Are you Importing multiple contacts into one account?
If you are, make sure the Account Names and Contact Names are in consecutive order within the file.
The system will check on the Account Name and Address1 fields to see if they are the same before adding the next Contact. If the file is not set up like this, each Contact will be an individual Account.
Your data must be in a comma-separated text file (.CSV) which can be created by doing File > Save-As and selecting Save as the type of CSV (comma delimited).
NOTE: If you are using an Apple Mac then you must save the file as Windows CSV.
If your file is larger than 20Mb then we suggest splitting the file into smaller files for the Import or alternatively you can compress (zip) the file before uploading. The system will automatically unzip the file before processing.
Special characters
If your data contains characters that are not in the standard English character set you may need to convert the file into the UTF-8 format required for the proper display of special characters in the system.
We recommend using notepad++ to perform this conversion. You can download the software for free at:
Open notepad++ and go to File > Open, find your CSV file and click 'Open' to view.
Look in the bottom right corner, you will see the current file encoding, for files created with Excel this will be ANSI by default. We need to change this so it displays as UTF-8.
Go to Encoding > Character Sets > Western European and select 'ISO-8859-1'
The text in the bottom right-hand corner should now read ISO-8859-1.
Go to Encoding > Convert to UTF-8.
The text in the bottom right-hand corner should now read UTF-8.
Save the file by going to File > Save and it will now be ready to upload.
Warning
Before importing data make sure you are in the right Database Area!
Go to the Menu option, File > Import.
Either select a file that was previously uploaded or click the Choose File button to locate a file on your computer.
Click the trash bin icon to delete a previously uploaded file. Please note that deleting the file will not delete the data imported, you will need to run an assign to delete the Accounts instead.
Select the Import Type:
Type | Description |
Customers | Accounts and/or contact names. |
Customer products | Product records assigned to customers. Records must contain an Account Number. If the field Type is E the records will be displayed on the Existing Products page tab. If the field Type is P the records will be displayed on the Potential Products page tab. Or the All Products page tab will display all records regardless of the value of the Type field. Click here for more information on configuring the Page Tabs. |
Products | Master product list. |
Customer contact history | Account Contact History records. Records must contain the Account Number, History Date, Time and Save DateTime. The Date should be in the format 'YYYY-mm-dd 00:00:00' and the Time should be in the format 'HH:mm:ss'. Example: Date - 2009-07-14 00:00:00, Time - 13:34:09, Save DateTime - 2009-07-14 13:34:09 |
TPS / Do not call list | A list of telephone numbers that should not be called. Click here for more information. |
CSV options
This is where you can change the Characters for the formatting so they fit with your file. You should not ever need to change these.
Having selected or uploaded your import file click the Continue button to move forward to the field mapping screen.
The left side contains the system fields you can import into.
The middle contains the fields in your import file.
The right side shows existing field mappings.
To use the same mappings as a previous import select it from the Definition file drop-down list.
You only need to map the fields that you need.
If your import file has an Account Number or URN (Unique Reference Number) map it to the top field in the System Fields list Account - Account number. If your import file does not have a unique reference for each record then the system will create it automatically during the import.
Fields shown in red font are not yet mapped.
Automatic Field Mapping
The system will automatically map fields based on the headings in the import file. This includes any Additional fields. The system only makes an educated guess as to what fields need mapping so we suggest double-checking the auto-mapping and adjusting as needed.
To map a field manually you just need to click the relevant fields. So in this example to map the import field Address 4, first click Account: Address4 in the System Fields list then click Address 4 in the File Fields list. This will then add the mapping to the far right list where you can double-check it is correct.
To remove a single mapping simply single-click it in the right-hand column
To clear all mappings single click on the Clear all button at the top of the mappings.
If your import file has the contact name as a single field map it to the System Field Contact - Contact name. If your file has the name split into Title/Firstname/Lastname, map those fields to the relevant Contact - fields, and the system will automatically join them together.
If you are importing addresses, unless you are importing separate company and contact-name addresses, always map the address to the Account - Address fields.
Once all the mappings are done click the Continue button.
Import Summary and Mapping Overview
The Import Summary shows the name of the file you are importing the Type of import, the definition file you used for mapping (if that was different) and the Area you are importing into. You will need to double-check that these are correct.
There is also an overview of the mapping, if any changes are needed click the Back button at the bottom of the screen to be taken back to the Mapping page.
Default Settings
Select the Owner, Status, Project and Sales person as required. The Owner and Customer Status are normally mandatory, however, in some circumstances they are not necessary, in which case use the "Skip" checkboxes on the right. Note you will need to create the Owner and Customer Statuses prior to this Import. It is not necessary to use these settings if the fields are mapped in the import file. You also have the option to select a Privacy Detail Template if needed.
Automatic Account Numbers
This is where you can set a prefix should you need it or give the system a new Account Number to start from. The system automatically shows the next available Account Number.
Important: Each Account Number must be unique in the current Area. Also the maximum length is 32 characters including the prefix.
If you are numbering the Accounts automatically enter a high starting number such as 100001; this will eliminate any issues where the Account Numbers are different lengths (eg 1,10,100,1000, rather than 100001, 100010, 100100, 101000).
If you will be importing data on a regular basis it is a good idea to give each batch a different Prefix. For example, A or B etc, or you could use the year and month: 1701, 1702 etc.
Options
Tick the box 'First row is header row' if the top line of the file contains field headings. This will be ticked automatically if the system detects what it thinks are field headings.
Type | Description |
Insert Accounts | To insert/create both Accounts and Contact Names. If you have the Account Number mapped this does not check if the Account Number already exists although it will not create duplicates so any record with a duplicate Account Number will be ignored. |
Insert Contacts | Only creates Contact Name records. It should only be used if the Accounts details have already been imported. The data being imported must include Account Numbers that already exist in the current Area. It will not create duplicate names if any names already exist on the relevant Account record in the database. |
Update Accounts / Contacts | No new Accounts/Contacts will be created. The option will only update existing Accounts/Contacts. Select the Key field(s) and also the fields to update. The key field selection must uniquely define each record.
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Insert and update Accounts | This will create new Accounts/Contacts that do not already exist and will update Accounts/Contacts that do exist. Select the Key field(s) and also the fields to update. The key field selection must uniquely define each record.
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Updating Accounts
If updating Accounts, by default the system will use the Account Number to find the existing Account and update it; if this is not possible you can select another field to identify the correct Account (A telephone number is often a good option).
To process the import click the Start Import button.
