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Contact Linking & Auto-Creation

Turn LinkedIn profiles into CRM contacts with one click—complete with enriched data and automatic summaries

Jung Hong Kim avatar
Written by Jung Hong Kim
Updated this week

Stop manually entering contact information. LinkedIn Inbox intelligently connects profiles to your CRM, auto-populating key details and creating searchable contact records instantly.

Link vs Create New: When to Use Each

Use "Merge with existing person" When:

  • ✅ You already have this person in your CRM

  • ✅ Contact exists but lacks LinkedIn profile connection

  • ✅ You want to enrich existing contact data with LinkedIn information

  • ✅ Multiple team members have interacted with this prospect

Use "Create new person" When:

  • ✅ This is your first interaction with this prospect

  • ✅ No existing contact record in your CRM

  • ✅ You want a fresh contact with complete LinkedIn data


Auto-Populated Contact Fields

When you create or link a LinkedIn profile, Klipy automatically enriches the contact with:

Basic Information

  • First Name: Extracted from LinkedIn profile

  • Last Name: Professional name from profile

  • Profile Photo: High-resolution LinkedIn headshot

  • Current Job Title: Most recent position from work experience

Contact Enrichment

  • Work Email: Email included in the contact details in Linkedin; OR Work Email enrichment (coming soon)

  • Company Name: Current employer based on the email domain

  • Industry: Company sector and focus area

  • Location: City and region from profile

  • LinkedIn Profile URL: Direct link to their profile

AI-Generated Profile Summary

Klipy creates a comprehensive memo including:

  • Professional background overview

  • Key experience highlights

  • Education summary

  • Notable skills and endorsements

  • Recent activity insights


Step-by-Step Linking Process

Linking to Existing Contact

  1. Open the Conversation

    • Open LinkedIn Inbox

    • Select the conversation thread

  2. Choose "Merge with Existing"

    • Click "Create person" button

    • Search your CRM using name or email

    • Select the matching contact from results

  3. Automatic Enrichment

    • LinkedIn data populates empty CRM fields

    • Profile summary added to contact timeline

    • LinkedIn profile URL saved to contact record

    • Last interaction date updated based on the most recent messaging

Creating New Contact

  1. Initiate Contact Creation

    • In LinkedIn Inbox, select the conversation

    • Click "Create Person" button

  2. Complete Creation

    • Click "Create new person" to finalize

    • New contact appears in your CRM instantly

  3. Automatic Enrichment

    • LinkedIn data populates empty CRM fields

    • Profile summary added to contact timeline

    • LinkedIn profile URL saved to contact record

    • Last interaction date updated based on the most recent messages exchanged


Understanding the AI-Generated Summary

What's Included

Professional Journey

  • Career progression and role transitions

  • Industry experience and specializations

  • Company background and notable employers

Skills & Expertise

  • Core competencies from profile

  • Endorsed skills and recommendations

  • Educational background highlights

Recent Activity Context

  • Latest posts and engagement patterns

  • Industry involvement and thought leadership

  • Professional interests and focus areas

Using the Summary Effectively

  • Pre-Meeting Prep: Review before calls to personalize conversations

  • Conversation Starters: Reference career highlights or shared interests

  • Qualification Insights: Identify decision-making authority and budget indicators

  • Follow-up Context: Reference specific background details in future messages


Managing Contact Duplicates

Prevention Strategies

  • Search Before Creating: Always check for existing contacts first

  • Use Name + Email (If known): Search by both email and name to find matches

  • Check Alternative Spellings: Look for nickname variations or maiden names

Duplicate Resolution

If you accidentally create a duplicate:

  1. Identify the Duplicate

    • Search your CRM for similar names/companies

    • Look for contacts with same email domain

    • Check recent contact creation dates

  2. Choose Master Record

    • Select the contact with most complete information

    • Prefer the record with more interaction history

    • Keep the LinkedIn-linked contact as master

  3. Merge Process

  • Open the duplicate contacts

  • Select "Merge duplicate"

  • Select master record to merge into.

  • Click "Merge" to confirm.


Why We Don't Auto-Sync Existing Contacts

LinkedIn Compliance Protection

API Rate Limits: LinkedIn restricts how many profiles can be accessed per hour
Suspicious Activity Prevention: Bulk profile access can trigger account restrictions
Account Safety: Manual linking protects your LinkedIn account from automated activity flags

Data Quality Benefits

Intentional Connections: You control which contacts get LinkedIn data
Clean Database: Prevents irrelevant social profiles from cluttering your CRM
Privacy Respect: Maintains separation between personal and professional networks

Manual Process Advantages

  • Quality Control: Review each connection before linking

  • Context Awareness: Understand the relationship before enrichment

  • Selective Enrichment: Only enhance contacts that need LinkedIn data


Troubleshooting Common Issues

Contact Linking Failures

"No results found" Error

  • Try searching by full name + email instead of full name only

  • Check for spelling variations or nicknames

  • Ensure the contact exists in your CRM

LinkedIn Data Not Populating

  • Wait 30 seconds for data sync to complete

  • Refresh the contact page to see updated information

  • Check if LinkedIn profile is public or restricted

Duplicate Contact Created

  • Use the merge process outlined above

Profile Summary Issues

Incomplete Summary Generated

  • LinkedIn profile may have limited public information

  • Private profiles provide less data for AI analysis

Summary Needs Updates

  • Manually update contact notes if immediate changes needed


Contact linking respects all LinkedIn privacy settings and only accesses publicly available profile information.

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