If you’re wrangling spreadsheets full of contact info—or staring at a CRM that’s more “chaos” than “management”—this guide is for you. We’ll walk through importing your contacts into Arti, show you how to find and merge duplicates, and share real-world advice on keeping your database from turning into a junk drawer. No fluff, no “strategic frameworks”—just what works, what’s annoying, and what to skip.
Why Clean Contact Data Matters (and Why Most Folks Mess It Up)
Let’s get this out of the way: messy contact data is inevitable. People fat-finger emails, upload the same CSV twice, or copy-paste from old systems. You end up with “Jon Smith” and “John Smith” both getting your emails, or worse, a bunch of half-filled records cluttering up your lists.
Clean data means:
- Your team isn’t chasing the same lead twice.
- You don’t embarrass yourself with duplicate outreach.
- Reporting is less of a nightmare.
Arti makes some of this easier, but it’s not magic. You still need a process. Here’s how to do it without losing your mind.
Step 1: Prep Your Contact Data Before Import
Start here, not in Arti. Clean your data before you hit upload and you’ll save yourself hours later.
What you should do:
- Consolidate files: If your contacts are spread across five sources, combine them into one spreadsheet. Don’t worry about duplicates yet—just get everything in one place.
- Standardize columns: Make sure column headers are consistent—e.g., always use “Email” for emails, not “E-mail” or “email_address.”
- Fix obvious junk: Delete empty rows, fix major typos, and make sure required fields (like email or name) aren’t missing.
Pro tip: If you can, use a spreadsheet tool’s “Remove Duplicates” feature on obvious fields like email. It won’t catch everything, but it cuts down the noise.
What to ignore: Don’t spend forever fixing every little thing. You’ll catch more issues inside Arti’s deduplication tools.
Step 2: Import Contacts into Arti
Now you’re ready to upload. Arti supports CSV and sometimes direct integrations (depending on your plan), but CSV is the lowest-common-denominator and works every time.
How to import:
- Log in to Arti.
- Find the “Contacts” or “Import” section. (Names change, but the Import option is usually obvious.)
- Upload your CSV file.
- Map your columns—Arti will ask you to match your spreadsheet’s columns to its contact fields.
- Run the import.
Stuff that works:
- Arti usually does a decent job auto-mapping columns if your headers are clear.
- You can often preview your import—use this to catch obvious mistakes.
Stuff that doesn’t:
- If you have messy or inconsistent columns, Arti’s auto-mapping gets confused. Double-check everything.
- Arti might not catch international characters or weird symbols. If you have a lot of those, expect to fix a few records by hand.
Watch out for: Some systems cap how many records you can import at once. If you hit an error, try splitting your file into smaller chunks.
Step 3: Identify Duplicate Contacts in Arti
Now comes the real work. Even with a clean import, you’ll have duplicates—different spellings, nicknames, people who use multiple emails.
Arti’s approach:
Arti finds duplicates mostly by looking at email addresses, sometimes names or phone numbers. It’s not perfect, so don’t expect miracles if your data is really messy.
How to find duplicates:
- Go to the “Contacts” area in Arti.
- Look for a “Duplicates” or “Review Duplicates” section.
- Arti will show you suspected duplicates. Usually, you can filter by how strong the match is (e.g., “Exact email match,” “Similar names”).
What works:
- Exact email matches are easy—always safe to merge.
- Some systems let you set your own rules (like matching on phone and name). If Arti offers this, use it.
What doesn’t:
- Matching on just names catches too many false positives—“Sam Lee” isn’t always the same person.
- If you have contacts with missing emails, duplicates are much harder to spot.
Pro tip: Don’t get greedy and bulk-merge everything. Review the list—especially when Arti says it’s “pretty sure” two contacts are the same, but it’s not an exact match.
Step 4: Merge or Delete Duplicates
Once you’ve reviewed the list, decide what to do with each duplicate set. Arti generally gives you the option to merge records or delete extras.
Merging:
- When you merge, Arti usually keeps the most complete record (the one with the most fields filled in). You can often pick and choose which data to keep if there’s a conflict.
- Be careful with fields like “Notes” or “Tags”—sometimes they get overwritten or combined in weird ways.
Deleting:
- If it’s a true duplicate (like two identical records), just delete one.
- If you’re not sure, merge instead of delete. It’s easier to fix a bad merge than a deleted contact.
Stuff to skip:
Don’t bother merging records that are clearly different people, even if the names are similar. It’s better to have two “John Smith”s than to accidentally combine two separate contacts.
Step 5: Set Up Ongoing Deduplication (So You Don’t Do This Again)
The biggest mistake? Treating deduplication as a one-time thing. It’s not.
What works:
- Schedule a regular review—maybe monthly or quarterly, depending on how many new contacts you add.
- Use Arti’s “auto-detect duplicates” feature if it’s available. Set alerts so you’re notified when new dupes pop up.
- Train your team to check for existing contacts before adding new ones.
What doesn’t:
- Relying on automation alone. Even the best tools miss things or flag false positives.
- Letting everyone import their own spreadsheets without any oversight.
Pro tip:
Make one person (or at least one team) responsible for contact data hygiene. If everyone owns it, no one owns it.
Advanced Tips (If You Really Want to Get Nerdy)
- Fuzzy matching: If Arti supports it, enable fuzzy matching for names—this can catch “Jon” vs. “John,” but be careful of false matches.
- API imports: If you have developer resources, use Arti’s API to automate importing and deduplication. Just know that this takes work and maintenance.
- Export backups: Before running a mass merge or delete, export your full contact list. If something goes sideways, you’ll be glad you did.
What to Ignore (And Why Simpler Is Better)
Don’t get sucked into buying third-party “AI deduplication” tools unless your database is truly massive. For most teams, basic hygiene and a few minutes a month in Arti do the trick.
Don’t stress about being perfect. Some duplicates will slip through—no system is flawless. It’s much better to clean up the obvious messes and move on.
Wrapping Up
The cleaner your contact database, the less time you’ll waste fixing mistakes or apologizing for double-sent emails. Import your data, use Arti’s deduplication tools, and set up a simple routine to keep things tidy. Don’t overthink it. Get your system working, tweak as you go, and let the robots help—but don’t trust them blindly. Simple, regular maintenance beats a “one-and-done” clean-up every time.