Troubleshooting "Unknown Lead" Errors in Certain Touchpoint Lead Scanning and QR Code Badge Scanning

Basics

Updated: 2 months ago
Audience: Certain Touchpoint exhibitors who scan attendee badges in the Certain Touchpoint app.
Audience: Event admins who configure lead retrieval and manage attendee records in the Touchpoint CMS.

When an exhibitor scans an attendee badge in the Certain Touchpoint app and the result comes back as “Unknown Lead” (or blank), the QR code value on the badge did not match any attendee record in the event.

This article explains how QR matching works, what causes the error, and how to fix it for a single attendee or for a group.

1. How QR Code Matching Works

Every attendee profile in Touchpoint has a field called External Matching Code / QR Code source (also referred to as the Lead Code).

When an exhibitor scans a badge, the app reads the value embedded in the badge QR code and looks for an attendee whose External Matching Code / QR Code source field contains that exact same value.

If a match is found, the attendee’s contact information is returned.

If no match is found for any reason, the result is “Unknown Lead.”

Key rule

The value encoded in the badge QR code must exactly match the value in the External Matching Code / QR Code source field on the attendee’s Touchpoint profile.

Any difference produces an Unknown Lead result.

Differences include extra characters, different format, and using the wrong source field.

The attendee’s in-app My QR Code button (when the My QR Code feature is enabled) auto-generates a QR code from this same field.

If the field is blank, the app does not display a QR code for that attendee.

2. Common Causes of “Unknown Lead”

Most Common

External Matching Code field is blank on the attendee profile

The attendee exists in Touchpoint.

The attendee’s External Matching Code / QR Code source field was never populated.

This situation often happens for walk-in registrants, manually added attendees, or events where the attendee upload omitted the Lead Code column.

Without a value in this field, there is no value for the scanner to match against.

Badge QR code encodes a different value than the Lead Code

The attendee has a Lead Code on file.

The QR code printed on the badge was generated from a different value.

The badge printer may have used an internal sequence number, a different attendee ID, or a formatted string.

The badge value must match Certain’s registration code exactly.

The values must be identical, character for character.

Third-party registration or badge system QR codes

A third-party registration system (such as Stova, Cvent, or others) prints badges.

That system embeds its own QR code values.

Those QR values do not automatically match Certain’s External Matching Code.

The external system’s QR value must either be imported into Touchpoint as the Lead Code, or the badge printer must be given Certain’s Lead Code values to encode instead.

Wrong QR code type used with Certain badge printing

When using Certain Platform badge printing, the QR code type on the badge template must be set to “Basic” (Simple QR Code).

Using any other QR format produces a value that does not match the attendee’s registration code stored in Touchpoint.

Less Common

Attendee was not yet uploaded when the scan occurred

Onsite or last-minute registrants may not have their data imported into Touchpoint yet.

The scan result becomes Unknown Lead because no matching profile exists in the system at the time of the scan.

These scans cannot be retroactively associated with an attendee record after the fact.

The attendee data must be in the system before scanning occurs.

Duplicate attendee record—manually created record has no Lead Code

A walk-in attendee is manually added in the Touchpoint CMS.

The walk-in attendee also comes in through the Platform integration.

Two records exist.

The manually created record typically has no External Matching Code.

When the badge is scanned, the system may resolve to the wrong (manual) record.

Deleting or merging the duplicate resolves the issue.

3. Fix: Updating a Single Attendee Record

This method is used when correcting one or a handful of attendee records during or after an event.

1. In the Touchpoint CMS, navigate to your event and go to Attendees. 2. Find the affected attendee and click Edit on their record. 3. Scroll down to the QR Code / Lead Retrieval Profile section. 4. Check that the QR Code / Lead Retrieval Profile section appears only if Lead Scanning or Session Check-In Scanning is enabled on the event’s Manage Purchases page. 5. Check the External Matching Code / QR Code source field. 6. If the field is blank or contains an incorrect value, that is the cause of the Unknown Lead error. 7. Determine the correct value to enter. 8. For Platform-integrated events, enter the attendee’s Registration Code from the Certain Platform. 9. For non-Platform events, enter a value that matches the value encoded in the QR code on the printed badge. 10. Enter or correct the value and click Save. 11. Verify the update by asking the attendee to open their My QR Code in the app if the feature is enabled. 12. Have the exhibitor scan the displayed QR code to confirm a successful match.

Quick diagnostic tip

If access to the attendee’s physical badge is available, scan the QR code with a phone camera outside the Touchpoint app.

The raw text value appears.

Compare the raw text value exactly to the value in the External Matching Code / QR Code source field in the CMS.

The values must be identical.

4. Fix: Updating Multiple Attendees via Bulk Import

This method is used when several attendees are affected.

Use this method for cases such as a large wave of walk-in registrations or when a badge vendor used different QR values.

Step 1 — Export your current attendee list

From the Attendees section of your Touchpoint event, export the current attendee spreadsheet.

The External Matching Code / QR Code source field appears in the export as the Lead Code column.

This export provides a starting point for identifying blank or incorrect records.

Step 2 — Populate the Lead Code column

In the spreadsheet, fill in (or correct) the Lead Code column for each affected attendee.

The value you enter must exactly match what is encoded in that attendee’s badge QR code.

