We've all been there; having leads on your lists that are already owned by another sales rep, or are already a customer even. Cleaning up these lists can be time-consuming - unless you use Ocean.io's smart tricks.
In the platform, we proactively help avoiding duplicate accounts, to save you time and energy so you can focus on net new leads only. There are different ways to go about it:
Check the search table - Use the quickview, and check out the columns
Compare to your CRM - Automatically when exporting, and the "net new" filter
Actively use lists - Skip if already on list, and use the list filters
1. Check the search table
Use the quickview
If you're going through the results list in Ocean.io manually, clicking on the company will open a quickview to get a fast overview of whether the account is already in your CRM or not, and who is working on it.
Check out the columns
There are several columns available in the search that can give you more information on the status of the account - both in Ocean.io (has it been exported before? Is it on a list) or in your CRM (what is the status? who owns this list and when was the last activity?)
If you can't see these columns yet, learn how to change which columns you see in the search table here.
2. Compare to your CRM
Note that these methods only apply if you have installed our Salesforce, HubSpot or Pipedrive integration.
Automatically when exporting
Whenever you export a company from Ocean.io to your CRM, we join forces with your CRM to automatically avoid duplicates. If the account already exists in your CRM, we will choose to "Ignore" the export attempt.
Properties we take into consideration when identifying potential duplicates are not limited to the company name and domain only. We also look at properties such as full company address, email address, LinkedIn handle, and much more.
Note that this does not apply to deals and leads - these are created regardless. If you wish to prevent these from being created if they already exist in your CRM, then try to pick one of the other methods listed in this article.
The "Net new" filter (add-on)
Open the "CRM" filters and choose to "Exclude accounts already in your CRM system". This will slow down the search a little, but will give you a clean list of results to work on that are not in your CRM system yet.
3. Actively use lists
Skip if already on list
When you add new items to a list, you can make sure that only the items that nobody else is working on in Ocean.io get added in the process. Make sure to tick the tick box when adding companies or contacts to a list.
Use the list filters
One of the most used features on Ocean.io is the building of a list; read more here. When you're satisfied and ready to export your items, play around with the tickboxes to include- or exclude items from your CRM or previously exported items.
4. Bonus: Other CRMs
Avoid duplicates if you have a CRM that doesn't integrate with Ocean.io
If you don't have Salesforce, HubSpot or Pipedrive, read on!
Want to avoid duplicates, but you can't integrate with Ocean.io as your CRM is not compatible? We have a trick up our sleeves for you.
Add the domains to a list on Ocean.io instead, then apply the principle explained in "3 - Actively use lists".
Note that this action can only be done in batches of 10,000. If you have more companies in your system, you will have to repeat it for each batch.
This is how it's done
1. Export all companies from your CRM to a CSV file - ensure you have all domains in the file. That's the only requirement.
2. Head over to the company search in Ocean.io, open the "Companies" filter, click on "Show advanced" and paste the column with domains in there. Ready? Click "Apply".
3. You've now performed a search in Ocean.io and can see all domains that we were able to identify from the ones that you entered. Click on "Select all" and add them to a list.
That's it! Now you're ready to actively use your list and filter your results to only see net new accounts.
Note that lists can only contain up to 100,000 items and will slow down the platform when used in actions. For instance, if you apply it in a list filter, or when using the "Skip if already on list" feature.