Prevent Duplicates: Lead-to-Contact and Lead-to-Account Matching
Most duplicate matching cleans up after the fact: it finds Leads that match other Leads, Contacts that match other Contacts, and Accounts that match other Accounts, and then merges them.
Lead-to-Contact and Lead-to-Account matching work earlier to prevent duplicates. They flag a Lead that already looks like an existing Contact or Account, before the Lead is qualified. Qualifying a Lead normally creates a new Contact and Account. If the Lead points to the existing records instead, no duplicate is created.
Available on the Standard, Professional, and Enterprise plans. Not available on the Free Trial.
How it differs from same-type matching
| Same-type matching | Lead-to-Contact / Lead-to-Account | |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Clean up existing duplicates | Prevent future duplicates |
| Records compared | Lead to Lead, Contact to Contact, Account to Account | Lead to Contact, or Lead to Account |
| Result | Ranked duplicate sets of 2 or more records | One suggested Contact or Account per Lead |
| Merging | Yes | No. Nothing is merged. |
| Ranking | Yes | No |
| Matching rules | Fully customizable | Can be turned on or off, but not edited |
| Precision | Customizable | Shown, but not customizable |
What AutoMerge fills in
The analysis runs like any other analysis and tagging request, using Lead Contact or Lead Account as the record type. See Submitting requests.
When it finds a match, AutoMerge fills one of two lookup fields on the Lead (a lookup field is a link to another record):
- AM Duplicate Contact: the existing Contact this Lead looks like
- AM Duplicate Account: the existing Account this Lead looks like
These two fields sit alongside the built-in Existing Contact and Existing Account fields. AutoMerge never changes the built-in fields.
The AM fields appear only on the AutoMerge form, inside the AutoMerge app. By default, only administrators can see that app.
Reviewing suggested matches
Two views on Leads list every Lead with a suggested match:
| View | Shows |
|---|---|
| AM Lead-Contact Dupes | Leads that look like an existing Contact |
| AM Lead-Account Dupes | Leads that look like an existing Account |
Each row is one pair: a Lead and the Contact or Account it matches. The row opens the Lead, and a separate column opens the matching Contact or Account directly, so you can compare the two records.
The Precision % column shows how closely the pair matches, from 0 (loosely matched) to 100 (closely matched). The same score appears on the Lead's AutoMerge form.
Preventing the duplicate
The suggestion only prevents a duplicate if it reaches the built-in Existing Contact or Existing Account field before the Lead is qualified. Dynamics 365 reads those built-in fields during qualification. If they are filled in, it links to the existing records instead of creating new ones.
To copy the suggestion over:
- By hand: copy the AM Duplicate Contact or AM Duplicate Account value into Existing Contact or Existing Account.
- Automatically: an administrator can set up a background workflow rule that copies the AM field into the built-in field.
Review the pair in the view first. A wrong suggestion copied into the built-in field would link the Lead to the wrong customer when it is qualified.