How to link contacts to accounts
A contact with no account is an orphan - a person floating with no company context. Linking them is basic CRM hygiene that many databases neglect.
The email domain is the workhorse here: it reliably maps people to their employer, powering both linking and lead-to-account matching.
Short answer
Link contacts to accounts by matching each contact to its company - most reliably through the email domain - creating the relationship so the contact appears under the account, and keeping company data on the account rather than copied onto each contact. Proper linking is what turns scattered people into a coherent view of who you know at each company.
Step by step
Match contacts by email domain
Use the email domain to identify each contact's company and find or create the matching account.
Create the relationship
Link the contact to the account so the person appears under the company and inherits its context.
Keep company data on the account
Store firmographics once on the account and let contacts inherit them, rather than copying company data onto each person.
Fix orphaned contacts
Find contacts with no linked account and match them, so no person is floating without company context.
Domain matching is the workhorse
Email domain is the most reliable way to connect a person to their company, because it is far more unique and stable than a variously-spelled company name. Domain matching powers contact-to-account linking and lead-to-account matching alike, so getting it right pays off across the whole data model.
How Ardovo helps
Ardovo links contacts to accounts by domain automatically, so people are grouped under their company with no manual bookkeeping. Rook fixes orphaned contacts and keeps company data on the account, so every contact carries accurate company context by inheritance.
Frequently asked questions
How do you match a contact to the right account?
Primarily through the email domain, which reliably maps a person to their employer and is far more stable than a company name that gets spelled many ways. Match on domain to find or create the account, then link the contact so it appears under the company.
What is an orphaned contact?
A contact with no linked account - a person floating with no company context. Orphaned contacts break account-level views and reporting because you cannot see them alongside the company's other people and deals. Matching them to an account is basic hygiene.
Should company data live on the contact or the account?
On the account, with contacts inheriting it. Storing firmographics once on the account keeps company data consistent - one update flows to every contact - while copying it onto each person creates redundancy that drifts out of sync as details change.