01What this guide helps you do
Update known information while preserving the correct person's identity.
This guide focuses on one task within contacts & audiences. Its completion test is specific: The correction appears on the intended record. Use that result to decide whether the task is finished. Opening a page, entering a value or seeing a brief notification can be part of the process without establishing the complete result.
02When to use this workflow
Use this workflow when your immediate goal is to edit an existing contact. Keep the scope limited to the relevant contact set. If you are solving a different problem, use the related guides at the end rather than applying every action here to unrelated records.
The usual operational owner is the workspace administrator or authorised contact manager. If another person owns the relevant business facts or permissions, involve that person before changing the shared record. Individual access and business authority are not always the same thing.
03Prepare the information you need
Keep the original contact source and work on a separate import copy. Use clear column headings, one record per row and phone values stored as text. Review international prefixes rather than applying one blindly to every row. Decide which fields are actually useful for the intended workflow. A smaller accurate source is easier to reconcile than a large file containing unrelated personal information.
Current record, corrected detail, evidence.
04Find the right workspace and feature
Start from Contacts. Treat this as a feature locator: the arrangement of menus can differ between the web interface and the native application. Confirm the workspace name and the relevant record before proceeding, especially if you manage more than one business or use both India and UK accounts.
The target of this task is a contact set. Keep its identity visible while you work. A similarly named record or a previously open browser tab can otherwise make a correct action affect the wrong context.
05Understand the information on screen
| Information | What it means | Practical check |
|---|---|---|
| Phone | Recipient identity and destination | Preserve international form |
| Name | Optional personalisation data | Do not invent missing identities |
| Audience | Saved matching selection | Refresh before campaign use |
| Permission | Decision and evidence | Review independently of import |
Apply these distinctions to the specific inputs for this guide: current record, corrected detail, evidence. You do not need to collect every possible field in the workspace. Use the information needed to make this decision and to verify its result.
06Inspect the current state first
Compare source rows, import mapping and saved contact records as separate stages. Check names, phone numbers and any custom fields on a representative sample. A saved audience is a selection of records; its matching count can differ from campaign eligibility. Permission is a separate record with its own evidence, so importing a number or applying a tag does not itself establish permission.
If the intended result is already present, check whether any further action is necessary. This is particularly useful after an interrupted session or when another teammate may have completed part of the work.
07Step 1: Find the exact contact
Begin with the relevant inputs: current record, corrected detail, evidence. Resolve any ambiguity that would change which record or business decision the task concerns. Keep a short note of the original state if you will need to compare it later. This creates a clear starting point for the next action instead of relying on memory after several screens have changed.
08Step 2: Change the relevant field
Use the result of the first action as the context for this one. Check the exact label, selected value or evidence involved rather than assuming that a default matches the intended task. If you identify an inconsistency, resolve it before proceeding. Keep the change narrow enough that its effect can be understood without comparing many unrelated edits.
09Step 3: Verify the saved value
Finish by checking the observable result, not only whether the interface accepted an interaction. If the result is still pending or cannot be verified, preserve that distinction in your notes. A clearly recorded unresolved state is more useful than announcing completion and discovering the missing part during a live customer task. Use the verification guidance below for the relevant feature.
10Worked example
A team compares the phone number before updating a common surname.
The useful lesson is the sequence of decisions, not a promised result for every business. In this scenario, begin with “Find the exact contact”, continue with “Change the relevant field”, and finish with “Verify the saved value”. Compare the result with the completion test before applying the same process to a wider set of records.
Use invented names and references when practising this example. Keep the structure realistic, but do not copy a live customer conversation or payment record into training material simply to make the demonstration look authentic.
11Verify the result
Read the import or save result and compare a sample with the source. Created, updated, duplicate and rejected outcomes can explain why the contact total is not equal to the number of source rows. For an audience, reopen it from the campaign selection and inspect matching and eligible counts. Use a contact with missing optional data to check that later personalisation has an appropriate fallback.
The correction appears on the intended record.
12Decide what to do next
| What you observe | Appropriate next step | What to avoid |
|---|---|---|
| The expected result is visibly present. | Keep the result and continue with the intended business task. | Repeating a completed action without a reason. |
| The result is still pending or uncertain. | Review the current contact set and the relevant status. | Calling the task complete without evidence. |
| The result conflicts with the intended choice. | Revisit: Change the relevant field. | Changing unrelated records to hide the symptom. |
Use the observed state to choose a branch. A recovery action should address the actual cause and preserve any work that is already correct. If several people are involved, make the next owner explicit so a pending state does not become an unattended task.
13The main mistake to avoid
Editing a lookalike name can change the wrong person's data.
