Sick of seeing the same lead pop up twice in your CRM? Duplicate contacts are a headache—messing with your reports, wasting your team’s time, and sometimes even tanking deals. If you’re using LinkedIn as a lead source and want a no-nonsense way to clean things up, this guide’s for you.
We'll walk through how to use Evaboot, a tool built for scrubbing LinkedIn Sales Navigator exports, to find and remove those pesky duplicate leads before they ever hit your CRM. Real talk: Evaboot isn't a magic wand, but it’s a lot better than sifting through spreadsheets by hand.
Why Duplicate Leads Are a Problem (And Why Your CRM's “Merge” Button Isn't Enough)
Most CRMs have some kind of duplicate detection, but let’s be honest: it’s usually surface-level. CRMs might catch exact duplicates, but what about leads with two emails, a typo in the name, or a company listed two ways? That’s where things get messy.
Some reasons to actually care:
- Salespeople waste time chasing the same prospect twice.
- Marketing can’t track results accurately.
- Double emails make you look unprofessional, or worse, spammy.
- Data clutter leads to bad decisions.
Evaboot isn’t a silver bullet, but it’s a good filter at the export stage. That means fewer headaches later.
Step 1: Export Your Leads from LinkedIn Sales Navigator
Evaboot is designed to clean up exports from LinkedIn Sales Navigator, not your CRM directly. If you’re generating leads from somewhere else, this guide probably isn’t for you.
Here’s how to get your list:
- Go to Sales Navigator and run your search.
- Select the leads you want (or just grab all results—up to you).
- Click “Export” (you’ll need a paid plan for this) to download a CSV file.
Pro tip: Export smaller batches if you’re working with thousands of leads. Huge files bog down both LinkedIn and Evaboot.
Step 2: Upload Your CSV to Evaboot
Once you’ve got your CSV, log in to Evaboot. The process is dead simple, but here’s what to expect:
- In Evaboot, click “New Extraction” or the upload button.
- Select your CSV file.
- Evaboot will ask you to map columns—just make sure names, emails, and company fields are recognized. Garbage in, garbage out.
What works:
Evaboot’s parser is built for Sales Navigator files, so mapping is usually automatic. But double-check—if your columns are jumbled, fix them now. Don’t trust automation blindly.
What doesn’t:
If your CSV is from somewhere else (like a random export from another tool), Evaboot might choke. It’s not a universal deduplication tool.
Step 3: Let Evaboot Find the Duplicates
This is where Evaboot earns its keep. It scans for duplicates using several fields—name, company, email, LinkedIn URL, etc. The results are usually pretty solid, but no deduplication is perfect.
How it works:
- Exact matches: Evaboot will highlight leads with identical emails, names, or LinkedIn URLs.
- Fuzzy matches: It can also spot similar names at the same company (think “John Smith” vs. “Jon Smith” at “Acme Inc.”).
What to watch out for:
- False positives: If two people have the same name at a big company, check before deleting.
- Partial duplicates: Sometimes, a lead’s info changes between exports (e.g., new job title). Evaboot tries to catch these, but you may want to review manually.
Pro tip: Download Evaboot’s “deduplicated” file and the list of what it flagged as duplicates. Keep both for reference—you might need to restore a lead later.
Step 4: Review and Clean Up
Don’t just blindly accept every suggestion. Here’s how to make sure you’re not tossing out good leads:
- Scan the flagged duplicates. Are they really the same person, or just similar?
- Prioritize by email. If the email matches, it’s almost certainly a duplicate. If only the name matches, tread carefully.
- Look at LinkedIn URLs. This is usually the most reliable field—two leads with the same URL are definitely the same person.
What works:
Evaboot gives you a side-by-side comparison for each duplicate pair. Use it.
What doesn’t:
Don’t trust first/last names alone, especially for common names or large companies. You’ll end up deleting legit leads.
Step 5: Export the Clean File
Once you’re happy with the deduped list, export it from Evaboot. You’ll get a new CSV—this is the one you’ll want to import into your CRM.
- Keep your original file. If something goes sideways, you’ll want to roll back.
- Double-check one more time. Open the CSV and scan for anything weird—blank rows, missing columns, etc. Automation’s great until it isn’t.
Step 6: Import Into Your CRM (Without Making a Mess)
Every CRM is different, but the basic idea is the same:
- Log in to your CRM and find the “Import” or “Add Leads” feature.
- Upload your clean CSV.
- Map fields carefully—make sure emails, names, and company info go to the right places.
- If your CRM has its own deduplication, don’t skip it. Even after Evaboot, a second check never hurts.
Pro tip: Start with a test batch. Import 10 leads, see if everything lines up, then do the rest. Better safe than sorry.
What Evaboot Does Well (And Where It Falls Short)
The Good:
- Designed for LinkedIn exports. You don’t need to massage your data much.
- Catches most obvious duplicates. Especially those with matching emails or URLs.
- Saves a ton of time compared to manual review.
The Not-So-Good:
- Not a full CRM deduplication tool. It’s for cleaning data before it hits your CRM, not after.
- Misses edge cases. If someone’s info changes (like a new email or typo), you’ll have to spot it yourself.
- Doesn’t integrate natively with CRMs. You’re on your own for imports and field mapping.
Ignore the hype:
Evaboot is a solid step in the process, but it won’t solve all your data hygiene problems. If you’ve already got a CRM full of duplicates, you’ll need a heavier-duty tool—or a lot of patience.
Quick FAQ
Can I use Evaboot for other data sources?
Not really. It’s built for LinkedIn Sales Navigator data. If you upload something else, you’ll probably run into issues.
Is Evaboot 100% accurate?
No tool is. Always review flagged duplicates before deleting anything.
Will this fix duplicates already in my CRM?
Nope. You need a CRM-specific deduplication tool for that.
Keep It Simple (and Keep Iterating)
Data hygiene’s never done. The best way to keep your CRM clean is to stop duplicates before they get in. Evaboot does that well for LinkedIn leads, but don’t expect miracles. Clean your data in small, regular batches, and don’t be afraid to sanity-check the results.
Better to spend five minutes catching a mistake now than hours untangling a mess later. Start small, see what works for your setup, and tweak as you go. That’s how you actually get cleaner data—no magic, just a bit of discipline.