Automated Database Merge

APMP HQ updated and modernised their membership management software and this involved changes to both the scope of the data held on each member and the format of that data. The old data had some inconsistencies and required analyzing and comparing with the data held in the APMP UK CRM platform (Zoho CRM) in order to determine the correct solution. The challenge was made more complex due to a pause in the automation project online and in that time users had joined, changed companies, changed email address and or left the organisation.

Crucially the CRM system is the UK chapters single point of truth about its members and required correcting without losing related data about a members activities such as webinars or meetings attended.

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Starting with exports from both the new membership system and Zoho CRM Credible analysed the data and constructed 6 separate scenarios for each user record - some being subject to more than one scenario.

With these scenarios understood, we built automation flows in Zapier that dealt with some of the simpler outlying cases (e.g a brand new member or a membership that had expired). We updated the CRM system using the results spreadsheets from our analysis and some automation using Zapier and checked against our analysis.

The bulk of the work was in connecting the new membership database in Zapier to Zoho CRM using a combination of checks, loops and queries to account for all possibilities. E.g If a user has changed employers, much of their CRM record will remain the same but the email and company values will change. Companies in Zoho CRM are a parent record of the Contact, so we had to automate a check to search for the new employer name, and create it if not found before updating the Contact record with the new relationship.

2600 members data is being updated on the fly whenever a member of admin role makes a change. This allows APMP UK to have faith in their CRM database as a single point of truth and informs their decision making and chapter communications and marketing efforts.