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Prevent Duplicate Records When Importing Leads Without Email Addresses

Using Unique Placeholder Emails in Sierra Interactive

Summary

Sierra Interactive utilizes the email address as a unique identifier to maintain the integrity of your database. By ensuring every lead has a distinct email, you prevent duplicate records that often cause reporting discrepancies and follow-up errors. This system allows for reliable tracking of lead activity and ensures your automations trigger correctly for the right person.

Table of Contents

  1. How Placeholder Emails Work

  2. Format Requirements for Placeholders

  3. The Lead Import Process

  4. Best Practices for Database Health

  5. Troubleshooting and FAQ

How Placeholder Emails Work

To manage leads from offline events or open houses that lack contact information, you can still bring them into your CRM by using a unique placeholder. To ensure the system accepts the record, assign a unique address that follows a standard email format.

These addresses do not need to be real, active inboxes. Their primary purpose is to act as a "shelf space" for the lead's data until a real email address is obtained.

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Format Requirements for Placeholders

To ensure a successful upload, placeholder emails must be formatted correctly so the database can recognize and accept them. Proper formatting creates a separate record for each lead and keeps your imports, reporting, and automations accurate. 

⚠️ Each placeholder email must be unique. If two leads share the same “fake” email, the system treats them as the same person and flags a duplicate, which can block new records and misroute activity.

  • Use a simple pattern to keep emails unique, such as adding the lead’s name, event, or a number (for example, openhouse_001@example.com, openhouse_002@example.com).

  • Before importing, check your email column for duplicates to avoid errors.

  • Each placeholder email must follow a standard email format and include:

    • A username or identifier (before “@”)

    • The “@” symbol

    • A valid domain and extension (such as .com, .net, or .org)

  • You can choose any domain, but many teams use a consistent, clearly fake domain (such as @noemail.com or @placeholder.com) so these records are easy to find and manage later.

    • Approved Examples

      • johnsmith@noemail.com

      • lead123@placeholder.com

      • openhouse_jane@example.com

    • These examples use a unique identifier, the “@” symbol, and a valid domain with an appropriate extension, helping the system accept your data and keep your database clean. 

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The Lead Import Process

When you are ready to begin your import, refer to: Import Leads into Sierra Using the Lead Import Wizard 

That article walks you through each step of the process, including how to:

  • Prepare your CSV file and map columns to the correct Sierra fields

  • Include placeholder emails alongside real email addresses

  • Handle duplicates and errors that may appear during the upload

  • Verify that new leads have been created correctly in your CRM

Reviewing the import guide before you upload will help you avoid common formatting issues, reduce failed rows, and ensure your leads enter Sierra cleanly and are ready for routing, follow-up, and automation. 

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Best Practices for Database Health

  •  To keep your records organized, use a consistent domain for all placeholder emails, such as @example.com. This makes it simple to filter for and identify these leads when you are ready to replace the placeholder with a valid email address.

  • Communication Limitations: Placeholder emails support calling and texting, but they cannot receive email messages. Email communication will not be delivered until the lead has a real, functional inbox on file. 

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Troubleshooting Common Issues

  • My upload failed due to duplicate emails
    This means two or more leads share the same email address. Update placeholder emails so each lead is unique.

  • I accidentally used a real email that isn’t correct
    Edit the lead record and replace it with a placeholder email.

  • Can emails be sent to placeholder addresses?
    No. Placeholder emails are not real inboxes and should not be used for email communication.

FAQs

  • Does the placeholder email need to work?
    No. It only needs to follow a valid email format.

  • Can I use the same placeholder email for multiple leads?
    No. Each lead must have a unique email address.

  • Why can’t Sierra use phone numbers instead?
    Phone numbers are not always unique and may change. Email provides a more reliable system identifier.

  • Will this affect texting or calling leads?
    No. Placeholder emails do not impact phone or text communication.

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