Import customers from Excel

Import your customers when you move to the system from a spreadsheet or another program. You match your columns once, check the first rows, and every row becomes a customer.

Before you start

• You need permission to add and edit customers.
• Prepare an Excel (.xlsx, .xls) or CSV file. Only the first sheet is read.
• Put a header row on top (for example Name, Mobile, Email) and one customer per row below it.
• Use a column for each detail: full name (required), name in Arabic, mobile, email, segment, source, language (ar or en) and notes.
• Segment and source cells must match your lists in Settings → Lists (the name in English or Arabic). Other values are left empty.
• One import takes up to 10,000 rows. Split a longer list into several files.

Steps

1. Open Customers and press Import from Excel. The Import customers from Excel window opens on step 1. Choose file.
2. Drop the file on Drop an Excel or CSV file here, or click to choose, or click it and pick the file.
3. On step 2. Match columns, check the column chosen for each field: Full name, Name in Arabic, Mobile, Email, Segment, Came from, Language (ar or en) and Notes. The system matches them by their header words. Choose Skip for a field your file does not have. If the file has more than 10,000 rows, a warning on this step says how many rows the file has and that only the first 10,000 will be imported. Put the other rows in a second file and import it afterwards.
4. Check First rows, as they will be saved: the first 5 rows as they will be imported.
5. Keep Merge rows whose mobile or email already exists, filling in only empty details ticked, so a customer you already have is not added twice.
6. Press Import with the number of rows, for example Import 240 rows.
7. On step 3. Done, read the result, then press Done.

After you import

• Step 3. Done shows three numbers: Added (new customers), Merged with existing (customers you already had) and Need a look (rows with a problem).
• Rows to check lists each problem with its row number in your file. See below.
• A customer that already existed keeps everything it had: the import only fills the details that were empty.
• New customers have you as their Owner. Their messages go out in Arabic unless the language cell says English.
• The message Customers imported appears and the new customers are in the list.
• The next time you open the window, Earlier imports shows your last five imports with the number added, merged and with issues.

If something goes wrong

• Choose an Excel or CSV file: the file is another type. Save it from Excel as .xlsx or .csv.
• The first sheet has no rows: the first sheet is empty. Move your list to the first sheet.
• Choose the column with the customer name.: no column is matched to Full name. Choose it; the import button stays greyed out until you do.
• No name, row skipped: the row has no name, so it was not imported. Add the name in your file and import that row again.
• Email "…" looks wrong, saved without it: the customer was saved without the email. Correct it on the customer's file.
• Segment "…" is not in your list, left empty or Source "…" is not in your list, left empty: add the value to your lists, then set it on the customer, or fix the file before importing.