Creating & Managing Merge Rules

Overview

Cloudingo is a powerful tool that helps users merge duplicate records. Filters identify potential matches, and rules determine which record gets chosen as the master and which field values get chosen for merge. Defining the master and field rules is essential before any merging takes place. Cloudingo's rules are customizable based on specific business needs. We will explore how to use rules in Cloudingo to ensure accurate final record. 

Tips for Building Rules 

When building rules, it is crucial to think about "why" one record should be chosen over another for the master and "why" one field value should be chosen over another. For instance, is the master chosen based on the created date, a specific field value, or an external system ID? Should a true/false field, regardless of the master, always retain a true over false? Answering “why” these records or field values are chosen will help define how to build out the rule. 

Default Automation Rules

Cloudingo comes with default automation rules for each of the supported objects including Leads, Contacts, Accounts, and Person Accounts. These default rules can be edited but not deleted. Additional custom rules can be created and tailored to specific business needs.

Navigation

1. Open the Manage Rules window: Open the Manage Rules window: Choose the ‘Tools’ → ‘Dedupe’ → ‘Rules’ option from the left-hand-side navigation window.

   1. Choose ‘Create Rule’ to build a new custom rule.

   2. Choose ‘Edit’ next to a specific rule to edit an existing rule under the ‘Actions’ column.

   3. Choose 'Delete' next to a specific rule to delete an existing rule under the 'Actions' column'
      

      

   4.  Choose the checkbox next to the rule(s) to perform a copy or add to the rule library. Then, choose the red 'Actions' button.

      

      1. Choose 'Copy' to create a replica of the selected rule(s) to reduce time configuring new rules that may need minor modifications (such as applying a different master rule for a specific subset of records). Be sure to edit and rename the newly copied rule to something specific to the logic that will be applied.

      2. Choose 'Add to Rule Library' to add the selected rule(s) to the rules library to share the rule over to another connected environment.

2. Access a rule setting from within the Merge Preview page for easy and quick editing while viewing results for accuracy.

   1. Choose 'Edit Rule Settings' option from within the Merge Preview page.

      

      Note:

      If editing from the preview, saving rule changes will return to the record preview page previously being viewed. New rule changes will be reflected immediately on the records in preview.

Step 1: The Basics

Define the object.

1. Object: Choose the object for the rule (this is not editable if editing an existing rule).

2. Rule Name: Give the rule a descriptive name.

3. Description (optional): Give a brief description of the rule.

4. Display rule for filters and automation: Choose this option if the rule should be accessible for regular dedupe jobs.

5. Display rule on import: Choose this option if the rule should be accessible for import jobs.

6. Apply owner mapping during merge: Choose this option to apply Owner Mapping to reassign record ownership from inactive or queue owners to new owners during merge/convert.

Step 2: Group Fields (optional)

Set up any field groupings to group, or link, field values together. The controlling field chosen for merge will also select the other grouped fields from the same record. Choose the 'Add Field Group' button to add a field grouping.

1. Group Name: Give the field grouping a descriptive name.

2. Controlling Field: Choose the controlling field that will determine how the block of records in the group get chosen.

3. Fields In Group: Choose all fields that get blocked together and chosen for merge based on the value chosen with the controlling field’s rule.

4. Display Fields Together: Choose this option to display the block of fields together on the Merge Preview page.

5. Group Color: Choose a group color to display for the grouped fields on the Merge Preview page.

Once the field group is set up, the entire group of fields can then be set up using a specific field rule using the controlling field to determine which record the values will pull from.

Looking at an Example:

1. The image below shows a rule configured to group Address Fields using Street as a controlling field and City, Country, State, and Zip were added to the fields in the group.

When street gets chosen as the value for merge on the final record, the other grouped fields get chosen from the same record. In this example, a field rule was configured on street to use the record with the 'Most Complete by Grouped Fields':

The end result pulls all street values from the record with the most complete values within the block of records:

Note: If the field street field rule was set to use 'Newest (ordered by CREATE date)' vs. the 'Most Complete by Grouped Fields', Cloudingo would have chosen the address block from the newest created record.

2. Field group rules ensure that Cloudingo does not pull some values from one record while other values pull from another record. For example, without the field group rule, the record may pull values with mixed and matched values from multiple records.

Values will pull from the master record for fields that have a value populated while pulling in values from non-master records when the master record value is blank. An address in Texas would not have a city and zip code in California. This results in a bad final record.

3. Specific field rules cannot be configured to determine a value choice for merging non-controlling fields that are part of a field grouping. Specific field rules can only be configured for non-controlling fields to ‘inherit default’ to perform an action (such as to create a note, audit, or other action without changing the behavior of how the value gets chosen for merge). 

