Questions:

• How can I distinguish between two records of the same person?
• How can I eliminate confusion between a user’s duplicate-name records?
• Why does one person need two accounts?

Main Points:

• Humans read account names, whereas Pillars manages accounts by ID.
• It is common to have two people by the same name in Pillars.
• If one person requires two accounts, require a distinction in the account name.
• The difference in name could be a middle name or initial for the Customer Type, e.g., Affiliate, Aff, A., (A), Customer, Cust, C., (C).

Explanation:

Confusion is inevitable not only when two people have the same name in your system, but also if one person has multiple accounts using the exact same name. Problems obviously arise by not referencing the correct account. For example, John Smith wants an affiliate account and a customer account using the same name. Eliminate the inevitable confusion up front by requiring him to add a distinction between the two types of accounts. For example, John Affiliate Smith, John Aff Smith, John A. Smith, John (A) Smith, John Smith-Affiliate, John Smith(A), etc. This eliminates the potential confusion when viewing either of John’s records.