I have a table with 3 columns (employee's last name, first name, and
ID). Last names can be duplicated

Smith John td232
Smith Mary xk543
Smith Steve aa213

Can someone suggest a formula that I can look up based on the last
name and first name to return the ID?

I know I can create a new column that would merge the last name and
firstname to create a "lookup" key, but I'm trying to see if there's a
way to do the lookup with out using this technique.

Since the ID contains letters, a SUMPRODUCT doesn't work (or I can't
figure out the syntax).

Any ideas?!

Thanks!

John