Merge similar leads and opportunities¶
Odoo automatically detects similar leads and opportunities within the CRM app. These identified duplicate records can be merged, without losing any information in the process. Doing so keep the pipeline organized, and prevents customers from being contacted by more than one salesperson.
Note
When merging opportunities, no information is lost. Data from the other opportunity is logged in the chatter, and the information fields, for reference.
Identify similar leads and opportunities¶
Similar leads and opportunities are identified by comparing the email address and phone number of the associated contact. If a similar lead/opportunity is found, a Similar Leads smart button appears at the top of the lead (or opportunity) record.
Compare similar leads and opportunities¶
To compare the details of similar leads/opportunities, navigate to , or . Open a lead or opportunity, and click the Similar Leads smart button. Doing so opens an Opportunities page, in Kanban view, that only displays similar leads/opportunities. Click on a card to view the details for the lead/opportunity, and confirm if they should be merged.
Note
Leads will not appear in the header menu unless the leads feature has been activated. This can be done by navigating to CRM app –> Configuration –> Settings and ticking the checkbox next to Leads, then clicking Save.
Merge similar leads and opportunities¶
Important
When merging, Odoo gives priority to whichever lead/opportunity was created in the system first, merging the information into the first created lead/opportunity. However, if a lead and an opportunity are being merged, the resulting record is referred to as an opportunity, regardless of which record was created first.
After confirming the leads/opportunities should be merged, return to the Opportunities page, in Kanban view, using the breadcrumb link, or by clicking the Similar Leads smart button on the opportunity form. Click the (list) icon to change to list view.
Tick the checkbox on the left of the page for the leads/opportunities to be merged. Then, click the Action icon at the top of the page, to reveal a drop-down menu. From that drop-down menu, select the Merge option to merge the selected opportunities or leads.
When Merge is selected from the Action drop-down menu, a Merge pop-up modal appears. In that pop-up modal, under the Assign opportunities to section, optionally select a Salesperson and Sales Team from the appropriate drop-down menus.
Below those fields, the leads/opportunities to merge are listed, along with their related information. To add more, click Add a line, tick the checkbox next to the desired leads/opportunities from the resulting Add: Leads/Opportunities’ pop-up modal, then click the :guilabel:`Select button. The additional selections now appear in the list. To merge those selected leads/opportunities, click Merge.
The pop-up window disappears, and the detail card for the merged opportunity/lead appears.
Danger
Merging is an irreversible action. Do not merge leads/opportunities unless absolutely certain they should be combined.
When leads/opportunities should not be merged¶
There may be instances where a similar lead or opportunity is identified, but should not be merged. These circumstances vary, based on the processes of the sales team and organization. Some potential scenarios are listed below.
Lost leads¶
If a lead/opportunity has been marked as lost, it can still be merged with an active lead or opportunity. The resulting lead/opportunity is marked active, and added to the pipeline.
Different contact within an organization¶
Leads/opportunities from the same organization, but with different points of contact, may not have the same needs. In this case, it is beneficial to not merge these records, though assigning the same salesperson, or sales team, can prevent duplicated work and miscommunication.
Duplicates with more than one salesperson¶
If more than one lead/opportunity exists in the database, there may be multiple salespeople assigned to them, who are actively working on them independently. While these leads/opportunities may need to be managed separately, it is recommended that any affected salespeople be tagged in an internal note for visibility.
Contact information is similar, but not identical¶
Similar leads and opportunities are identified by comparing the email addresses and phone numbers of the associated contacts. However, if the email address is similar, but not identical, they may need to remain independent.
Example
Three different leads were added to the pipeline, and assigned to different salespeople. They were identified as Similar Leads, due to the email addresses of the contacts.
Two of the leads appear to come from the same individual, Robin, and have identical email
addresses. These leads should be merged.
The third lead has the same email domain, but the address is different, as is the contact name. While this lead is most likely from the same organization, it is from a different contact, and should not be merged.