Records that can be imported via CSV/XLSX files:

• Contacts

• Accounts 

• Deals

• Products

• Custom Modules

• Sales Goals

There are 4 important things that you'd need to know about when you import contacts from a .CSV/XLSX file. They are described in detail below:

• Preparing your CSV/XLSX file/

• Importing the file

• Mapping fields

• Reasons for failure of data import

1. Preparing your CSV/XLSX file

Make sure that your CSV/XLSX file's header row has columns that can be mapped to the fields Last name.

The file shouldn't be larger than 5MB.

If you'd like to automatically assign contacts to users, create a column with the email addresses of the users, and map that column to the field Owner.

Note: The email address must be the email address that the user uses to sign in to the web application

You'd need to create the custom fields before you begin the import for you to be able to map your columns with them. If any field is a multi-select field, the values of the field should be separated by semicolon(;) in the CSV/XLSX file. Ex: Say the field, Competitors involved is a multi-select field. Competitor column in the CSV/XLSX should be:

 Last name must be mapped for the import to be complete. Your CSV/XLSX file must have columns for this field.

2. Importing the file

1. Once your CSV file is ready, navigate to Contacts on the left navigation bar.
   
   

2. Locate the import button and select the Import from CSV/XLSX option

You can either:

1. Add as new records- This captures all the data from the CSV file as new records and does not look for duplicates.
   
   

2. Find duplicate records on the CSV file and update records/skip import: Identifies duplicates between the CSV file and your web application records by matching them based on the following identifiers:
   
   

   1. Freshworks CRM ID

   2. Email*    

   3. Phone number*

   4. Work Number
      
      Additionally, all fields of type ‘Text field’ and ‘Number’ will be automatically detected and can be used for matching.

Note:
When Email is used as an Identifier: The email field in the CSV/XLSX will be matched only with the primary email of Contact for finding duplicates. Secondary email addresses, if any, will not be considered. 

The CSV/XLSX file will be matched with both Contacts to identify duplicates. 

If you are importing multiple emails for a Contact through the CSV/XLSX file, the first email of the record will be matched as the identifier. 

When a Phone number is used as an Identifier: Only if there is an exact match between the field value on the CSV/XLSX file and the stored record will the record be considered a duplicate. Example: if a record on your web application contains 9003241245 and the CSV/XLSX file has a record containing the phone number as +1-9003241245, then the two records will not be considered duplicates  

Decide what to do with the detected duplicates

• Skip import for all duplicate records:

You can opt to skip import for all duplicate records. This will prevent your web application from updating records that are already present on the system. You will also receive an import summary email with a CSV file containing all the skipped records.

• Update all duplicate records:

- With Overwrite: Updates all the fields and overwrites the values present in the fields.

- Without Overwrite: Updates only fields that are empty.

3. Choose the format of the date fields in the CSV/XLSX file: You can choose between one of three options–
   - DD/MM/YYYY
   - MM/DD/YYYY
   - YYYY/MM/DD
   
   

4. Manage email subscriptions: Click the checkbox to subscribe your contacts to emails. Make sure that your contacts have consented to receive emails from your organization.
   
   

5. Map owner and add tags: Choose a user who will be assigned as an owner for all records that are unassigned i.e the owner field is left empty on the CSV/XLSX file. You can also add tags to all records imported as a part of this list.

Click .

3. Mapping fields

The Map Columns To Freshworks CRM Fields overlay that you now see is exclusively for mapping the columns in your CSV file with the fields available.
 

 
Mapping the fields is critical to the success of the import, so here’s a list of know-how to help you do it right.

• If there are columns that you do not wish to import, you can skip those columns by simply not mapping them with any field.
  
  

• As fields get mapped, they become unavailable for mapping with another column (Fields are distinct).
  
  

• Lastly, make sure the field type matches the type of value in the column. For example, if you’re trying to map the column Number of Rooms, you need to find a field that accepts numeric value viz the Number field. If you’ve mapped it to a field that is a text box, then the values for the column Number of Rooms will not be imported.
  
  

• After you’re done mapping the fields, hit Import.
  
  

• If your CSV file is small, the import will be instantaneous and you can see a green label that gives you the number of successful imports. If the CSV file is large, you will be taken to the  import progress screen where you can see the progress of your imports.
  
  

• Importing Accounts along with Contacts:

  • To Create or import new accounts while importing contacts:

    • Map the contact and account fields under the Contact and Account fields tabs. For example: Contact fields - Firstname, Lastname, Email
      Account fields - Number of employees, Annual Revenue

    • Associate contacts with existing accounts - Follow the same steps as above. When the "Account name" in the file matches an existing account in the CRM, the contact will be associated with that account.

• 
  

  After you’re done mapping the fields, click Import.

  
  
  

NOTE: 
When you try to import a file with no data in the mandatory fields, your import will be unsuccessful. Pay attention to the list of mandatory fields for your account before your import the CSV file to ensure that all the mandatory fields are filled with relevant values.

 

While mapping a contact/account to the Sales Owner, ensure that the CSV file has the email address of the sales owner in the column 'Sales owner' and NOT the name of sales owner. Adding the name will not map the sales owner to the record. 

For more information refer to this FAQs on Data Import

4. Why did some of my data not get imported? (Reasons for failure of data import)

When importing records, these are the possible reasons for the failure of data import:

• Invalid email address - If the email addresses in your CSV/XLSX file aren’t of the proper format (e.g: jamesampleton@sales, jeangrey.com) 
  
  

• Unmapped Columns - Columns that aren’t mapped with any of the fields.
  
  

• Improper Field Type - If the field type is different from the type of value in the column.
  
  

• Picklist Values - If you’re mapping a column with values for a picklist (such as Radio button/Checkbox/Drop down menu) with a field (also a picklist), double-check the values in the column to ensure that they match with the appropriate field choices.
  
  For e.g: If you’ve got a column that has the values 1, 2, 3 for the Number of Rooms and want to map it to a radio button (field), make sure that that radio button has 1, 2, 3 as the field’s choices.

Admins can set limits for users on how many records they can import and update for the day. 

Note: Import limit can be set only for Contact/Account/Deal modules and not custom modules.

To configure this,

Go to Admin Settings > Roles > Choose a role (say Sales User)

Under Permissions > Actions, set the limit for creating and updating records during import

Sales users will be presented with a note during import that informs them not to exceed the import limit set by the admin

Clicking on the information symbol would fetch more details regarding the import

Sales users will be presented with a warning message on exceeding import limits. The import functionality will also be disabled for that day.

If the sales user tries to exceed the import limit, an error message will be thrown, and records will not be created.

After Import

Once the import is complete, you will be redirected to the Import History page. This page provides you with the necessary information on the records created, updated, skipped, and errored, along with their statuses

To view the error logs, simply click on the Download button, and the file will be automatically downloaded.

For more information refer to this FAQs on Data Import