Help/Contacts and CRM/Import and merge

Import and merge

Bring your existing customer list in from a spreadsheet in three steps. Then, when the same person ends up with two records, join them into one and choose which details to keep.

Screenshots use a fictional business and figures. Select an image to view it full size.

Import a CSV

  1. Save your list from Excel, Google Sheets or your old system as a CSV file. The first row must be the column names, such as Name, Email and Phone.

  2. On All Clients, press Import CSV. Drop the file in, or press browse files, then Next →.

    Step 1: choose your file.

  3. On Map Columns, match each of your columns to a contact field. Most are matched for you from their names. Set any column you do not need to Skip. One column must be the Name.

    Step 2: each column matched to a field.

  4. On Review & Import, choose a stage in Add all to stage and any tags in Apply tags to all. Rows that look like people already in your list are marked as a possible duplicate and left unticked. Untick any other row you want to leave out.

    Step 3: a possible duplicate is left out until you tick it.

  5. Press the Import button. It says how many were imported and how many were skipped.

Keep each address on one line. The importer reads one contact per line, so an address that runs over several lines inside one cell is split into broken rows. Put the whole address on one line before you save the CSV.

Find duplicates

  1. On All Clients, press ⧉ Find duplicates. Records that share a name, a mobile number or an email address are listed in groups, with the reason for each.

    Two records for Grace, matched on their email.

  2. From one person’s page, Merge beside Edit looks for records matching just them. The page also warns you, with a Review and merge link, when it spots one.

Merge two records

  1. Press Merge these. The top line tells you what will end up on the one contact: notes, invoices, appointments and money entries, which would otherwise stay split across both.

  2. For every detail the two records disagree on, pick the one to keep. Each choice says what the detail is used for and which record it came from.

    Choosing which name and mobile number to keep.

  3. Details only one record had are listed under Kept automatically: nothing to choose, they are carried over. Tags and saved addresses are kept from both.

  4. Filed under decides which record everything joins onto. It only changes which page link keeps working and which date added is kept. The details you chose are used either way.

  5. Press Join them into one contact. The spare record is put aside, not deleted.

Questions

Is there an undo for a merge?

No. Nothing is erased, but the two records become one. Check the choices before you press the button.

Why do I get duplicates at all?

A customer who books with one email and is invoiced under a slightly different name, or who changes their email, can end up with two records. Merging puts their history back in one place.

Is importing part of every plan?

No. Importing a CSV is part of CRM. Adding contacts one by one, finding duplicates and merging work on every plan.

Can I get my contacts out again?

Yes. Export CSV on All Clients downloads them with every detail (how).

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