When the same details get typed into three different tools

The short version#

• Retyping isn’t just slow. Every copy is another chance for a typo, and another place an old version can survive.
• Follow one piece of work through your tools, and list every detail that gets typed more than once, who types it and when.
• Give each detail one place where it’s entered first. Everywhere else links to it, copies it automatically, copies it with a check, or stops keeping it.
• Connect tools after that, not before. A connection between two inconsistent records just spreads the inconsistency faster.

First step: for one week, tally every time someone types a detail that already exists somewhere else. Download the data entry map (.xlsx)

What it looks like#

A new client signs on a Tuesday. By Thursday their name, ABN, billing contact and purchase order number have been typed into the CRM, the proposal, the project board and the accounting software, by three different people.

The next week the client changes their billing email. Someone updates the CRM. The accounting software still has the old address, and the first invoice goes to an inbox nobody reads.

Signs it’s happening:

• The same field holds different values in different tools, and nobody is sure which is right.
• Part of someone’s week goes on copying between systems, and the copying stops when they’re away.
• Invoices, quotes or reports go out with an old name, address or reference.
• Every new tool adds another place to type the same things.

Why it happens#

• Each tool arrived on its own. Each was chosen for one job, and each asks for the details it needs.
• Nobody decided where a detail is born. Without one place where it’s entered first, every copy is equally official.
• Copying is invisible work. It isn’t on anyone’s list, so its cost is never counted.
• Changes don’t travel. A detail updated in one place stays old everywhere else, until someone notices.

So one person ends up as the connection between the tools, and the business depends on them remembering.

How to set it up#

1. Follow one piece of work through your tools

   Pick something that happens often: a new client, a new job, a new order. Write down every tool it touches, in the order it touches them. Don’t map the whole business. One route is enough to start.

2. List the details that get typed more than once

   Names, ABNs, contacts, addresses, reference numbers, dates, amounts. For each one, note every place it’s typed, who types it and when. The week’s tally shows which ones come up most.

3. Choose where each detail is entered first

   Usually that’s the tool where the detail is first known, used by the person who knows it. A client’s details are often first known in the CRM or the quote. A purchase order number arrives later, with whoever handles billing. That place becomes the source, and everywhere else takes the detail from there.

4. Decide what happens everywhere else

   For every other place a detail appears, pick one of four:

   Option	When it fits
   Link	The other tool only needs to find the record. Store the reference, such as the client code or job number, not the details.
   Connect	The other tool needs the details themselves, and they change. A connection copies them one way, from the source.
   Copy, with a check	It happens rarely, and a connection isn’t worth building yet. Name who copies it and how it’s checked.
   Stop keeping it	Nobody uses the copy. Ask what it was for first. If the answer is nothing, remove the field.

5. Get the references right first

   Every tool should carry the same reference for the same client or job, so records can be matched before anything is connected. Match on references, never on names: names get spelt three ways. Guide 01 covers references in detail.

6. Connect the copy that costs most

   Start with the copy that happens most often, or does the most damage when it’s wrong. One connection, one direction, from the source. Check it against real records for a couple of weeks before anyone relies on it.

7. Count again in a month

   Repeat the week’s tally. Then make one question part of choosing any new tool: where will its details come from?

Worked example: one new client, before and after#

Start this week#

1. Pick one route: a new client, a new job or a new order.
2. Keep the tally for a week: every time a detail is typed that already exists somewhere.
3. Fill in the data entry map for the details that came up most.
4. Choose where each one is entered first, and tell the team.
5. Fix the references before connecting anything.

Template: Data entry map#

When the map stops being enough#

1. Two tools share the busiest detailsA one-way connection from the source, with a log of what it changed and an alert to a named person when it fails.
2. Several tools need the same client listOne client record the others look up by client code, instead of each keeping its own list.
3. Documents keep needing the detailsTemplates that fill in from the record, so quotes, proposals and letters aren’t retyped.
4. Copies still driftA weekly comparison between the source and each copy, listing the differences for a person to fix.

For whoever builds it

Setup notes#

References and direction

• Use one stable reference per client or job in every tool, and match records on it, never on names.
• One source per field. Syncing the same field both ways invites conflicts. If you need it, decide in advance how a conflict is resolved, and log each one for a person to review.

Failures and access

• A connection that fails quietly is worse than retyping, because everyone assumes it worked. Send failures to a named person.
• Run connections under an account the business controls, with only the access they need, and write down what each one does.

Checking it’s working

• Repeat the tally a month after each change, and count the differences the weekly comparison finds.

What this won’t do#

• It won’t clean up bad data. Fix the source first, or a connection copies the errors faster.
• It won’t remove every copy. Some copying is cheaper than a connection, and that’s a fine decision if it’s named and checked.

Want it built into your business?#

You can map and fix a route with the template. Where I help: mapping the details across all your tools, choosing the sources, and building the connections and templates, tested on real records before anyone relies on them.

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