Automotive CRM Import Template

A free customer file in the columns a dealership CRM reads, with the rules that keep names, phones, trades and opt outs intact on the way in.

The template is a ready made customer file: one header row and one row per customer, in the columns a dealership CRM needs to work a contact. If you searched for a dealership customer CSV template, this is it, with a field guide on a second tab. Get it in the format you work in:

• Automotive CRM import template, CSV file
• Automotive CRM import template, XLSX workbook with the field guide tab
• Printable PDF of the columns and field guide

Stores use it in four situations. A store switching CRMs copies its old export into these columns when the old system's file is a mess. A salesperson joining a new store brings a book of business kept in a personal spreadsheet. A service or used car manager builds a list for a campaign, such as service customers with equity. And an event team collects names at a tent sale, a boat show or an RV rally and needs them in the CRM by Monday.

The three sample rows use made up names, 555 phone numbers and example.com addresses. Replace them with your own customers before you import.

Only a name and a phone or an email are needed for a row to become a contact. Every other column makes the contact more useful to the person who works it.

A Salesperson value that matches no user on your account is never lost. It is kept on the contact as "Salesperson in previous CRM", and the contact is assigned the way you choose at import: to you, or round robin across the team. A customer with a second trade can carry it in a second set of trade columns.

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Most failed imports come from a handful of spreadsheet habits. Check these before you upload:

• Keep the header row as row one. One header, then one row per customer. No title rows above it, no blank rows between customers, no merged cells, no totals at the bottom.
• Phones. Any punctuation is fine: 916-555-0142, (916) 555-0142 and 9165550142 all import the same way. Put each number in its own column. Home Phone and Work Phone columns are read too.
• ZIP codes. Spreadsheets drop the leading zero from ZIP codes such as 02108. Format the ZIP column as text before you type or paste into it.
• Years and mileage. Four digit years and plain numbers for mileage: 88000, not 88k miles.
• Do Not Call. Yes for anyone who asked not to be contacted. Leave it blank or No for everyone else.
• Characters. If you save a CSV, save it as UTF-8 so accented names such as José and Peña arrive intact.
• File size. Up to 10,000 contacts per file. Split a larger book into parts and import each into the same list.
• Sensitive numbers. Leave Social Security numbers, card numbers and bank details out of any contact file. They do not belong in a marketing list.

Keep everything else you have. Extra columns are welcome, because nothing in the file is thrown away.

You never have to use this template. Smart Contact Import, on the Import Contacts page under Contacts, reads XLSX, CSV, JSON, ADF and vCard files with any column names in any order. AI column mapping reads each column and matches it to the right field on the contact and the customer profile, so "Cust Cell" lands as a mobile number and "Last Car" lands as the current vehicle.

Before anything is saved, the review screen shows every column in your file with its sample values, how much of the column is filled, and where it Imports as. Change any line that should land somewhere else. Bring a file with the same columns again next month and the importer reuses the mapping you confirmed.

Columns that match no field are kept as labeled lines in the contact's notes, under their own heading. A column called Last Service Date arrives as "Last Service Date: 03/14/2019", so a detail your old CRM tracked is still on the customer after the move. The preview marks them Added to notes.

• Another CRM's export loads as it comes out, in XLSX, CSV or JSON.
• A phone's contacts export as a vCard file, one customer per card, and load as a salesperson's own list.
• ADF lead files, the format lead providers and dealer websites use, import as contacts with the vehicle each one asked about. The guide to ADF XML explains the format.

The contact import page covers the feature in full, and how to import contacts shows the clicks.

A book of business almost always contains people who are already in the CRM from a lead last month. The review screen counts them before you commit: five tiles show Contacts, With a phone, With an email, Repeats in file and Already in CRM.

Then you choose what happens under When a contact is already in your CRM:

• Fill in details (the default). A contact is matched by phone or email and name, and only blank fields are filled in. Nothing a salesperson typed is replaced, so a second upload of the same file fills gaps rather than creating copies.
• Skip. Existing contacts are left exactly as they are.
• Add new. Every row becomes a new contact, even when a match exists.

Matching needs a phone or email and a compatible name, so two people who share a home phone, such as spouses, stay separate people. An existing contact keeps its owner, whatever the file says in the Salesperson column. For the few duplicates any file leaves behind, Merge Duplicate Records scans a contact by name, phone and email and folds matches into one record with a note of what was merged.

A customer who asked not to be contacted has to stay that way through any move between systems. In the template, put Yes in the Do Not Call column for that customer. On import the contact goes on the DNC Blacklist, the same as a rep clicking Blacklist on the record, so it is hidden from Leads, Contacts, the inboxes and every recipient list for bulk texting and bulk email. The preview marks the contact Do not contact, and the results count how many were added.