This mistake can make the task appear finished while leaving the business outcome unresolved. Return to the inputs and the named steps when the result is unclear. Keep a useful distinction between what you observed and what you expected. If a weaker signal is all that is available, describe the remaining uncertainty and identify how it can be checked.
14Diagnose an unexpected result
Compare the expected result with the exact current state of the contact set. Record which of the three actions was last completed and what happened next. Keep the exact validation message or visible status where one exists. This separates an input problem from a saved-state problem and helps another person reproduce the same example.
Check the workspace, selected record and current view. Change one relevant factor at a time. If you change several unrelated settings together, a later success may not explain which change actually resolved the issue.
15Recover without duplicating work
Correct verified source or mapping problems rather than repeatedly importing the whole file. Keep the original result so you can see which rows were already processed. If a save timed out, inspect the contact or audience before trying again. When counts disagree, compare like-for-like records and filters first. A duplicate update can be successful without increasing the overall contact count.
If the result depends on a provider or another authorised person, record that dependency and use the appropriate route. Do not simulate success by manually changing an unrelated display value or by removing evidence of the original outcome.
16Use the workflow on web and mobile
Mobile contact work needs the same source review as desktop work. A narrow screen may hide columns or field labels, so inspect the preview before saving. After an import, open a sample record rather than relying only on the completion message. When switching to campaign creation, refresh the audience list and confirm you are still in the same workspace and edition.
When comparing devices, match the same account, record and relevant filters. A desktop screenshot and a mobile screen from different contexts are not evidence of inconsistent data. If a layout problem prevents completing the task, report the screen name, device context and the affected control with private details removed.
17Keep a useful operational record
Retain only the information needed to explain the task: its purpose, the relevant contact set, the action taken and the observed result. If the operation produced a safe reference, keep it with the time and workspace context. This makes a later handover or support query more precise than a screenshot with no explanation.
| Record | Useful content |
|---|---|
| Purpose | Update known information while preserving the correct person's identity. |
| Inputs reviewed | Current record, corrected detail, evidence |
| Outcome to verify | The correction appears on the intended record. |
| Next owner | Workspace administrator or authorised contact manager |
18Protect private information
Use the minimum customer or business information needed for the task. Restrict access to authorised colleagues, and redact unrelated names, numbers and message content when sharing a screenshot. An evidence reference is often more suitable than copying the underlying private document into a general field or support message.
For this workflow, the useful input categories are current record, corrected detail, evidence. They should help you make and verify the decision; they are not a reason to publish a customer database, credentials or internal operating notes. The fictional example in this guide can be used for training without exposing live records.
19Know the limits of this workflow
Importing a phone number does not itself record permission. A saved audience and the number of recipients eligible for a campaign can differ.
Keep source data, import mapping, contact identity and permission evidence distinct. Validate a small sample before importing a larger file.
Read the linked source material for decisions controlled by a provider or by the applicable commercial terms. A practical guide explains how to approach the task; it does not add a new contractual guarantee or establish that every business use is legally suitable. Use the responsible business owner for unresolved exceptions.
20Review the process over time
Review stale phone numbers, ambiguous names and unused fields periodically. Keep source references useful without attaching unnecessary private documents. Update saved audience naming when its business purpose changes and recheck recipient eligibility before a send. A contact set is maintained over time; an accurate import today does not guarantee that every number or permission decision remains current indefinitely.
Update related instructions when the underlying business fact or product behaviour changes. Keep a representative example from this workflow so a future revision can be compared with an explicit expectation rather than judged from memory.
21Practical questions
What should I check before starting?
Prepare current record, corrected detail, evidence. Then confirm the workspace and the relevant contact set. The first action is “Find the exact contact”. Starting there keeps later decisions grounded in the correct record and avoids trying to solve a different problem with this workflow.
How do I know the task is complete?
Use this observable test: The correction appears on the intended record. If a state is pending, describe it as pending. If a save or provider operation is uncertain, inspect the current record before repeating it. The result matters more than whether a button was pressed.
What if the result still does not match?
Review this risk first: Editing a lookalike name can change the wrong person's data. Keep the exact symptom, the relevant reference and the last completed action. Ask the workspace administrator or authorised contact manager or the appropriate support route to review the remaining issue, using a small reproducible example rather than a broad export of customer data.
22Completion checklist
Use this checklist as a final review of the task, not as a substitute for the steps above. If an item remains unresolved, identify the next action and its owner. Do not mark a provider-dependent or unverified result complete merely because the rest of the checklist is finished.
- The intended workspace and contact set were identified.
- The necessary inputs were reviewed: current record, corrected detail, evidence.
- Find the exact contact.
- Change the relevant field.
- Verify the saved value.
- The result was checked: The correction appears on the intended record.
- The task-specific risk was considered: Editing a lookalike name can change the wrong person's data.
- Any unresolved issue has an accountable next owner and a useful evidence reference.