Importing Leads

Created by Daniel Beckett, Modified on Thu, 18 May, 2023 at 4:17 PM by Daniel Beckett

Before Importing look in Settings>Lead Groups> Edit Group to check if any of the data fields are set to required. If so, you'll have to give that information when importing or just change the field type to optional. Look at your spreadsheet to make sure: 
  • You have headers and have named the columns I.e: First Name, Last Name, Phone Number, Alternative Phone Number, Email Address. If you want to see a list of FLG field names please see the Lead Import Guide 
  • Check that you have valid telephone numbers on your spreadsheet I.e 01, 02, 07 etc. Phone number validation can be set in Settings> Lead group> Edit Group. IF (under validation level), “Only accept valid UK local Phone numbers” is ticked, FLG will be expecting you to give a valid UK phone number. If un-ticked, it can accept any value. (If leads are going into a dialer or you use click to call you should input them as a valid number) 
  • Just make sure you have a first name AND a Last name entered (just add a . (dot) in there if the first name or last name is empty. Careful if you have your duplication settings based on name
  • Consider any extra columns you might need to have. Perhaps you need to add a marketing source to track where the leads came from?? or perhaps need a “User” column so that each lead will be assigned to a certain user on import

Import Leads from a CSV File

Save the spreadsheet as a file type: CSV. Under Tools on the left hand side, you have options to Import "Leads"  

Step 1 - Select Options (Leads Only) and File to Upload

When you are importing leads, you will need to select the relevant Lead Group. You can also select the Introducer/Source and the associated site (if different from your default site). You will need to choose the CSV file that you wish to upload.


Step 2 - Check Format

The system will often find the correct format automatically so we recommend that you leave them as they are. You should make sure you see on screen Data type: CSV & Header row “First Row” then click continue. If you cannot map your fields on the next step, come back to this step and change the settings. Opening the CSV with 'Note Pad' or a similar application will allow you to see the source of the file to identity the filed separator and text delimiter.

Field Separator 

This is the character that separates the fields in the source of the CSV. If I have the columns First Name and Last Name and when I open the CSV file using Note Pad, I see these at the top as First Name,Last Name, then my filed separator is a comma. 

Text Delimiter 

This is the character that encapsulates the text within the fields in the source of the CSV file. So using the same example as for the field separator above, if my first entry was for the first name was Tom and the last name was Smith, in the source shown by opening with Note Pad, it was shown as "Tom", "Smith", my text delimiter would be double quotes.

Step 3 - Map Fields & Options 

The system will try to map the fields automatically. If you have used our template CSV file or the same headers, it should be able to do so.  If you have used your own headers, you can select which field in FLG these map to. Only the required fields must have a field from your CSV mapped to them. Others can be left blank.

Make sure there are no red 'Required' labels showing before you continue as these are required fields which are not mapped. This would cause your import to fail.  Note: at the bottom of this page, you have some options:

Options

You can choose to see a validation preview before importing which is recommended to see if any records are unsuccessful suppress any lead actions will make sure that no actions occur when the data is input I.e starting workflows or send an emails

Ignore de-duplication settings will allow duplicate leads through or cancel your duplication settings in Settings> Configuration> Preferences . After making your selections above, Click Continue.

Step 4 - Validation

Providing you haven't unselected the option to validate the import, the records will be validated before the import is attempted. This will show you any records that do not meet the validation fields such as telephone numbers, post codes and integers. 

Your data will then be checked – if you any results fail you will see the reason on screen. I.e record 16 please provide a valid first name. It's best to go back to look at your spreadsheet Note: if record 16 is flagged up remember its actually record 17 that needs amending as you have a header on your spreadsheet. You will need to start the import process again if you have fixed any issues. If you continue with errors only the “Ok” records will import 

Step 5 - Import

Now you import your leads. You can choose to let this run in the background and notify you once it has completed for large imports. New lead ID's are also shown at this point. 

Note: You can run up to 5 background requests on your account at any one time. (that includes imports) 

Need more help?


We always aim to provide great support to everyone. Contact our support team for help and advice or let us know how we can improve FLG on our feedback site.

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