How to Import Contacts in LeadLocate

Past customers, the export from the CRM you are leaving, a rep's book of business. One CSV, one named list, and the whole team can work it.

1. Prepare the CSV

   Export the contacts from wherever they live now, or save the spreadsheet as CSV. Keep one header row with names like first name, last name, phone and email in any order; the import reads the headers, so there is no template to match.

2. Open Import Contacts

   In the desktop CRM click Contacts in the main menu and open Import Contacts. The page has the upload panel on one side and the Active Contact Lists table on the other.

3. Choose the file

   Click Choose CSV and select the file. The panel shows the file name once it is picked; if it still reads that no file is selected, the file was not a CSV.

4. Name the list

   Click Start a New List and give it a name your team will recognize in a month, such as the old system's name or the campaign the list is for. To append to a list you already have, pick that list instead.

5. Decide who gets the contacts

   Tick Round Robin assignment to spread the contacts evenly across the users in rotation, so a list of past customers becomes a call list for the whole team. Leave it off to keep the list under one login.

6. Upload and check the list

   Upload. The page confirms success and the new list 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.

7. 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 in the CRM, and make sure the DNC Blacklist has your do not contact list loaded.

You need the contacts as a CSV file with a header row, and a name for the list. Any user can import; a salesperson imports their own book of business the same way a manager imports the store's past customers. Know where the list came from before you import it, because a list on 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.

After the upload, the list sits in Active Contact Lists with a record count that matches the rows in your file, 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 it into a Customer Profile, text it, call it or email it. On the phone, reps see their contacts and reach them from the dock, so an imported book is workable from the lot the day it is loaded.

With Round Robin assignment ticked, 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.

Leave your number and a lead specialist calls you back to answer your questions about pricing, coverage, and setup. Mon - Sat, 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM Pacific.

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

The file was refused. It was not a CSV. A spreadsheet saved in its native format, or a multi sheet workbook, needs to be saved as CSV first, one sheet at a time. 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 puts it in production for your dealership.

The record count is lower than the file. Rows without a name, phone or email did not load, and blank rows at the bottom of a spreadsheet are common. Open the CSV, remove empty rows, and use Add More on the list to append the fixed file rather than importing a second copy of everything.

Names came in with the wrong columns. The header row was missing or the first row was data. Put the header row back at the top, with a name in every column you want read, and import again into a new list; then delete the wrong one.

Import is the beginning. Run the Phone Validator and Email Validator so the validity dots tell reps which contacts are reachable, load the store's do not contact list through the DNC Blacklist so a customer who asked you to stop is not on the first campaign, 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 it survives a lost phone and the store has continuity when the rep moves on. 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 format does the import accept?

A CSV with a header row. Headers are detected automatically and columns can be in any order, so an export from a previous CRM or a spreadsheet loads without reformatting. Save the spreadsheet as CSV and choose it on the Import Contacts page.

Where is the Import Contacts page?

Under Contacts in the main menu of the desktop CRM. Choose CSV, Start a New List or pick an existing list, tick Round Robin assignment if you want the contacts spread, and upload. The list appears in Active Contact Lists with its record count.

Can I split an imported list across my salespeople?

Yes. Tick Round Robin assignment at upload and the contacts are divided evenly across the users in the rotation, so a list of past customers becomes a call list for the whole team.

Can I add to a list later?

Yes. Each list in Active Contact Lists has Add More, which appends another CSV to it, and Rename contact list if the name needs changing.

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.