Duplicates, repeat customers and merging
What happens when the same person contacts you again, and how to merge.
The same person is recognised by their email or their phone number, never by name alone. What happens when they contact you again depends on how recent the earlier lead is.
A second submission right after the first
If someone writes again within 2hours, on the same channel, while their earlier lead is still open, it is treated as the same inquiry. The new message is added to the earlier lead's Details under a Contacted again line, any blank fields are filled from the new submission, and the second lead is archived as a duplicate. You get a light notice in the bell, saying the person contacted you again and that it was kept on their existing lead, and the earlier lead's timeline records that the customer came back. A missed call is never combined this way: each missed call is a callback to make.
A customer who comes back
If more time has passed, or they reach you on a different channel, or the earlier lead was closed, you get a new lead, and the bell says the person came back. Both leads attach to the same customer, so the Jobs tab and the Contacts page show the whole relationship.
Show duplicates on the Leads list reveals leads that carry a duplicate flag from an earlier version of this check. New leads are combined as described above rather than flagged.
Merging two leads by hand
On the Leads table, tick exactly two leads and click Merge. Pick the one to keep, then for name, email, phone, source, keyword, value, status, service, address and city choose whose value survives; empty fields are filled from the other lead, and two Details texts are joined. The other lead is archived, not deleted, and its row shows Merged into another lead with a link. Merging cannot be undone.
Two records for one customer
Sometimes one person is known by email on one customer record and by phone on another. When a submission carries both, the pair is flagged under Settings, Duplicates, and nothing is merged until you decide. Keep one and the other's leads move onto it; Not the same person dismisses the pair for good. See Contacts for the details.