Merging Contacts by ID instead of email address
Merging contacts by Resource ID can ensure better data integrity and precision in contact management. Resource IDs are unique, persistent identifiers assigned to each contact by the source system— like Hawksoft, Salesforce, or Clio. Unlike email addresses— which can be shared between multiple contacts or for multiple instances —resource IDs provide a stable and unambiguous reference to a contact.
Because of this, all Levitate clients using an integration will have their contacts merge by Resource ID and not email address. For users that manually enter contacts or import contacts through spreadsheet, we've added options to allow contacts to merge by Resource ID as well.
Manual Entry
When manually creating a new contact that shares an email address with an existing contact, you will see a warning message letting you know that there are at least two contacts sharing that email address.
As long as the setting that allows for multiple contacts to have the same email address is on, you will be able to create new contacts without issue.
Here's what the warning will look like:
And this is what it looks like when you choose See Duplicates— it will show all contacts with that email address:
Spreadsheet Import
If you import your contact information via spreadsheet, you'll need to use an Additional ID with each contact that shares an email address with another contact.
What does additional ID do?
An Additional ID is what peels two contacts apart that have the same email address. In general, if contacts are imported through a spreadsheet they will merge by email address unless you add an Additional ID per contact. The Additional ID will keep two contacts with the same email address from merging.
The best use case here is using an ID that is already associated with each contact from your source system, like a CRM or AMS– this way you will not need to manually add additional IDs. If your original system of record does not assign a 'unique ID' to your contacts, you are able to add them manually– but keep in mind that the contact will have to have that Additional ID on every subsequent spreadsheet import to allow the contact to merge. If you skip adding an Additional ID down the line, you might run into issues with unwanted merging or duplicates.
Below is a screenshot of how to format a spreadsheet with Additional ID. The example below simply uses 1, 2, 3, 4 but any alpha-numeric code will work.
Still hung up on how Additional IDs work? Reach out to your Success Specialist or our Support team for assistance.
Integrations: Merging by ID
If you are using a Levitate integration— API or report based— your contacts are set to merge by Resource ID rather than email address. This just means that contacts pulled in from your source system will not necessarily merge by email address, but instead by the ID associated with the contact, like a user ID or something similar, when merging.
FAQs
Q: What contact data is preserved when two contacts are merged?
A: When Levitate merges two contacts, the resulting record combines data from both. Fields such as name, email addresses, phone numbers, address, tags, and key facts are merged. Notes, action items, and text message conversations associated with the secondary contact are reassigned to the merged contact. Keep-in-touch settings are also carried over. If one contact has a field value and the other does not, the populated value is kept. Where both contacts have values for the same field, the primary (destination) contact's value generally takes precedence. Note: Campaign send history is tracked at the account level and is not lost, but the send records remain associated with the original contact IDs — reach out to Support if you need clarification on campaign history after a merge.
Q: Can Levitate automatically bulk-merge all duplicate contacts at once?
A: Levitate does not currently offer a one-click bulk deduplication tool that finds and merges all duplicates across your account simultaneously. Merges are performed contact-by-contact through the Levitate interface or via the API. If you have a large number of duplicates to resolve, your Success Specialist or Support team can advise on the best approach for your situation.
Q: Why do I see an "email already exists" error when I try to change a contact's email address?
A: This error appears when the email address you are trying to assign is already associated with a different contact in your account. Levitate prevents two separate contact records from sharing the same primary email address by default. The recommended workaround is to add an Additional ID to one of the contacts — this tells Levitate to treat the two records as distinct people even though they share an email. Once an Additional ID is set, you can update the email address without the conflict error. If the duplicate is the result of the same person existing twice in your account, merging the two contacts is the better long-term solution. Reach out to Support if you are unsure which approach fits your situation.