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Prevent Duplicate Records When Importing Leads Without Email Addresses

Using Unique Placeholder Emails in Sierra Interactive

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.

Functional Flexibility

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 achieve a successful upload, your placeholder emails must meet specific criteria to be recognized by the database.

Strict Uniqueness

No two leads can share the exact same placeholder address. If two leads are assigned the same "fake" email, the system will flag them as duplicates.

Valid Syntax

The address must include an "@" symbol and a valid domain extension like .com or .net.

Approved Examples

  • johnsmith@noemail.com

  • lead123@placeholder.com

  • openhouse_jane@example.com

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The Lead Import Process

Main Article: 

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Best Practices for Database Health

To keep your records organized, try using a consistent domain for all placeholders, such as @example.com. This makes it easy to filter and identify these leads later when you are ready to update them with real contact info.

Communication Limitations

While placeholders allow you to call or text leads, keep in mind they cannot receive actual email communications until a valid inbox is provided.

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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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