Three more habits keep a store safe:

• Load your existing opt out list too. The DNC Blacklist page has its own import for a CSV of name, phone and email, so the opt outs you collected in your old system arrive before the first campaign. See the Do Not Call scrub and blacklist page.
• Check numbers you are unsure about. The live do not call lookup checks a number against the national registry from the DNC Blacklist page.
• Remember that imported is not consented. A spreadsheet carries no record of how a number was collected. Text the customers who gave your store their number in a purchase or an inquiry, and treat a list of unknown origin with care.

Scheduled texts respect the list as well: a message queued to a Do Not Call number shows Will not send.

We checked this page against the importer's own column rules, using the template file and a second file of other common headings. Every one of the template's 18 columns matched by its name alone. Phone numbers in any punctuation came out as 916-555-0142 and were typed as mobile, home or work. A Do Not Call value of Yes or Y marked the contact do not contact. Columns such as Last Service Date and Favorite Color arrived as labeled note lines. Put the exact unit a customer asked about in Vehicle of Interest, written out with its stock number, so it lands on the vehicle they want.

1. Download the CSV or XLSX, replace the sample rows with your customers and save.
2. Open Contacts and click Manage & Import Contacts. Start a new list with a clear name, such as Spring Service Leads, or pick an existing list.
3. Choose a file or drop it here. The review screen opens with the five count tiles.
4. Read each column's Imports as line and fix any column that points somewhere you did not expect.
5. Under When a contact is already in your CRM, keep Fill in details. Under Assign contacts, choose To me or Round robin.
6. Leave Start the Contacted follow up plan for each new contact off unless you want follow up tasks on the team's Workspace for every new contact.
7. Click Import, which shows the number of contacts in your file. Five counts follow, from New contacts to Customer profiles, including how many were marked Do not contact.
8. Open the list in Active Contact Lists and spot check three contacts against your file.

With the template's sample rows, Maria Lopez arrives with her address on the profile, her trade as "2017 Honda Accord, 88,000 miles", her note about a third row, and Source in previous CRM: Walk in. Ana Nguyen arrives marked Do not contact.

An imported list is raw material. Three steps turn it into conversations.

1. Validate. Run the Phone Validator and Email Validator over the list, so validity dots on each contact show which numbers and addresses are good before anyone sends a message.
2. Clean. Merge the duplicates the import left, and confirm the opt outs are on the DNC Blacklist.
3. Use. Spread the list across the team with round robin lead assignment, or send it a bulk text with trackable short links to customers who gave you their number.

Smart Contact Import is part of the LeadLocate CRM on every plan, including CRM Only for a store or a salesperson who brings their own customers. The parts that vary are people and volume: each plan includes a login to start and more users are an add-on, and usage credits cover bulk texting and phone and email validation. Plans and credits are on the pricing page, and the dealership CRM migration checklist covers the rest of a switch.

Do I have to use this template to import into LeadLocate?

No. Smart Contact Import reads XLSX, CSV, JSON, ADF and vCard files with any column names in any order, and AI column mapping matches each column for you. The template helps when your data lives in a messy spreadsheet or in your own notes.

How many contacts can I import at once?

Up to 10,000 contacts per file. Split a larger book into parts and import each one into the same list. You review the column mapping and the duplicate counts before anything is saved.

What happens to columns that are not in the template?

They are kept. Any column that matches no field on the contact is saved as a labeled line in the contact's notes under its own heading, such as "Last Service Date: 03/14/2019", so nothing from your old system is lost.

Will importing create duplicate contacts?

Not with the default. Fill in details matches existing contacts by phone or email and name and fills only blank fields. You can also choose Skip to leave existing contacts alone, or Add new to create every row.

How do I mark customers who asked not to be contacted?

Put Yes in the Do Not Call column. Those contacts go on the DNC Blacklist when the file imports, which hides them from every CRM view and every bulk send. Load your existing opt out list through the DNC Blacklist import as well.

Why did my ZIP codes lose their first zero?

Spreadsheets treat a ZIP code like 02108 as a number and drop the zero. Format the ZIP column as text before you type or paste, or edit the CSV in a plain text editor. ZIP codes that arrive with the zero are kept as written.

How does a salesperson import the contacts on their phone?

Export the phone's contacts as a vCard file and import it on the Import Contacts page. Each card becomes one contact with names, numbers and emails in place, ready to text, call or email from the desktop CRM or the LeadLocate app.

Watch the demo to see Smart Contact Import map a real export, or talk to our team about moving your customers from another CRM.

Prefer to talk right now? Call or text 844-376-2274.