How to Import Contacts in LeadLocate

Past customers, the export from the CRM you are leaving, a rep's phone contacts. Drop the file in, check how each column maps, and the whole team can work the list.

1. Export or save the file you have

   Export the contacts from wherever they live now: an XLSX workbook or CSV from a spreadsheet or another CRM, a JSON export, an ADF lead file, or a vCard of a phone's contacts. Keep the column names the old system used, in any order; Smart Contact Import reads them. If you are building a file from scratch, the free automotive CRM import template gives you the columns, including Do Not Call.

2. Open Import Contacts

   In the desktop CRM click Contacts in the main menu, open the Add Contact menu and choose Import Contacts. The Smart Import panel sits at the top of the page and the Active Contact Lists table sits below it.

3. Choose where the contacts go

   Under Save to, keep New list and type a name your team will recognize in a month, such as the old system's name or the campaign the list is for. To add to a list you already have, click Existing list and pick it.

4. Choose the file and upload it

   Under Contact file, click Choose a file or drop it here and pick the file, or drag it onto the box. Tick Round Robin assignment if you want the contacts spread across the team. Click Upload and map columns.

5. Review the column mapping

   The review screen lists every column in your file with sample values, how full it is, and where it imports as. AI column mapping fills those in, so Cust Cell lands as a mobile number and Last Car as a vehicle. Change any column the store wants elsewhere. Columns with no matching field are kept as labeled notes on each contact, and a contact preview shows exactly what one record will hold, including the notes and a Do not contact tag for anyone your file marks Do Not Call.

6. Decide duplicates and who gets the contacts

   Under When a contact is already in your CRM, choose Fill in details to add only the blank fields to the existing contact, Skip to leave it alone, or Add new. Under Assign contacts, keep them yourself or send them round robin. Then click the Import button, which shows how many contacts are about to load.

7. Check the list

   A progress bar runs while the contacts load, and the finished import offers to open the list. It appears in Active Contact Lists with its Records count and Date Updated. Use Add More on the row to append a second file later, or Rename contact list if the name needs fixing.

8. Validate and clean before you send

   Run the Phone Validator and Email Validator over the list so the validity dots show which numbers and addresses are worth a message, run Merge Duplicate Records to catch customers already on file twice, and make sure the DNC Blacklist has the rest of your do not contact list loaded.

You need the contacts in a file and a name for the list. Anyone whose Access Control card includes Contacts can import, so a salesperson brings in their own book of business the same way a manager brings in the store's past customers. Know where the list came from before you import it, because a spreadsheet carries no memory of how it was collected. Customers who bought from the store, or asked the store a question, are yours to contact; a list of unknown origin is not made consented by importing it.

The contact import page describes the feature and what a store does with a list once it is in. This page is the clicks. If you are switching from another CRM, its customer export, with its own column names in its own order, is the file to use; there is no reformatting step.

• XLSX and CSV. Spreadsheets and the exports most CRMs and DMS reports produce.
• JSON. Exports from other systems that write records as data rather than rows.
• ADF. The lead format dealer websites and lead providers send, imported as contacts with the vehicle each one asked about.
• vCard. A phone's contacts, exported one card per customer, which is how a rep's personal book reaches the CRM.

Column names can be anything and in any order. Names, phones, emails, addresses, vehicles and the details that belong on the customer profile are recognized. Import the same kind of file again and the page reuses the mapping you confirmed last time.

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After the import, the list sits in Active Contact Lists with its record count, and each contact appears in the Contacts view like any other contact. Open one and the same tools apply: convert it to a lead, open its Customer Profile, text it, call it or email it. The columns that had no field of their own read as labeled lines in the contact's notes, such as Salesperson in previous CRM or Last Service, so nothing in the old file is lost. Customers your file marked Do Not Call are on the store's DNC Blacklist before anyone sends a message.

With round robin chosen, each rep in the rotation holds an even share, which a manager can see by user. The list is also a recipient list for bulk texting and bulk email on the Marketing Tools dock, which is where most imported lists end up being used.

The file was refused. Save it as XLSX or CSV and choose it again. If the old system only exports in an unusual format, describe it on the contact page; converting it is available on request, and our team sets it up for your dealership.

The record count is lower than the file. Customers already in your CRM were matched by phone or email and name, and with Fill in details they gained the blank fields instead of a second record. They keep the list they were already on, so the new list counts only the new people.

A column landed in the wrong place. Catch it on the review screen: change where the column imports as before you click Import. If a list already loaded wrong, delete it, then import the file again into a new list with the mapping fixed.

Import is the beginning. Validate the phone numbers and email addresses so the validity dots tell reps which contacts are reachable, load the rest of the store's do not contact list through the DNC Blacklist setup, and merge duplicates so the past customer who came in as a lead last month has one record. Then set up lead feeds so new customers arrive the same way. Every guide is in the help center.

Name the list for what it is and when it came in, not Sheet1; a year from now nobody remembers what Sheet1 was. Import a rep's personal book as its own list under their name, so the store keeps continuity when the rep moves on. Read the contact preview before you click Import, because one record tells you more than the column list does. And validate before the first text goes out, every time, because a bulk text to a list of dead numbers costs the same as one to live ones.

What file formats does the import accept?

XLSX, CSV, JSON, ADF and vCard files. Column names can be anything and in any order, because AI column mapping reads each column and matches it to the right field. You review the mapping before anything is saved.

Where is the Import Contacts page?

Open Contacts in the main menu of the desktop CRM, then choose Import Contacts from the Add Contact menu. The Smart Import panel is at the top and the Active Contact Lists table is below it.

What happens to columns the CRM has no field for?

They are kept. Each one becomes a labeled line in the contact's notes, with the column name and the value, so details from the old system stay with the customer.

Does a Do Not Call column come through on import?

Yes. Contacts your file marks Do Not Call show a Do not contact tag in the preview and go on the store's DNC Blacklist when the import runs, so no one texts them by mistake.

Can I split an imported list across my salespeople?

Yes. Tick Round Robin assignment at upload, or choose round robin under Assign contacts on the review screen, and the contacts are divided evenly across the users in the rotation.

What if some contacts are already in the CRM?

Choose what happens on the review screen. Fill in details adds only the blank fields to the existing contact, Skip leaves it as it is, and Add new creates a separate record.

Schedule Training from the top bar of the CRM and a trainer runs your first import with you on a screen share, or watch the pre-recorded live demo first.

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