Outbound resource

Check duplicate accounts before starting outreach

Two rows can describe one company. Two companies can also share a domain. Use this checklist to decide which prospect records belong together, which need a relationship and which should stay on hold before they reach an outreach campaign.

Editorial update:

Use the template ↓Discuss your outbound plan →

Copy the account match review record

One record per proposed match. Keep original source identifiers so a reviewer can reconstruct the decision.

  1. Account identity and campaign boundary worksheet

    Source row IDs and original URLs: [records] Existing CRM IDs: [IDs or not found] Original names and normalized comparison fields: [values] Operating company / brand / site: [identity] Parent or related entity: [evidence or unknown] Campaign buying unit: [group / company / region / site] Evidence URLs and checked date: [sources] Conflicting evidence: [details or none found] Proposed state: [duplicate candidate / related / separate / unresolved] Existing owner and active opportunity: [review result] Suppression scope and reason: [approved handling] Proposed record mapping: [source IDs to account ID] Administrator decision: [approved action or hold] Reviewer and next check: [owner / date] Import route and sample result: [record before release]

Matching scenarios
6
Copyable review record
1
Use with your list
No gate

Account matching decisions before campaign enrollment

Scroll the table sideways to compare all columns.

Account matching decisions before campaign enrollment
Possible matchEvidence to reviewRecommended review state
Same company appears in two vendor listsOperating identity, domain and existing CRM recordDuplicate candidate; map both source rows to the approved account
Regional websites use different domainsOperator, region and local versus group buying scopeRelated or duplicate; hold until the campaign boundary is clear
Parent and subsidiary share a domainEntity names and the business unit using your offerRelationship review; do not merge on domain alone
Two unrelated companies have similar namesCompany disclosures, locations and official websitesKeep separate when identity evidence differs
An acquired brand redirects to a group siteAcquisition notice and current operating responsibilitiesReview relationship and outreach ownership before reuse
An existing account has an active opportunity or stop requestCurrent owner, exclusion scope and contact historyHold enrollment and apply the approved suppression rules

Decide what an account means for this campaign

Write down whether you sell to a group, operating company, regional unit or individual site. A supplier selling local warehouse services may need site-level research. A group-wide software offer may require one coordinated conversation. Keep the legal or operating identity separate from this campaign boundary. An account relationship does not prove that procurement is central, and a separate storefront does not prove independent buying authority.

Normalize for comparison without discarding evidence

Preserve the imported name, URL, source and row identifier. Create separate comparison fields for consistent capitalization and URL formatting. Check redirects and company disclosures when domains differ, but do not treat a redirect alone as proof that two entities are identical. Keep regional subdomains and country domains available for review. Removing them blindly can erase the property or market your offer actually serves.

Review identity before choosing a CRM action

Use the company's own contact, legal and group information to investigate likely matches. Record both confirming and conflicting evidence. Same-name companies in different places, franchise operators and acquired brands need more than a fuzzy name match. Mark a confirmed duplicate for administrator review, a related entity for association review and an unresolved pair for research. Do not make deletion or merging the default result of a match score.

Test the actual import route

HubSpot documents different matching behavior for manual entry, imports and API creation. Its imports can match company domains or a selected unique identifier, while companies created through the API are not deduplicated by the company-domain property. Check the relevant route before assuming that your CRM will catch repeats. Test with an approved non-production sample, compare the resulting records and keep an import log. This worksheet does not perform CRM changes.

Fictional example: one group, two operating companies

A warehouse-software vendor imports three rows: a group website and two regional logistics operators. The operators share the group domain, but company disclosures identify separate operating entities. Research confirms different warehouse locations; purchasing authority remains unknown. The reviewer keeps the two operators separate, records the group relationship and assigns one campaign owner to coordinate contact. A fourth row from another list matches one operator and is mapped to its existing account. When sales finds an open opportunity for that operator, it is held out of the new campaign. No one merges the entire group or starts three competing sequences simply because the input contained three names.

Carry exclusions through the decision

Check customers, open opportunities, previous replies and stop requests before enrollment. Keep the reason and approved scope attached to the account or contact it concerns. Do not lose an exclusion when two source rows are mapped together, and do not expand a contact-level restriction to every group company without reviewing its scope. Ambiguous cases stay on hold with an owner rather than being silently included.

Report decisions, not just a smaller row count

Record the input count, duplicate candidates, confirmed mappings, related entities, separate accounts and unresolved pairs. A smaller list is not automatically a cleaner one: a false merge can remove a valid operating company. Review a sample of both accepted and rejected matches and retain the reasons. Measure campaign-ready accounts separately from raw rows and sales-accepted conversations separately from campaign enrollment.

Who this helps

  • B2B account researchers
  • RevOps teams preparing imports
  • Agencies combining prospect sources

Work through the process

  1. 01

    Define

    Choose the buying unit and preserve original records.

  2. 02

    Compare

    Review company identity and property evidence.

  3. 03

    Decide

    Separate duplicates, relationships and unknowns.

  4. 04

    Release

    Check exclusions and an approved import sample.

Questions and answers

Is a shared domain enough to merge two accounts?
No. Review the operating entities and campaign scope. A parent and subsidiary can share a domain without being the same account.
Should different regional domains always become separate accounts?
No. Confirm who operates each property and whether the relevant buying responsibility is regional or central.
Does this checklist change CRM records?
No. It produces a review record for your administrator. Confirm your import behavior, field mapping and approval process before changes.
How is deduplication different from ICP selection?
ICP selection asks whether a company fits your offer. Deduplication asks whether records describe the same account or related entities. Complete both before enrollment.

Sources and editorial notes

Original AI-assisted editorial templates and planning conventions prepared for LeadFlow. Examples are illustrative; they are not independently tested results, customer evidence or performance benchmarks. Check facts and adapt the material to your own workflow before use.

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