When investment firms first connect Dakota Marketplace to their CRM, they run into the same question almost immediately: should I link this record or create a new one?
It sounds like a small decision, but getting it wrong is one of the fastest ways to end up with a messy CRM.
Duplicate records, conflicting data, and a sales team that stops trusting what they see are all symptoms of the same problem: not knowing when to link and when to create.
The cost of bad data compounds quickly, and most firms do not realize how bad it has gotten until the damage is already done.
The good news is that Dakota's CRM integration is built to make this decision simple.
Here is how linking and creating work, when to use each, and how to make sure your CRM stays clean from day one. For broader CRM adoption guidance, visit Dakota's CRM resource hub.
The Core Difference
Both linking and creating bring Dakota Marketplace data into your CRM and keep it updated in real time. The difference is what happens to your existing records.
- Linking connects an account or contact that already exists in your CRM to its matching record in Dakota Marketplace. Your existing record stays exactly as it is. Dakota's data flows in alongside it, adding information without overriding anything your team has already entered. You end up with one clean record that contains both your internal data and Dakota's external data in one place.
- Creating builds a brand new account or contact in your CRM directly from Dakota Marketplace. It is the right move when a record does not exist in your CRM yet and you want to bring it in with all of Dakota's data already attached from the start.
The rule of thumb is simple: if the account already exists in your CRM, link it. If it does not, create it.
Why Linking Matters More Than You Think
The temptation when setting up a CRM integration is to skip the linking step and just create everything fresh. It feels faster. But if your CRM already has 500 accounts and you create all of them again from Dakota, you now have 1,000 records, half of which are duplicates. Your sales team does not know which record to log activity against. Reports become unreliable. And the CRM that was supposed to make your team more productive becomes a source of daily frustration.
Good CRM data hygiene starts with making sure each entity lives in exactly one place. Linking is how you preserve that. It is not just a technical step: it is the decision that determines whether your CRM is a single source of truth or a mess of conflicting records.
How the Linking Process Works
Dakota's integration makes linking straightforward. When you select an account in the Data Integrations tab and choose Link, the integration performs a fuzzy match, comparing the account name in Dakota Marketplace against the records already in your CRM and surfacing the closest matches.
If the fuzzy match does not find the right record because your naming conventions differ, you can search manually by phone number, CRD number, or website for accounts, and by email address, full name, last name, or CRD number for contacts. Once you find the right match, linking takes a single click.
After linking, a small link icon appears next to the record as a visual confirmation that the connection is active and Dakota data is flowing in.
Ready to see linking and creating in action inside your own CRM? Book a demo today!
How the Creating Process Works
When an account genuinely does not exist in your CRM yet, creating it from Dakota Marketplace is the fastest way to get it in with accurate, complete data from the start.
From the Data Integrations tab, you select the account, preview all of Dakota's information on that record, and choose which contacts you want to pull over based on who your team would actually call on. Click Add, and the account and its selected contacts are created in your CRM in a single step. No manual data entry. No copying and pasting from a browser tab.
You can create up to 200 records at a time, making it easy to build out new territory or add an entire segment of allocators your firm has not previously targeted.
When You Are Not Sure: Always Try Linking First
If you are unsure whether a record already exists in your CRM, always try linking first. The fuzzy match will tell you quickly whether there is a match to connect to. If there is no match, you can switch to creating from the same workflow without losing any steps.
This is the single most important habit to build when working with Dakota's integration. Defaulting to creating when you are unsure is how duplicate records accumulate over time. Defaulting to linking first keeps your CRM clean.
What About Your Existing Data? That Is Where Linking & Syncing Comes In
If your firm has hundreds or thousands of existing CRM records and the idea of linking them one by one sounds like an enormous project, Dakota has a solution. Linking & Syncing is Dakota's white-glove setup service that handles the initial connection for you. You send Dakota an export of your existing accounts and contacts, the team runs a matching process across multiple fields, and once you approve the match file, Dakota builds all of the connections on the back end. Your entire existing dataset gets connected correctly before your team logs in on day one.
For any firm with a populated CRM, Linking & Syncing is the right starting point before doing any manual linking or creating.
Clean Data Is a Decision You Make on Day One
The firms that get the most out of their Dakota CRM integration are the ones that take the linking step seriously from the start. It is not complicated, but it does require intention. Every record you link correctly is one fewer duplicate to clean up later, one fewer conflict for your sales team to navigate, and one more reason your CRM becomes the tool your firm actually relies on.
Book a demo of Dakota's CRM integrations today!
