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

Data integrity reports

July 9, 2025

Data integrity reports I speak and write a lot about data integrity reports. So I […]

The most important training tip

June 25, 2025

The most important training tip I’ve been sitting in a lot of database training sessions […]

Be careful about getting tangled

June 18, 2025

Be careful about getting tangled “We had done a lot to tangle ourselves up.” – […]

Discipline. Always discipline.

June 11, 2025

Discipline. Always discipline. I’ve been producing a newsletter in some form for over 25 years […]

Simpler is better

June 4, 2025

Simpler is better Recently, a client of mine was discussing how they manage membership reinstatements. […]

Baby steps

May 28, 2025

Baby Steps A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. You have […]

Sometimes what you’re using IS the best option

May 21, 2025

Sometimes what you’re using IS the best option I love technology and I’m inherently lazy, […]

Do they hate the system?

May 14, 2025

Do they hate the system? When an association asks me for help finding a new […]

Artificial Intelligence is the next revolution in data management

May 7, 2025

Artificial Intelligence is the next revolution in data management I’ve been in the data management […]

There’s always gonna be something

April 30, 2025

There’s always gonna be something I’ve been consulting for 26 years now and I’m still […]

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published.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

Scroll to Top