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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 over 3 months ago

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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