AudienceView enables you to merge one customer account into another. For example, you could merge accounts that were created in duplicate (perhaps an existing customer created an online account), when an organization merges with another or when one houshold joins another.
Before you merge two accounts, it is important to think about which account will be kept intact (the primary account) and which will be incorporated into the intact account (the secondary account). If the two accounts are duplicates, it does not matter which is which, but if you are merging two accounts that contain different customer data, the order will become important.
A primary account can be the recipient of more than one secondary account. Each merge must be performed separately.
Once merged, the following changes take place to the two accounts:
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The secondary account becomes read-only.
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The secondary account's contacts become contacts on the primary account.
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The secondary account cannot be added to orders or updated, but it can be deleted. For more information, refer to Deleting a Customer Account.
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The primary account lists the accounts it was merged with on the Customer|Basic page in the duplicate accounts section.
Most of the information from the secondary account is added to the primary account when the merge is performed; however, the following information is not transferred:
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All of the information from the additional customer details section of the Customer|Advanced page.
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All of the information from the agent organization details section of the Customer|Basic page.
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All of the information from the customer section of the Customer|Basic page, except the 'Customer Class' field if the primary account does not have one assigned.
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All of the information from the marketing data section of the Customer|Basic page.
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All of the information from the organization details section of the Customer|Basic page.
Before You Begin
Before performing the merge, complete the following:
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Obtain the customer number of the primary account.
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If the secondary account has an account balance, transfer the balance to the primary account. AudienceView will not let you merge a secondary account if it has a balance. For more information, refer to Transferring Account Balances.
Merging Accounts
To merge accounts, complete the following:
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Open the Customer Services application from the AudienceView Desktop.
The Customer|Search page appears.
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Search for and select the secondary customer account you want to work with. For more information, refer to Searching for a Customer or Contact.
If you selected the default contact, the Customer|Basic page will appear, otherwise the Customer|Advanced page will appear.
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Select the Basic tab, if necessary.
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Expand the customer state section.
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Enter the primary account’s customer number in the 'Merge to Customer' field.
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Enter a reason for merging the account in the 'State Change Reason' field.
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Click 'Merge'.
A window prompts you to confirm the merge with the primary account.
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Click 'OK'.
A window confirms that the application merged the accounts.
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Click 'OK'.
The secondary account’s state is set to Closed. The 'State Change Description' field displays the description you entered and the 'Parent Customer Number' field displays the primary account number.
Click the 'Parent Customer Number' field to display the primary account. The primary account’s Customer|Basic page displays the secondary account record in the duplicate accounts section:
