DataTrim - Data Quality Blog

Yes, it can! It’s not the Ferrari model, but it will still take you a bit of the way and save you a lot of work in your day to day processing of leads.

Here’s the scenario!
When someone registers on your website, and indicate to you that they have some sort of interest, the salesforce web-to-lead functionality allows you to easily capture their details.
The dupe problem arrives when the same user later (a few minutes or weeks) again registers and is now interested in another product, or wants a call because he is ready to buy.
In many deduplication solutions out there, the dupe is being blocked! This might mean that you actually looses the information that the lead wants to buy, so what to do instead.
Let the lead enter you database, but make sure it is flagged as a dupe, so that you can react promptly but at the same time with the information that the lead is someone you already had contact with in the past.

You or your workflows, if you have automated the process, should be able to see, by e.g. looking at the Status, that the lead is a duplicate and you can then apply a different action to the new lead, i.e. merge the duplicates before you react to the enquiry.

See an sample sceenshot of new leads to follow up below:

How does it work?
Here are the basic steps.
1) Implement your web-to-lead form on your website (see the salesforce instructions for how to do this)
2) Create a Trigger for the new leads, and if a dupe is found set the status of the lead to e.g. “New Dupe Lead”.

Inspired by the FREE Duplicate Contact Trigger (http://sites.force.com/appexchange/listingDetail?listingId=a0N300000016cicEAA) by Force.com Labs we will create a Lead trigger to detect if a new Lead is a dupe.
The original Trigger:
trigger DuplicateContactBlocker on Contact (before insert) {<br /> for (Contact c : Trigger.new){<br /> Duplicate_Contact_Blocker_Setup__c setup;<br /> List<Duplicate_Contact_Blocker_Setup__c> dcbs = [select id, Name, Match_Phone__c, Match_Last_Name__c, Match_First_Name__c, Match_Email__c, Match_Account_Name__c from Duplicate_Contact_Blocker_Setup__c];<br /> if (dcbs.isEmpty()) {<br /> Duplicate_Contact_Blocker_Setup__c newDCBS = new Duplicate_Contact_Blocker_Setup__c();<br /> newDCBS.Name = ‘Duplicate Criteria’;<br /> newDCBS.Match_First_Name__c = true;<br /> newDCBS.Match_Last_Name__c = true;<br /> newDCBS.Match_Email__c = false;<br /> newDCBS.Match_Phone__c = false;<br /> newDCBS.Match_Account_Name__c = false;<br /> insert newDCBS;<br /> setup = newDCBS;<br /> } else {<br /> setup = dcbs[0];<br /> }<br /> String theQuery = ’select id from Contact where ‘;<br /> List<String>params = new List<String>();<br /> if (setup.Match_First_Name__c) {<br /> params.add(’FirstName = \” + c.FirstName + ‘\”);<br /> }<br /> if (setup.Match_Last_Name__c) {<br /> params.add(’LastName = \” + c.LastName + ‘\”);<br /> }<br /> if (setup.Match_Email__c) {<br /> params.add(’Email = \” + c.Email + ‘\”);<br /> }<br /> if (setup.Match_Phone__c) {<br /> String phone = c.Phone;<br /> phone = phone.replace(’(', ”);<br /> phone = phone.replace(’)', ‘-’);<br /> phone = phone.replace(’ ‘, ”);<br /> params.add(’Phone = \” + phone + ‘\”);<br /> }<br /> if (setup.Match_Account_Name__c) {<br /> params.add(’AccountId = \” + c.AccountId + ‘\”);<br /> }<br /> if (params.isEmpty()) {<br /> theQuery = ’select id from Contact’;<br /> } else {<br /> for (String curString : params) {<br /> theQuery += curString + ‘ and ‘;<br /> }<br /> theQuery = theQuery.substring(0, theQuery.length() - 4);<br /> }<br /> List<Contact> contacts = Database.query(theQuery);</p> <p> if (contacts.isEmpty() == false) {<br /> //c.LastName.addError(’Contact cannot be created - Contact already exists’);<br /> c.LastName += ‘-dupe’;<br /> }<br /> }<br /> }<br />

-and our LeadDetector variant:
trigger DuplicateLeadDetector on Lead (before insert) {<br /> for (Lead l : Trigger.new){<br /> String theQuery = ”;<br /> List<String>params = new List<String>();<br /> if (l.Email !=”) {<br /> params.add(’Email = \” + l.Email + ‘\”);<br /> }<br /> // insert additional parameters here.<br /> if (!params.isEmpty()) {<br /> for (String curString : params) {<br /> theQuery += curString + ‘ and ‘;<br /> }<br /> theQuery = theQuery.substring(0, theQuery.length() - 4);<br /> List<Contact> Contacts = Database.query(’select id from Contact where ‘ +theQuery +’ Limit 10′);<br /> if (Contacts.isEmpty() == true) { //if no contacts, search the leads<br /> List<Lead> leads = Database.query(’select id from Lead where ‘ +theQuery +’ Limit 10′ );<br /> if (leads.isEmpty() == false) {<br /> l.Status = ‘New - Dupe Lead!’;<br /> }<br /> }else{<br /> l.Status = ‘New - Dupe Contact!’;<br /> }<br /> }<br /> }<br /> }
As you can see we do not reject the entry of the lead, as this may cause us to loose important information about what the lead wants; -we certainly do not want to miss out his enquiry on pricing after his first request for information.
Now, once an new dupe lead is entered the status is automatically changed to “New – Dupe Lead”

