[SalesForce] Lead Conversion- sometimes merges with existing contact and sometimes doesn’t..why

Sometimes when my users are converting leads, after they click "Convert", it will bring up another screen asking if we want to merge the lead with an existing contact. This is not consistent and sometimes it doesn't show that screen so it will create a duplicate contact. Is there a reason why it wouldn't be asking and skipping that screen to merge with an existing contact?

The already existing contact had the same first name, last name, email and same account association as the lead we were trying to convert….is there anything we are doing wrong? it seems like this is a weird backend flaw where it might not be looking at the contacts correctly.

Best Answer

Lead conversion depends on more than just the name. It also depends on the sharing model, the user's permissions, and the configuration of Duplicate Management. See Convert Qualified Leads for the permissions you need to give your users.

Generally speaking, if the system won't let you select an account or contact, it's because there were no matching records, as determined by account name and last name (not email, phone, or address, just name fields) that the user can edit.

There's some leeway in what the system allows for name matches. For example, if the company name is Acme, and the account name is Acme, Inc, then Salesforce presents an option to convert into the existing account. Likewise, if the contact is Robert Smith, and the lead is Bob Smith, and they have the same account, Bob Smith can be converted to Robert Smith.

Generally speaking, if duplicates are a concern, consider enabling Duplicate Management. It will actually warn the user if they're about to create a duplicate, based on standard or custom matching rules to suit your organization's purposes.

If, after checking all your settings, you still feel like it's a system glitch, consider contacting support with some concrete examples. I've never seen the system not offer the correct records to convert to as an administrator, and for my users, I've always been able to trace it down to a sharing problem or a typo.

Related Solutions

[SalesForce] Converting Multiple Leads in apex

Prady, without knowing exactly how you've implemented your business logic, I suggest the following approach, which may be least disruptive to your existing code: Create a utility method (e.g., LeadUtil.mapAccountIds()) that takes a List<Lead> parameter and returns a Map<Id, Id>.

The idea is that LeadUtil.mapAccountIds() performs a few key functions:

Compile a unique set of expected Account records, based on values in the given leads. For example, if you have two leads with Company being "Acme Corporation", the unique set should only contain one item for "Acme Corporation".
Search the system for matching Account records
For any remaining expected Account records that were not found, meaning that these are net-new accounts, create new Account records
Map the Account IDs of the matching Account records and newly created Account records to the given leads, using each Lead ID as a key
Return the map of Account IDs

Then, in your existing code, all you need to do is:

// Map the leads to accounts for conversion
Map<Id, Id> accountIdsByLeadId =
    LeadUtil.mapAccountIds(selectedLeads);

// Use the map of Account IDs to inform the
// conversion of the selected leads
...

[SalesForce] Convert Lead to Custom Object, Opportunity and Contact

You will need to write trigger on lead object. There is a flag field "isConverted" on lead to decide whether it is converted. Write trigger on update event of lead. Compare trigger.old value and trigger.new value of isConverted flag. Then you can insert objects as you want.

Best Answer

Related Solutions

[SalesForce] Converting Multiple Leads in apex

[SalesForce] Convert Lead to Custom Object, Opportunity and Contact

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