Lead Merge Issue - Field "Created" Erased

[Emmanuelle_Biss]

Hi!

To remove duplicates, I merge leads together. However, I just discovered that when I do so, the Created date is merged as well, and it usually keeps the newest lead created date, instead of keeping the oldest one (i.e. the first lead that came in).

How can I make sure that when two leads are merged, the Created date keeps the oldest one, instead of updating it to the newest version?

Thanks for your help!

Emma

[Grégoire_Miche2]

Hi Emmanuelle,

My understanding is that it will keep the value of the wining record.

-Greg

[Emmanuelle_Biss]

Hi Gégoire,

How can I define which one to choose over the other though? Because the winning one might not be the first lead to have come in through Marketo. It seems to keep the most up to date lead, which is not necessarily what I need for certain fields.

Thanks!

[Grégoire_Miche2]

The wining one is the one that have the check box in the title bar checked. (in your screenshot lead 1).

The difficulty is that there is no way to know if you are checking the oldest one...

-Greg

[Emmanuelle_Biss]

If I uncheck the title bar, would it just update the fields that are shown then (the three checked fields only)?

[Grégoire_Miche2]

No sure you are allowed to do this and not have one of the 2 checked ti designate the winner (the lead that is in fact kept).

Test it

then, you may select 1 or 2 for each field.

-Greg

[Emmanuelle_Biss]

It does not work, even if I specify to keep all data from the older version, it will merge and keep the most up to date data.

Example with these two leads:

I want to keep the data from the lead that was created on Mar 29, but when I merge the two together, it will modify the field Created with the Oct 5, 2016 date...

I tried by checking specific data, and by selecting all data (from the oldest lead) but it does not matter what I do, it will take the most recent date under the field Created.

[Grégoire_Miche2 · Accepted solution]

Hi Emmanuelle,

I ran some tests.

In fact it seems that, whatever we do, Marketo keeps the highest leadID (the most recently created lead) and it's creation date, indeed.

Unfortunate we cannot really choose the one we want to keep.

Thanks for notifying the community

If you log an idea about this, I'll vote

-Greg

[Dan_Stevens_]

It would be helpful to know what happens to some of the other fields that aren't available in the "conflicts" window.  For example, let's say we have two lead records in Marketo:

• One CRM Contact record
• One Marketo lead record (with no record in CRM)

If we merge these, we'll want to retain the parentContactID from the CRM Contact record.  Same with parentAccountID.  I suspect it will depend on what the Created/Updated dates are.  Which does us no good.

[Grégoire_Miche2]

Hi Dan,

In case you merge a CRM lead with a CRM contact, my understanding is that the winning record is the contact. But I am not 100% sure of this, because I have never been able to make thing specific scenario work. Most of the time because there are too many rules and constraints on lead conversion ion the CRM that Marketo cannot fulfil.

May be this is different on MS Dynamics though.

-Greg

[Dan_Stevens_]

I don't even think that scenario is possible, Greg (at least not in MSD CRM).  In order to merge, the records must have the same CRM type (and must be done in CRM).  The scenario I was referring to was a CRM contact (in Marketo as a lead) and a Marketo lead.  In which case, the merge can happen within Marketo.

[Grégoire_Miche2]

Ok. I read too fast. Then I follow you on the need for control. May be also in this case it will retaing the merge lead by default ?

-Greg

[Emmanuelle_Biss]

Hi Dan,

I just did a merge between a Marketo lead known to CRM, and a Marketo Lead unknown to CRM. When I merge the two together, and after defining which field to keep in the Conflicts Window, it updates all data that are blank to the new value that's available in the other contact.

[Emmanuelle_Biss]

Hey,

I just realized that some data is not shared in Marketo in the Activity log... When merging the two leads, I do have an overview of the different changes (28 changes to be exact (change score and change data value)). However, I have this extra line that says this:

It does not tell me which 53 fields have been updated, but just a fraction of them. Why does it not give me all the details of the fields that have been merged?

[Emmanuelle_Biss]

Hi Greg,

Thanks for running some tests Unfortunately, like you and Dan said, the way Marketo currently merges lead is not the desired behavior in some cases. I've added this idea to the community like you've recommended:

In the meantime, I've created a new field (Mkto Created on) and a smart list to push the first Created date to this field (using a token). Once this field has some data in it, it will not be erased by any new value. Even if I merge two leads together, it will ask me which value in this specific field I want to keep. That's my way to go around this in the meantime

Thanks for your help!

[Grégoire_Miche2]

Hi Emmanuelle,

Yes, this is the right workaround. To make it event better, make sure you block field update for any source, so that once set, it cannot be modified, even inadvertently.

-Greg

[Emmanuelle_Biss]

Hi Greg,

Yes I did! This value will be static and I have blocked all field updates That should solve my problem in the meanwhile.

Thanks!

[Dan_Stevens_]

You have my vote as well.  I did not realize this and this definitely isn't the desired behavior.  In fact, I've updated my matrix on how Marketo deals with duplicates in certain scenarios - in this post here: If duplicate leads are an issue, be aware of how Marketo determines which lead is active

[Emmanuelle_Biss]

Hi Dan Stevens​,

Thanks for posting your previous post! Sorry for not seeing it before posting mine. It is very interesting to see the breakdown of how Marketo's duplicate rules work. Thanks!

[Devraj_Grewal]

Emmanuelle,

When you merge and view the pop-up of all the conflicting fields, do you not see "Lead Creation Date" as an option?

[Emmanuelle_Biss]

Hi Devraj Grewal​,

No, this is not an option. For exemple, here's what I have when I want to merge two leads together:

I only have three fields to choose from. But once they merge, it updates multiple more fields, including the Created field, choosing one over the other without my approval.