Agreed, the deduplication (identification of duplicates) is far from sophisticated, but you might be able to improve the process by your own by looking at company name, first name, last name, phone like it was done in the original Trigger.
You can of cause also complement this approach with our Entry Check solution, so that those leads which falls though the rudimentary check, can be caught when you review the new lead and following up on the enquiry.
Next, you want to be able to merge/convert the lead with as few clicks as possible. Notice the 2 new buttons on top of the Lead List view.
To create these 2 buttons using Visual Force and Apex classes, create a Controller Class: LeadMergeConvertController
public class LeadMergeConvertController {<br /> public final Lead myLead;<br /> public final List<Lead> myLeads;<br /> public PageReference retUrl;</p> <p>public LeadMergeConvertController (ApexPages.StandardController stdController) {<br /> this.myLead = (Lead)stdController.getRecord();<br /> retUrl = ApexPages.currentPage();<br /> }</p> <p>public LeadMergeConvertController (ApexPages.StandardSetController stdSetController) {<br /> this.myLeads = (List<Lead>)stdSetController.getSelected();<br /> retUrl = ApexPages.currentPage();<br /> }</p> <p>public PageReference retURL() {<br /> return new PageReference(” + ApexPages.currentPage().getParameters().get(’retURL’) );<br /> }</p> <p>public PageReference MergeSelected() {<br /> PageReference pageRef = this.retURL();<br /> PageReference p = null;<br /> try{<br /> if(myLeads.size() == 0) {<br /> ApexPages.addMessage(new ApexPages.message(ApexPages.severity.INFO,’No Leads Selected’));<br /> pageRef=null;<br /> }else if(myLeads.size() == 1) {<br /> ApexPages.addMessage(new ApexPages.message(ApexPages.severity.INFO,’Select At Least 2 Leads to Merge’));<br /> pageRef=null;<br /> // Enable the 3 lines below and comment out the 2 lines above if you have installed DatTrim Entry Check<br /> //System.Debug(’retURL= ‘+ retUrl.getUrl());<br /> //System.Debug(’Host= ‘+ retUrl.getHeaders().get(’Host’));<br /> //pageRef = new PageReference(’/apex/trimec__TRIM_DupeStatus_Lead_ViewAll?id=’ + myLeads[0].id);<br /> }else if(myLeads.size() > 3) {<br /> ApexPages.addMessage(new ApexPages.message(ApexPages.severity.INFO,’Select Max. 3 Leads to Merge’));<br /> pageRef=null;<br /> }else{ // Launch wizard<br /> String myWizard = ‘/lead/leadmergewizard.jsp’;<br /> String myHost = ”;</p> <p> p = new PageReference(myHost + myWizard);<br /> p.getParameters().put(’retURL’, ‘/’+ myLeads[0].id);<br /> p.getParameters().put(’id’, myLeads[0].id);<br /> p.getParameters().put(’goNext’, ‘Next’);<br /> String cid = ”;<br /> for (Lead l: myLeads){<br /> if(cid==”){<br /> cid = l.id;<br /> }else{<br /> cid += ‘&cid=’ + l.id;<br /> }<br /> }<br /> p.getParameters().put(’cid’, cid);<br /> p.setRedirect(true);<br /> return p;</p> <p> }<br /> }catch(DmlException ex){<br /> ApexPages.addMessages(ex);<br /> pageRef=null;<br /> }<br /> return pageRef;<br /> }</p> <p>public PageReference ConvertSelected() {<br /> PageReference pageRef = this.retURL();<br /> PageReference p = null;<br /> try{<br /> if(myLeads.size() == 0) {<br /> ApexPages.addMessage(new ApexPages.message(ApexPages.severity.INFO,’No Leads Selected’));<br /> pageRef=null;<br /> }else if(myLeads.size() > 1) {<br /> ApexPages.addMessage(new ApexPages.message(ApexPages.severity.INFO,’Select one (1) lead to Convert’));<br /> pageRef=null;<br /> }else{ // Launch wizard<br /> String myWizard=’/lead/leadconvert.jsp’;<br /> String myHost = ”;</p> <p> p = new PageReference(myWizard);<br /> p.getParameters().put(’retURL’, ApexPages.currentPage().getParameters().get(’retURL’));<br /> p.getParameters().put(’id’, myLeads[0].id);<br /> p.setRedirect(true);</p> <p> return p;<br /> }<br /> }catch(DmlException ex){<br /> ApexPages.addMessages(ex);<br /> pageRef=null;<br /> }<br /> return pageRef;<br /> }<br /> }<br />

