I’m running lead generation campaigns using online forms and need help with automation. Right now I collect phone numbers through my forms, but when I try to sync these leads automatically to my CRM using Zapier, I get tons of duplicates.
The problem is that people sometimes submit the same form multiple times, or they fill out different forms using identical contact info. This creates duplicate entries in my CRM which is really messy.
I want to set up a Zapier workflow that checks if a phone number already exists in my CRM before creating a new contact. If the number is already there, it should skip creating the duplicate entry.
I tried using Zapier’s filter feature but it only seems to work with unique form IDs, not the actual contact data like phone numbers. Has anyone figured out how to do this kind of duplicate checking with Zapier? Any suggestions would be great!
Use Zapier’s “Find or Create” action instead of the basic create option to avoid duplicate leads. Most CRMs let you search existing records first. Set up a “Find Contact” step that searches by phone number - only create a new contact if nothing’s found. This keeps your CRM clean. Also, make sure phone numbers stay formatted the same way throughout your workflow.
I added a formatter step before the CRM lookup to standardize phone numbers - worked great. People enter numbers in various formats such as (555) 123-4567, 555-123-4567, or +1-555-123-4567, leading to failed lookups even when duplicates exist. I utilize Zapier’s formatter to strip all formatting down to just digits prior to the search. This approach caught significantly more duplicates than I anticipated. Additionally, consider setting up a multi-step zap—first searching by phone number and then by email as a backup, since individuals sometimes use different phone numbers but the same email across forms.
I faced this too, lol. I set up a lookup step in Zapier that checks for existing phone numbers befor creating a new contact. It works well! A bit of setup but saves u a ton of time later. And don’t forget to check if your CRM has deduplication features!