Measure honestly / Note 31
Review duplicate guest contact rules
A planning worksheet for handling repeated addresses and records without overstating unique customers.
Start with the decision.
Duplicate handling affects reporting and communication. A repeated address may represent another visit, a shared inbox or a data-entry issue. Choose a documented rule appropriate to the task and preserve the distinctions your system can actually support.
Three moves to make.
Choose the purpose
State whether the rule is for campaign recipients, analytics or operational records. A rule suitable for one purpose may remove useful context for another.
Inspect a bounded sample
Use authorized, minimized data to understand the types of duplication present. Keep a record of the patterns without copying a full guest list into a planning document.
Review before applying
Have the data owner approve merge or exclusion behavior and test it on a safe sample. Check how the process preserves current contact preferences.
What it could look like.
Two records with the same address may need one campaign delivery while retaining separate visit observations. That does not prove the records represent one unique person. Keep identity assumptions explicit in the report.
Make the idea concrete.
Use these five prompts with your team. The downloadable text worksheet includes the prompts, practical steps and review check. Save it, edit it or print it.
- Purpose of ruleRecord your decision and the evidence behind it.
- Duplicate patternRecord your decision and the evidence behind it.
- Proposed handlingRecord your decision and the evidence behind it.
- Preference preservationRecord your decision and the evidence behind it.
- Test and approvalRecord your decision and the evidence behind it.
The final check.
Compare before and after counts and inspect a sample of outcomes. Stop if the process loses information needed for its intended purpose.
Do not merge records based solely on a similar name or use deduplication to override an unsubscribe.
Can duplicate removal prove unique visitor counts?
No. It can reduce repeated records under a stated rule, but person-level identity requires additional evidence.
Meet your next connection.
See the guest journey in the interactive demo or prepare a setup plan for your venue. For current features and allowances, review the pricing page.