Importing and Updating Leads

Before You Import

• Check Settings > Lead Groups > Edit Group to see if any data fields are set to required.
  • If so, you'll need to provide that information when importing, or change the field to optional.

Checking Your Spreadsheet

• Make sure you have headers and named columns, e.g. First Name, Last Name, Phone Number, Alternative Phone Number, Email Address.
  • See the Lead Import Guide for a full list of FLG field names.
• Check you have valid telephone numbers, e.g. starting 01, 02, 07.
  • Phone number validation is set in Settings > Lead Group > Edit Group.
  • If "Only accept valid UK local phone numbers" is ticked (under validation level), FLG expects a valid UK number.
  • If unticked, any value is accepted.
  • If leads are going into a dialer or you use click to call, input numbers in a valid format.
• Make sure every record has both a first name and a last name.
  • Add a "." if either is empty.
  • Be careful if your duplication settings are based on name.
• Consider any extra columns you might need, such as:
  • A marketing source, to track where leads came from
  • A "User" column, to assign each lead to a specific user on import

Step 1 - Select Options and File to Upload

• Save your spreadsheet as a CSV file.
• Under Tools on the left hand side, select the option to import Leads.
• Select the relevant Lead Group.
• Optionally select the Introducer/Source and associated site (if different from your default site).
• Choose the CSV file you wish to upload.

Step 2 - Check Format

• The system will usually detect the correct format automatically - we recommend leaving the settings as they are.
• Confirm on screen that Data Type is CSV and Header Row is "First Row", then click Continue.
• If you can't map your fields in the next step, come back and adjust these settings.
• Opening the CSV in Notepad (or similar) lets you see the raw file to identify the field separator and text delimiter.

Field Separator

• The character that separates fields in the CSV source.
• Example: if First Name, Last Name appears at the top when opened in Notepad, the field separator is a comma.

Text Delimiter

• The character that encapsulates text within fields in the CSV source.
• Example: if an entry appears as "Tom", "Smith", the text delimiter is double quotes.

Step 3 - Map Fields and Options

• The system will try to map fields automatically - this works well if you've used our template CSV or matching headers.
• If you've used your own headers, select which FLG field each column maps to.
• Only required fields must be mapped - others can be left blank.
• Make sure no red "Required" labels are showing before continuing, as unmapped required fields will cause the import to fail.

Additional Options

• Validation preview - recommended, so you can see if any records are unsuccessful before importing.
• Suppress any lead actions - ensures no actions (e.g. workflows, emails) are triggered when the data is imported.
• Ignore de-duplication settings - allows duplicate leads through, overriding your settings in Settings > Configuration > Preferences.
• Once you've made your selections, click Continue.

Step 4 - Validation

• Unless you've unselected the validation option, records are validated before the import is attempted.
• This highlights any records that don't meet validation rules, such as telephone numbers, postcodes and integers.
• Failed records will show the reason on screen, e.g. "Record 16: please provide a valid first name."
• Note: if record 16 is flagged, it's actually row 17 in your spreadsheet that needs fixing, since row 1 is your header.
• You'll need to restart the import process after fixing any issues.
• If you continue despite errors, only the "Ok" records will be imported.

Step 5 - Import

• Run the import - for large imports, you can let this run in the background and be notified once it's complete.
• New lead IDs are shown at this point.
• Note: you can run up to 5 background requests on your account at any one time, including imports.