4. Grouping fields using a formula-type field as the controlling field is allowed. Even though the values of formula fields are system-determined and rules cannot dictate a value for merge, specific field rules on formula fields can still be configured as the controlling field in a field grouping to control how the grouped fields get chosen.

5. Field group rules can be useful for grouping any set of field values together that should be retained from the same record. 

1. Another example would be if a custom formula field returns "True" or "False" based on the presence of certain values in an email field. If the 'true/false' field should control which email is chosen during merge, a field grouping can be configured using the true/false field as the controlling field and any other email-relevant fields configured as fields in the group. Then, a field-specific rule on the true/false field (even if a formula field) can be configured to determine how the email and other grouped fields get chosen from the group of records during a merge.

Step 3: How do you want to merge records?

Define the specifics of how Cloudingo should merge duplicate records.

Master Record Selection

Tell Cloudingo how to select the master record when merging a group of duplicates. The master record serves as the starting point, or baseline, for the final result for all field values.

Rule Options

1. Rule: Choose a master rule. Rule options include:

2. Order-by/Tiebreaker: Choose an order-by/tiebreaker options.

1. 1. A tiebreaker option will only appear when required. If more than one record or none of the records meet the defined criteria, a tiebreaker is necessary for determining which record to pull the value from.

   2. An order-by option will appear for all other rules that do not require a tiebreaker.

Default Field Rule

Tell Cloudingo how to select most fields from records. Default field values determine the field value selections for the final record if multiple records have the same field but with different values. The master definition will control most field values chosen in most cases. The default field rule is most commonly used to fill in blank values on the master with values from non-master records.

Rule Options

1. Rule: Choose a default rule to choose field values from. In some cases, depending on the override specified, this will take precedence over the master definition. Rule options include: 

Override Options

2. Set an override option: 'Override master when blank' is the most common default rule. Override options include:

3. Tiebreaker: A third tiebreaker box will only appear when required. If more than one record or none of the records meet the defined criteria, a tiebreaker is necessary for determining which record to pull the value from.

4. Create a note for each field with all values: This option will create a Salesforce note under the ‘Notes’ or ‘Notes & Attachments’ section for all pre-merge field values that get updated during merge.

a. Notes take up space and are not searchable in Salesforce.

Specific Field Rules

Set up specific field rules to control field value choices. These rules take precedence over the master & default field rules in most cases. Defining specific business logic for data retention is handled here.

1. Choose the ‘Add’ button.
2. Field: Choose a field in the drop-down (standard or custom field). This drop box is searchable if typing in a full or partial field name.

Rule Options

3. Field Rule: Define which rule to use for the field chosen. Field rule options include:

Override Options

4. Override master: Choose an override option. Override options include:

5. And break ties with: The tiebreaker setting will only be editable when using a rule that requires a tiebreaker. If more than one record or none of the records meet the defined criteria, a tiebreaker is necessary for determining which record to pull the value from.
6. Options: The Options gear icon will appear when a rule is chosen that requires additional settings. Define the settings for the rule requirements.

Actions

7. Actions: Choose the Actions icon to do any of the following actions:

1. 1. Field Note: This option will create a Salesforce note under the ‘Notes’ or ‘Notes & Attachments’ section for the specified pre-merge field value.

      1. Choose to ‘Create a note only if the Master record values is updated’ option if desired.

      2. This option is not needed if the option to create a note for all fields is enabled in the Default field rule.

      3. Notes take up space and are not searchable in Salesforce.

   2. Field Audit: Choose to add the pre-merged field value to the Cloudingo Audit report.

      1. To set up a field rule for auditing only without changing behavior of how the master or default rule chooses the value, set the rule and override options to ‘inherit default’.

   3. Combine field values into another field: This works similarly to the ‘Combined List’ rule, but Cloudingo will dedupe the values before copying.

      1. Choose this option to:

         1. Combine deduped values from all records from one field to copy into another field.

         2. Combine deduped values from all records from a field back into the same field.

      2.  Field: Choose the field that Cloudingo will be copying the combined values into.

         1. If copying combined values into a different field, and do not want to change the behavior of how the original field value gets chosen during merge, choose the 'Inherit Default' rule & override options to retain the master/default field rule behavior. Or define a specific rule to determine the kept value during merge. The combined values get copied to the specified field, while retaining the logic applied to the original field value.

         2. If copying combined values back into the same field, set the main field rule ‘Inherit Default’ and ‘always override the master with a value’.

