Avoid duplicate customers and merge them

One person, one record – then appointments, consent forms, deposits and messages are in one place. Inkfuchs takes care of that in three places.

Online booking, request and consent form: quietly to the existing record

When someone books online without signing in, sends a request or fills in a consent form via QR code, Inkfuchs looks for the record in your studio:

1. by email address (upper/lower case doesn't matter),
2. otherwise by the mobile number of a record without an email – for example a client you created at the counter with just a number. Landline numbers don't count; several people often share them.

If the record exists, everything goes there – a second record is never created. Nothing in the record is overwritten. If something differs (another name, a new number, a date of birth from the consent form), the record shows at the top:

Tick what's correct and tap Apply – or Dismiss. Both are logged.

The booking page gives nothing away: it answers the same for known and new addresses – same content, same time. Only the confirmation email (which goes to the address itself) says for a customer account: “Your appointment is also in your customer area.”

Creating a customer: a warning instead of a duplicate

If you type an email or phone number that already exists in the studio when creating or editing, you'll see right away:

Creating then only works explicitly with Create anyway – for example when mother and daughter share a family address. When assigning (e.g. a request) you can pick the existing one with Use this record. When editing, saving asks once more.

Find possible duplicates and merge them

In the customer list at the top right: Possible duplicates. It lists records that share an email, a phone number (however it's written – “0176 …” and “+49 176 …” are the same) or name and date of birth – the same detection as when moving to Inkfuchs.

• Not duplicates – different people: the records won't be grouped here again.
• Merge … – the oldest record stays (you can swap), the other one is merged into it.

This is how merging works:

1. Preview: what moves – appointments (with deposits and online payments), projects, requests, messages (one shared conversation), consent forms, files such as reference images and photos.
2. Choose per field where the records differ: which name, which email, which number … Notes and tags can also keep both. If one record declined “Messages by SMS”, it stays declined.
3. Type the name of the record that disappears – then Merge.

The second record disappears from all lists; old links to it lead to the remaining record. The log says “Merged” with what moved. A customer account reconnects via the email of the remaining record.

You can also start from a record: ··· → Merge with another record … and search for the other one.

What happens to a marketing consent?

It stays with the remaining record as it is. Only take it over from the other record if you can prove it for this person.

Are there limits?

If very many records share the same value (for example the studio number, entered for everyone during a move), Inkfuchs doesn't show them as duplicates – that's a placeholder rather than a person.