> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.slapfive.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.slapfive.com/getting-started/slapfive-best-practices/slapfive-self-guide-enablement/understanding-the-slapfive-data-model/member-and-company-profiles-faq.md).

# Member & Company Profiles FAQ

Profiles & Data FAQs  What is the difference between an Account and a Member? Explain the relationship between the customer company/account and the individual people associated with that organization.

**What is the difference between an Account and a Member?**\
Explain the relationship between the customer company/account and the individual people associated with that organization.

**What information should I include on an advocate profile?**\
Focus on the information needed to find and activate that customer: role, company, industry, product, use case, geography, advocacy interests, reference preferences, etc.

**Should we use free-text fields or pick list dropdowns?**\
For fields used heavily in filtering, segmentation, matching, or reporting, standardized values are generally preferable because inconsistent data matching, filtering and fulfilling request needs difficult if the data is messy.

**Do I need to bring all of my CRM data into SlapFive?**\
No. Focus on data that helps identify, segment, match, activate, or report on advocates. The goal is an actionable advocacy data model—not recreating your entire CRM.

**What happens when an advocate changes companies or leaves their company?**

When an advocate changes companies or leaves their organization, their SlapFive profile should be reviewed to ensure they are no longer associated with an account they no longer represent.

* **If the advocate leaves the company:**
  * Update their status so they are no longer included in active advocate outreach or reference matching for the former company.
  * Preserve relevant historical advocacy activity when appropriate so your team retains an accurate record of past participation.
  * Review any outstanding requests, campaigns, or advocacy activities associated with the advocate.
  * If their contact information is no longer valid, update or deactivate the record rather than continuing outreach to an outdated business email.
* **If the advocate moves to a new company:**
  * Treat the new employment relationship as new customer/account context. Confirm that the new company is an appropriate organization for your advocacy program before associating the advocate with it.

An advocate's history with their former company should not automatically imply that they can serve as a reference or advocate for their new organization.

**Best practice:** Regularly validate employment, account association, contact information, and advocate status.

***

#### How should we handle duplicate advocates or accounts?

Duplicate records should be addressed as soon as they are identified because they can impact filtering, segmentation, campaign targeting, reference matching, and reporting.

Before creating a new Account or Member, first search SlapFive to determine whether a record already exists.

**For duplicate Members:**\
Determine which profile should be considered the primary record. Review both records for important profile information and advocacy history before deactivating or otherwise resolving the duplicate.

Pay particular attention to:

* Email address
* Company/account association
* Role and title
* Profile attributes
* Advocacy preferences
* Campaign participation
* Reference activity
* Stories or other customer contributions

Avoid simply removing a duplicate without first determining whether it contains historical information your team needs to retain.

**For duplicate Accounts:**\
First determine why the duplicate was created. Common causes can include inconsistent company naming, manual record creation, or differences between SlapFive and an integrated source system.

For example:

`Acme`\
`Acme Inc.`\
`Acme Corporation`

should not unintentionally become three separate customer records if they represent the same organization.

When resolving duplicate Accounts, confirm which Account should be treated as the primary record and review the Members and activity associated with each before making changes.

**Best practices for preventing duplicates:**

* Search before manually creating new records.
* Standardize company naming conventions.
* Use consistent identifiers when syncing data from systems such as your CRM.
* Define which system is the source of truth for customer and contact data.
* Periodically review your data for duplicate or inactive records.
* Avoid creating multiple fields or records to solve a data-quality issue that should be corrected at the source.

Clean Account and Member data helps ensure that SlapFive can accurately identify the right customers, target the right audiences, support reference matching, and provide trustworthy reporting.