this will look by testing out some scenarios. The following Training Article will help with the Matching Test feature and the Merging Records Training Article will help with running a test to validate the Merge rules. 

If at any point during the review process, the Matching Criteria or the Merge Rules need changing, this can be done within the clearMDM settings.  

To find out more about clearMDM or to request a demo, please do not hesitate to contact us at hello@clearmdm.com 

Article last reviewed: 2025-01-30