Common source values include:

The attendee’s Registration Code from the Certain Platform (for Platform-integrated events).
The attendee’s External ID as assigned by your registration or badge vendor.
The attendee’s email address (acceptable for non-Platform events if the badge QR encodes the email).
Any unique identifier, as long as the identifier matches the badge QR exactly.

> Warning: > Important: Each Lead Code must be unique per attendee within the event. > Duplicate Lead Codes across multiple attendee records cause unpredictable matching results.

Step 3 — Re-import the spreadsheet

In the Touchpoint CMS, navigate to Attendees > Import and upload the updated spreadsheet.

The import updates existing records based on the attendee identifier.

Lead Codes apply to each matching profile immediately upon successful import.

Step 4 — Verify

After the import completes, spot-check a few attendee profiles.

Verify that the Lead Code field is now populated.

If the My QR Code feature is enabled, ask a test attendee to open the feature in their app.

The app should display a QR code.

5. Platform-Integrated Events

For events connected to the Certain Platform via the Platform-Touchpoint integration, the External Matching Code / QR Code source field is automatically populated with each attendee’s Registration Code when attendees sync from Platform to Touchpoint.

No manual entry is required for standard registrants.

Unknown Lead errors can still occur in Platform-integrated events in these situations:

Walk-in attendees submitted through a walk-in form may be manually created in the Touchpoint CMS rather than coming through the integration.
Certain badge printing with a non-Basic QR code type will embed a different value than the Registration Code.
Always select the “Basic” (Simple) QR Code option in the badge template settings.
Attendees who registered after the last sync may not yet have their record in Touchpoint.
A manual sync or re-import resolves this issue.

6. Third-Party Badge and Registration Systems

If your organization uses a third-party registration platform (such as Stova, Cvent, Whova, or a custom badge printer) to generate attendee badges, QR codes produced by those systems do not automatically match the Lead Codes in Touchpoint.

Two options resolve this mismatch.

| Option | How It Works | Best For | |---|---|---| | Option A: Import the external system's IDs into Touchpoint | Export the attendee ID values from your external system, add them to the Lead Code column in your Touchpoint attendee spreadsheet, and re-import. Touchpoint will then match scans against those external IDs. | When you cannot control what value the badge printer encodes in the QR code | | Option B: Provide Certain Lead Codes to your badge printer | Export the attendee list from Touchpoint (which includes the Lead Code column) and send those values to your badge vendor. Ask them to encode the Lead Code value—not their own internal ID—in each attendee's badge QR code. | When you have control over badge production before the event |

Note on exporting Lead Codes from Touchpoint

You can export the full attendee list including Lead Codes from the Attendees section of the Touchpoint CMS.

The External Matching Code / QR Code source field appears as the Lead Code column in the exported spreadsheet.

Share the Lead Code column with your badge vendor.

Ask the vendor to encode each attendee’s Lead Code value in their badge QR.

7. Walk-In and Onsite Registrants

Walk-in attendees represent the most common source of Unknown Lead errors during live events.

Walk-in attendees often register onsite.

Their data frequently either:

is not in Touchpoint yet at the time of scanning, or
is entered manually without a Lead Code.

Before scanning begins

Upload all walk-in registrant records to Touchpoint before exhibitors begin scanning.
Upload walk-in registrant records including a Lead Code for each.
If walk-in badges are printed on-demand, ensure the badge printing station encodes the same value that will be uploaded as the Lead Code in Touchpoint.

If Unknown Lead scans have already occurred

Unknown Lead scans that occurred before an attendee’s record was in the system cannot be retroactively linked to the attendee after the fact.

The scan log records the raw QR code value.

The system cannot automatically match it once the event has progressed.

For these cases, contact information must be collected directly from the affected attendees by the exhibitor.

If exhibitors photographed the attendee badges, the encoded QR value (scannable via any standard camera) can be used to identify the attendee and manually enter their details.

> Warning: No retroactive matching available > There is currently no way to retroactively associate an Unknown Lead scan with an attendee record after the scan has been recorded. > Prevention—ensuring all records are uploaded before scanning begins—is the only reliable approach.

8. Prevention Checklist

Use this checklist before any event where lead scanning will be used to minimize Unknown Lead results.

| Action Item | Who | |---|---| | Confirm all attendee records are uploaded to Touchpoint before scanning begins, including a unique Lead Code for each | Event Admin | | For Platform-integrated events: verify that the Platform-Touchpoint sync has completed and that External Matching Code fields are populated | Event Admin | | For Certain Platform badge printing: confirm the badge template uses the Basic (Simple) QR Code option | Event Admin | | For third-party badge vendors: share the exported Lead Code column from Touchpoint and confirm the vendor will encode those values in the badge QR codes | Event Admin / Badge Vendor | | Test-scan at least 3–5 attendee badges before exhibitor scanning begins to confirm matching is working | Event Admin / Support | | For events with walk-in registration: establish a process to upload walk-in records (with Lead Codes) in real time throughout the event day | Event Admin | | Advise exhibitors that any “Unknown Lead” result should be flagged immediately so the event admin can investigate while the attendee is still on-site | Exhibitor Coordinator |

Contact Certain Touchpoint Support

If you are unable to resolve the issue using the steps above, contact Certain Support with the event URL, the affected attendee name or email, and (if possible) a scan of the raw QR code value from the badge.

This allows the support team to investigate the mismatch quickly.