Importing Contacts into your CRM

on 07 Oct 09

Type: Knowledge Base     Category: Import

Leopard CRM allows you to import contact records from external sources.  Currently Leopard CRM supports importing data via a CSV file.  Most software programs support exporting data via the CSV format. It is usually a good idea to split large files into separate smaller files, this can assist with understanding reports and potential import errors if they occur.

To import your data into Leopard CRM, please follow the following steps:

1. Click on the "CRM Admin" button at the top right hand corner of your screen.  If you do not have the "CRM Admin" button visible on your system, it means you do not have administration privileges on your user account.  Please see your CRM administrator within your organisation.
2. Click the "Import Data" link under the Data section of the CRM administrator screen.
3. The first screen that you see under the Import Data system is the history of any previous imports that you have completed.  To import a new file, click the "Import a new file" link.
4. Provide a name for your import, this should be a name that reflects where the list of contacts has come from.  Once you have entered the name, click "Save and Continue".
5. The next step is to upload the file.  Click the "Browse" button and locate the file on your local system.  Click "Save" once you have specified the file to upload.
   The system will now upload your file to Leopard CRM, depending on the speed of your Internet connection, this could take a few minutes.
6. Now we move on to Column Maps* (see below in the Notes section for further informaiton on how Column Maps work).  If you do not have any previous column maps, the next screen will be asking you to create a new one.  If you have created one in the past, the system will ask if you would like to use an existing one, or create a new one.  In the next step, we'll assume that you are creating a new column map.
7. Creating a column map involves:
   • Name: this should reflect the format of the data, eg: Microsoft Outlook Export
   • Duplicate Handling: this will be the way that Leopard CRM merges data into existing contacts or creates new contacts.  Leopard CRM assumes that the data you are importing is more current that the data in Leopard CRM.  Be aware that if Leopard CRM finds a match, it will overwrite existing data if it finds a match.
   • Column maps: the left hand side labels are the columns from your CSV file.  The right hand side drop down boxes are the matching Leopard CRM fields.  If you have a column in your CSV file named "Email", you will want to match this to the Leopard CRM field "Email".
   • Click "Save" to save your map and continue.  Don't worry, you'll get a chance to test and change your map if you get anything wrong.
8. After selecting or creating your Column Map, you will be shown a confirmation screen.  This will show you how the first record in your import file will be mapped to Leopard CRM fields.  Check how your column map is importing data and confirm that fields are matching properly.  If you need to change your map and make adjustments, click the "modify your map" link, or to continue and run the import, click the "continue and run the import" link.
9. The import will probably take a few minutes to run depending on the size of your source file.  After the import has completed running, you will see a report of the results.  If a record has been flagged as an "Error", it means that Leopard CRM could not import this record.  An example of an error would be a record with no first name or last name, which are required fields in Leopard CRM.

Notes:

* A Column Map is the way we map the columns in your CSV file to fields within Leopard CRM.  Files that originate from the same source will have the same column map.  For example, if you import two different CSV files from Microsoft Outlook, they would have the same columns in the same place, as Outlook will always structure the CSV file in the same way.