If you manage Salesforce, you know how quickly duplicate accounts pile up. It slows down your team, screws up reporting, and—let’s be honest—makes you look like you don’t have things under control. If you’ve tried the built-in Salesforce deduplication, you’ve probably hit a wall. That’s where Tractioncomplete comes in. This guide walks you through using it to clean up your Salesforce accounts, what works, what to watch out for, and how to avoid making things worse.
Who’s this for? Salesforce admins, ops folks, or anyone who’s inherited a hot mess of duplicate accounts and needs a real fix—without getting lost in consultant-speak.
Why Deduplication Matters (and Why Salesforce Alone Struggles)
Let’s get real: Salesforce’s standard duplicate management is better than nothing, but it’s clunky. You get basic matching rules, some alerts, and manual merging. If your org has a few thousand accounts, maybe that’s enough. But most teams outgrow it fast.
Here’s what Salesforce gets wrong: - It struggles with fuzzy matches (like “IBM” vs. “I.B.M.”). - It can’t automate complex merges or catch duplicates spread across custom fields. - The UI for reviewing and merging is slow and manual. - Reporting is a mess until you fix your data.
Third-party tools like Tractioncomplete aim to solve this pain. They use smarter algorithms, automate more, and give you control over what “duplicate” really means.
Step 1: Get Ready Before You Start
Don’t just install something and hit “merge all.” You’ll regret it. Here’s what to do first:
- Take a backup: Always export your accounts before messing with deduplication. Salesforce Data Loader or a backup app—just do it.
- Review your current state: How bad is the duplicate problem? Run a simple report: group accounts by name, city, or domain. Get a sense of the mess.
- Decide what counts as a duplicate: Is “Acme Corp” and “Acme Corporation” the same? What about “Acme Corp (West)”?
- Talk to your users: Salespeople hate losing their notes or getting their records merged the wrong way. Set expectations and get their input.
Pro tip: Don’t try to clean up everything at once. Start with a small, manageable batch.
Step 2: Install and Set Up Tractioncomplete
Assuming you’ve decided Tractioncomplete is worth a try (it’s not the only tool, but it’s a popular one), here’s what setup looks like:
- Install from AppExchange: Find Tractioncomplete on the Salesforce AppExchange and follow the usual install steps. Make sure you’ve got admin rights.
- Connect to your Salesforce org: It’ll ask for permissions—read, write, and probably more. This is normal for deduplication tools, but review them anyway.
- Assign user permissions: Decide who can run dedupes and merge records. Don’t give everyone access—bad merges are hard to undo.
- Walk through the onboarding: Tractioncomplete’s setup wizard will guide you through connecting objects (Accounts, Contacts, etc.) and initial config.
What works: The onboarding is pretty painless, and the UI is less overwhelming than Salesforce’s own duplicate rules.
What to skip: Don’t turn on auto-merge until you’ve tested on a small set. Seriously.
Step 3: Create Deduplication Rules
This is where Tractioncomplete shines and where things can go sideways if you’re not careful.
Define Your Matching Criteria
- Standard fields: Name, website, domain, phone—these are obvious.
- Custom fields: If you’ve got custom account numbers or region codes, add those.
- Fuzzy matching: Tractioncomplete can catch “IBM” vs. “I.B.M.”, or “Acme Corp” vs. “Acme Corporation.” Adjust fuzziness carefully—too strict and you miss dups, too loose and you get false matches.
Pro tips:
- Start with conservative rules (exact or “very close” matches). Review results manually before going broader.
- Use “AND” logic when you can (e.g., Name AND Website), not just “OR.” This reduces false positives.
- If you’re not sure, run the rules in “report only” mode to see what would be flagged.
What works: The visual rule builder is much easier than Salesforce’s matching rule setup.
What doesn’t: Tractioncomplete can’t read your mind. If your data is a mess (like “Acme HQ” and “Acme Holdings, Inc.” being the same), you’ll need to tweak and test.
Step 4: Review and Validate Potential Duplicates
Don’t rush this. Even the best tool will flag legit accounts as duplicates sometimes.
- Run your rules in preview/report mode.
- Review the matches: Tractioncomplete gives you a side-by-side view of possible dups.
- Ask for feedback: If you can, have a couple of sales or support users look at the list. They’ll spot edge cases.
What to look for:
- Are the same accounts getting flagged over and over? Your rules might be too broad.
- Are important fields different (e.g., different regions, owners, or account types)? You might not want to merge those.
Pro tip: Tag or export the list of duplicates before merging. If disaster strikes, you’ll know what changed.
Step 5: Merge Accounts (Carefully)
Now you’re ready for the main event.
- Choose your “master” record: Decide which account keeps its Salesforce ID and related records. Usually, you want the one with the most activity or the “cleanest” data.
- Pick which fields to keep: Tractioncomplete lets you pick field-by-field—notes, custom fields, contacts, etc. Don’t just blindly overwrite.
- Merge in small batches: Start small—10 or 20 at a time. Review the results, then scale up.
- Watch out for related records: Contacts, opportunities, cases, and custom objects should all roll up to the merged account. Test this.
- Audit the merges: Check reports, dashboards, and user feedback. Did anything break? Are workflows or automations firing as expected?
What works: Batch merging and field selection save a ton of time. The audit trail is solid.
What doesn’t: Tractioncomplete isn’t magic. If your team is sloppy with data entry, you’ll still need some manual review. And if you have super-custom automations, test for side effects.
Step 6: Automate (But Don’t Get Cocky)
Once you trust your rules, you can automate more of the process. Tractioncomplete supports scheduled deduplication and even auto-merges—but only go here if you’re confident.
- Set up scheduled jobs: Run dedupe scans weekly or monthly.
- Review matches before merging: Even with automation, always have a step where someone can review.
- Monitor results: Keep an eye on new duplicates and adjust rules as your data changes.
Pro tip: Even with automation, set up alerts for high-risk merges (like accounts with major opportunities attached).
Step 7: Keep It Clean
Deduplication isn’t a one-and-done deal.
- Train your users: Show them how to search before creating a new account. Some tools can add a “Possible Duplicate” warning right in the creation flow.
- Update your rules: As your business evolves, your deduplication rules will need tweaks.
- Audit regularly: Run reports for new duplicates every month or quarter.
What to ignore: Don’t try to “boil the ocean.” Focus on the worst offenders first—like top accounts, key regions, or segments that drive revenue. Let the little stuff slide until you have a handle on the big problems.
Honest Pros, Cons, and Gotchas
What works: - Tractioncomplete makes it way faster to spot and merge duplicates compared to Salesforce alone. - The UI is much more admin-friendly, especially for non-developers. - Fuzzy and custom matching are a real step up.
What doesn’t: - It costs extra—budget for it. - Complex orgs (custom objects, heavy automation) still require hands-on testing. - No tool will fix cultural problems like users not searching before creating new accounts.
Gotchas: - Don’t skip the backup step. - Don’t let sales reps do merges unsupervised. - Don’t enable auto-merge until you’re 100% confident in your rules.
Keep It Simple, Iterate, and Don’t Panic
Cleaning up Salesforce accounts isn’t glamorous, but it’s worth it. Tractioncomplete can save you hours, but only if you set it up carefully and start small. Backup first, use conservative rules, and expand as you build trust in the process. Keep your team in the loop and remember: perfect is the enemy of done. Clean up the worst messes first, and chip away at the rest. You’ll thank yourself later.