Distinguish organisation, legal entity and location
An operational branch is not always a separate business, and a customer group is not necessarily one entity. Define what each record represents and which information it should connect.
For a parent relationship, retain which terms apply jointly and which concern a particular recipient. Similar names alone should not establish the connection.
Keep local conversation context
Needs, contacts and open tasks can differ between branches. A planned purchase at one location does not mean the entire network has the same intention.
The salesperson needs central agreements and the latest local discussions together. This avoids reopening matters already explained by that branch.
Agree purchase aggregation
A transaction should enter the analysis once even when shown at branch and group level. Shared identifiers and explicit aggregation rules matter.
For an operations director, this supports cooperation across sites. CRM can retain relationship structure and contact history. Their usefulness depends on reflecting the actual roles of entities rather than producing independent versions of the same customer. The distinction also helps the team decide which questions need a central answer and which should remain with the local contact.