            1.  Do not use the Combined List rule option and the Combined field values into another field Action setting on the same rule. This will result in values combining into the field twice (once with non-deduped values and once with deduped values)

      3. Separator: Choose the separator setting. Separator separates the different values of each record for the same field.

      4. Terminator: Choose the terminator setting. Terminator separates the values of different fields on multiple records.

      5. ‘Include master record when building combined list’: Choose this option to ensure that all values get copied (including the master record’s value). 

         1. To only include values from the deleted/non-master records only, deselect this option.

      6. ‘Remove duplicate entries from the combined values’: Choose this option to check in between the Separator & Terminator for existing or duplicated values within the records. This will prevent Cloudingo from copying the same value into the field more than once. 

         1. Do not change the separator & terminator settings after initial settings have been configured and merging has already been performed with the rule. This will cause issues in future merges when checking for existing values.

      7. ‘Remove values that are the same as the master value’: Choose this option to check all values already evaluated and eliminate copying a value from any of the non-master records if the value is the same as the master record. If deselected, the non-master value gets included in the combined list even if it exists on the master record.

      8. ‘Ignore case while checking for duplicate entries in the combined values’: Choose this option to ignore case sensitivity (upper or lower case) when checking for an existing value between the Separator & Terminator values.

d. Format field value casing: Choose to reset the value for the field to be all upper case, lower case, or title case.

e. Remove white space: Choose to remove white spaces from the record value by choosing from leading, trailing, and/or redundant.

Tips for Field Considerations

1. For preserving checkbox values, users should use the ‘Prioritized by Values’ rule and ‘Always Override the Master With a Value’ and set the 'Option' setting to prioritize true values over false values.

2. To preserve values in multi-picklist fields, users should select the ‘Combined List’ rule and ‘Always Override the Master With a Value.'

3. Fields referencing or linked to external systems need special consideration, and users may need to set up field-level rules to retain the value, set up an audit under ‘Actions’ to capture the deleted record value, or define the master record as the record with the link to the external system.

   1. Export the Audit Report to obtain external record values for deleted records. Use the data to find and remove records from the external system.

Exceptions

Set up exception rules to exclude records from automatic merging while still viewing them in the merge preview. Manually merge the excluded records later or adjust the filter configuration to exclude them entirely.

1. Exclude: Choose the Exclusion rule. Options include:

   • Group when no value exists for any record in group for a field

   • Group when one or more records is protected

   • Group when same value does not exist in all records (Blank not treated as a value)

   • Group when Specified Value exists in more than one record

   • Group when record has less than X% of the fields with values

   • Group when its size is >=X

   • Group when its size is <=X

   • Record when Non Master Record is protected

   • Record when Non Master Record is not an Import Record

   • Record when Non Master Record has any value in field

   • Record when Non Master Record has specified value in field

   • Record when Value does not match master record for field

   • Record when Value does not match master record (Blank value is matched)

2. Field: Choose the field for the exclusion rule.

3. Run Exception Rule: Choose a rule option when to apply the exception. 

   1. 'After master record and field rules are evaluated': 

      1. Rule determination for the master and field value selections is applied first and the exceptions are applied afterward based on the values populated.

      2. Values from excluded records may still pull into the final record during merge.

   2.  'After master record but before evaluating field level rules':

      1. Rule determination for the master is applied first, exception/exclusions are applied second, and field value selections are applied only to the non-excluded records.

      2. Values from excluded records will not pull into the final record during merge.

   3. 'Before determining master record and evaluating field rules': 

      1. Only available for group exclusion rules that do not evaluate the master to determine the exclusion. 

      2. Exception/exclusions are determined first and rule determination for the master and field value selections is applied afterward only to the non-excluded records. 

      3. Values from excluded records will not pull into the final record during merge.

      4. The master record selected can vary from the original master rule if the original master is excluded from the merge.
         
         

         Notes About Exclusions:

         • Exclusions can leave records in filters after jobs complete processing. Exclusions do not filter records out. Consider using filter logic in addition to exclusion rules to exclude records from pulling into the filter results.

         • Exclusions can cause merge errors that indicate that groups have been 'skipped' due to exception rules. If all records in the group have been excluded, nothing remains in the group to merge. This is particularly true when using options B or C above.

         • Group rules will skip auto-merging the entire group of records. Record rules will only skip the records affected by the exclusion rule while proceeding to merge the records in the group that are not excluded. 

4. Options: The Options gear icon will appear when choosing an exclusion rule that requires additional settings. Define the settings for the rule requirements.

Rule Summary

Choose the question mark next to ‘Help me understand the merge process per my rule selection below’ to view a detailed explanation of the rule configuration.

What is Next?

After setting up filters and rules, it is time to preview the results for accuracy!