-and the Visual Force pages for each button:
LeadConvertSelected
<apex:page StandardController="Lead" recordSetVar="leads" extensions="LeadMergeConvertController" action="{!ConvertSelected}"><br /> <apex:form ><br /> <apex:pageBlock title="Convert Selected Lead"><br /> <apex:pageMessages /><br /> <apex:commandButton action="{!retURL}" value="Back"/><br /> </apex:pageBlock><br /> </apex:form><br /> </apex:page>

LeadMergeSelected
<apex:page StandardController="Lead" recordSetVar="leads" extensions="LeadMergeConvertController" action="{!MergeSelected}"><br /> <apex:form ><br /> <apex:pageBlock title="Merging Selected Leads"><br /> <apex:pageMessages /><br /> <apex:commandButton action="{!retURL}" value="Back"/><br /> </apex:pageBlock><br /> </apex:form><br /> </apex:page>

Now all you have to do is to add the 2 buttons to the Custom Buttons and Links section on your Lead object and you are done.

Nice and easy, right?
A small solution that will save a lot of time, and make your lead management process more effective.
We hope you like it!

Enjoy

Datatrim!

At Dreamforce ’09 we where pleased to present our latest version of DataTrim Dupe Alerts.
DataTrim Dupe Alerts ’10 is now generally available from the AppExchange:
http://sites.force.com/appexchange/apex/listingDetail?listingId=a0N300000016cJPEAY

The new version contains all the well known and appreciated functionality of the previous version but the entire application is now build on the force.com platform without the use of S-Controls (which are deprecated by salesforce in 2010).
Although all the existing functionality has been migrated, we have also added new functionality and features which over the time has been made available as custom solutions for specific clients.
Amongst the new functions and features let us introduce a few:

Support for Advanced Survivorship rules
Introducing a new idea for advanced survivorship rules now take you beyond time based rules. Imagine a duplicate lead, where the status of the lead should control which records to keep, and not just which records has the latest activity, this is now possible.

Storing Duplicate information
When Mass Merging records we now support the ability to keep any data which are conflicting between the Survivor and the Dupe. So, where you previously had to accept that the Phone number on the Dupe record was lost as the Survivors Phone number had priority, the solution will now collect all of this additional information as store it for you either in a Text field on the Surviving records or as a separate Activity / Note Record.
 

Dupe Status for Account, Contact and Lead Page layouts
We have improved the Dupe Status controls which allow you to present the dupe information to you end users and thereby involve them in the review and merging process.

Dupe Status Feedback page layout
The Dupe Status components now also enable a collaborative feedback process where the users can provide feedback on duplicates to allow someone centrally to perform the merge on their behalf.

Deduplication Dashboard
We also re-introduced a deduplication dashboard which allows you to keep a track of the current dupe status. The Dashboard also allows you to monitor e.g. the owner of the duplicates and there by the source of your duplicates.
With the improved reporting of duplicates by class in the Dupe Alert Result data you can even get more details into you reports and dashboard, e.g. excluding False Duplicates from your counts.

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Managed Package
The new version is also a Managed package which means that once installed into your salesforce environment, you can benefit of new revisions by a smooth upgrade, thus no need to uninstall and reinstall anything with the risk of loosing your old data and settings.

With this new version we hope that we have been able to address the majority of the ideas and request for functionality which our clients have forwarded to us. We are constantly improving our solutions based on client feedback, so please don’t hesitate to send us ideas for improvements.
Best Regards
DataTrim

As you might know salesforce is stopping the support for S-Controls some time in 2010.

We have therefore used the summer to migrate all the existing functionality into Visualforce. We now have a pre-release version available for those of you who want to get a preview.

All the existing functionlity has been migrated, and we have added features which over the time has been made available as custom solutions for specific clients:

• Support for Advanced Survivorship rules
• Dupe Status for Account, Contact and Lead Page layouts
• Dupe Status Feedback page layout to enable end users to provide feedback on duplicates found
• Deduplication Dashboard

New Features

The most significant new functions relates to the Mass Merge functionality. Many users have been confused over the Merge Left and Merge Right buttons. This have now been consolidate under one single button: Mass Merge.

Further more, when Mass Merging records we now support the ability to keep any data which are conflicting between the Survivor and the Dupe. So, where you previously had to accept that the Phone number on the Dupe record was lost as the Survivors Phone number had priority, the solution will now collect all of this additional information as store it for you either in a Text field on the Surviving records or as a separate Activity / Note Record.

Customizing DataTrim Dupe Alerts

DataTrim Dupe Alerts is installed as Open Source. This means that you have full control over the code behind our functionality and features.

By using the salesforce Apex programming language it have never been easier to perform customizations. Changing the merge processes, the data to be displayed can be done with a few clicks.

Should your requirements go beyond then we and our partners are happy to help you implementing your requirements into a custom deduplication solution for you.

If you are interested in testing this pre-release or if you have any input with regards to improvements which you think we could include to make our product even better, then do not hesitate to contact us at: info@datatrim.com

We are looking forward to hearing from you!

Best Regards

DataTrim