Merging duplicate clients

The same person can end up on file twice: they booked online with a different email, someone at the desk added them again, or they were imported twice. FullColumn spots records that look like the same person, and merging puts everything back on one card.

Finding and merging duplicates needs the permission "Import, export, merge and remove clients". Owners have every permission.

#Finding possible duplicates

FullColumn suggests possible duplicates in three places:

• Clients → Possible duplicates: every pair that looks like one person, surest first, 40 at a time. Use Previous and Next for more.
• On a client's profile: "This might be the same person as" another client, with why.
• On an online booking: "Possible duplicate of" a client already on file, when someone books online under different details.

Each pair says why it looks like one person: "Same name and mobile", "Same email" and so on. In the list, each side shows the client's mobile and email, their visits, when they were last in and next booked, and when they were added (and whether they booked online or were imported), so you can tell them apart. Tap a name to open that profile.

On a shared device set to Front desk, possible duplicates aren't shown.

#How FullColumn decides two clients might be the same person

Two records are suggested when they have:

• the same mobile or email, and first names that could be the same person, or
• exactly the same first and last name, with no mobile or email that says otherwise.

Mobiles match however they're written (0412 345 678 and +61 412 345 678 are the same). Emails ignore capitals, a "+" added to the name (sam+hair@gmail.com is sam@gmail.com) and the dots in a Gmail address. First names allow for short forms and initials: Kate and Katherine, Jo and Joanne, K. and Kim.

Some pairs are left out on purpose:

• Families sharing a mobile or email: a parent and child on the same mobile aren't suggested when their first names are clearly different.
• Shared placeholders: a mobile, email or name on more than 8 clients (such as the salon's own number, typed in for walk-ins) is ignored, and so are stand-in first names like "Walk in", "Client" or "Guest".
• Pairs you've said are different people.
• Removed clients.

#Merging two clients from the possible duplicates list

1. Open Clients → Possible duplicates and press Merge… on the pair (or Merge on the notice on a profile or booking).
2. In Merge these clients?, choose the record to keep. FullColumn picks the one with More history to start with: more visits, then more appointments, then more sales, or else the older record.
3. Press Merge.

#Merging any client into another

For two records FullColumn hasn't suggested:

1. Open the profile of the client you want to keep.
2. Choose More → Merge a duplicate into this client….
3. Search for the other record and pick it.
4. Press Merge.

The profile you started on is the one kept. On a shared device set to Front desk, merging asks for your password first.

#What happens when you merge clients

Everything on the other record moves to the one you keep:

• appointments, sales and parked sales, account credit and deposits,
• colour formulas, notes and photos,
• consultation forms, messages, the waitlist and gift vouchers they bought. A form asked for Once or Every few months that both records were waiting to fill in is kept once, with the earliest appointment that needs it (how often forms are asked).

Then their details are combined:

• Missing details are copied over: email, mobile, birthday, address, usual stylist and patch test date, wherever the kept record has none. Where both have one, the kept record's stays.
• Notes are joined: both records' Notes are kept, one after the other.
• Alerts and tags are joined: both records' alerts are kept, side by side ("Allergic to PPD · Sensitive scalp"), and both records' tags, each once. Two alerts too long to fit in one (an alert holds 300 characters) keep the kept record's, and the other goes at the top of the notes, starting "Alert:". Tags work the same way: any that don't fit go at the top of the notes, starting "Tags:".
• A saved card moves if the kept record has none.
• The stricter choice wins for reminders and marketing: if either record had one turned off, it's off.

The other record is then removed. Merging can't be undone. Unsubscribe links in messages already sent to the other record still work: they unsubscribe the record you keep.

#When two clients aren't the same person

If a suggested pair are different people (a mother and daughter with the same name, say), press Not the same person (Not the same on an online booking). You'll see "Got it – they won’t be suggested again", and the pair drops off the list for good.

If you later merge one of them with someone else, that answer carries over to the record you keep.

#Common questions

#How did this client end up on file twice?

Usually they booked online with a different email or mobile from the one you have, someone added them again at the desk, or your client list was imported again. When someone books online with a mobile or email you already have, FullColumn uses the client on file, unless the name they typed is clearly someone else's.

#Which record should I keep?

Usually the one with more history, which FullColumn suggests: everything from the other record moves across either way. Where both records have a mobile or email, the kept record's stays, so keep the one whose details are right. Alerts, tags and notes from both are kept.

#Will the client get a second birthday message after a merge?

No. Their automatic marketing history moves with them, so they aren't sent something twice.

#Can I merge more than two records?

Merge them two at a time into the same record.