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Sumo Stomp
We acquired SumoQuote! Learn more here
🏔️ Peak Performance 2024 is here. Get the report

Your New CRM, Day 1: Step 3

Your New CRM: Day One is a new segment on JobNimbus that exists to help you get started on your brand new CRM, regardless of which one it is.

Even though CRM has been around for a few decades now, the majority of CRM users are new to the software and trying it out for the first time.

But whether you’re coming from an another CRM or your starting out for the first time, you’ve most likely got a list of leads and/or customers in one format or another.

Excel, CSV, or other database files all contain that ever precious customer data. It’s time to put that data to good use.

If you’ve read parts 1 and 2 of this guide, then you’ve probably already gone through the process of organizing your data and customizing your CRM. In that case, you’re ready to put your data into your CRM.

Importing Your Data Into Your New CRM

Your customer data is what allows your CRM to drive you toward success. If you don’t have that data, or if the data isn’t set up right in your CRM, then you’re going to have a hard time getting that data to work for you.

If you can’t get the data to work for you, you’re better off not having it, as it will weigh you down, turning savings into added cost.

But don’t get discouraged, because if you’re data is clean and your CRM is customized to match your data, then you have nothing to worry about (except for making sure you keep that data clean going forward).

Of course, just as the number of CRM software out there seems never-ending, so are the different processes to import your data.

Please feel free to look to your CRM’s users manual to find instructions on how to perform the contact import using that software.

Importing Data Into JobNimbus

If you’re using JobNimbus, you can use the following steps to import your data into JobNimbus:

In order to import your contacts, you must have a .CSV (Comma Separated Values) file containing the list of contacts to import.

You can export almost any spreadsheet as a .CSV file, so don’t worry if you don’t know what it is just yet. Here’s how to make yours:

Setting up your Contact List for Import

If you have your contacts in either Microsoft Excel or Apple Numbers, you can easily save your spreadsheet as a .CSV file. For example, you might have an Excel spreadsheet like this:

Notice there is a separate column for each data field belonging to the contact that you will import into JobNimbus.

A common mistake is to have the First and Last names of the contact be in the same column. In case you haven’t done so in the first step, you should separate first and last name into different columns in your spreadsheet before attempting the import.

Here’s a little trick to help you do that automatically: Split text into different cells

Saving from Microsoft Excel

To save this spreadsheet as a .CSV file in Excel, just choose Save As from the File options.

Enter a name for this CSV file and choose Comma Separated Values (.csv) as the exported format option.

Saving from Apple Numbers

For Numbers spreadsheets, the process is very similar. Just go up to the File menu and choose Export -> CSV…

Just confirm in the next step and you’ll be able to choose a location to save the file.

Your file is now in CSV format and ready to import to JobNimbus.

Both Contact Type and Status are required fields for contacts in JobNimbus. Make sure you have a column labeled Contact Type and another labeled Status in your CSV file. Also make sure that there is a value for both of these items for all contacts.

If you do not have a Contact Type or Status field in your CSV, then JobNimbus will prompt you to choose an applicable column from your spreadsheet or to choose a type and status to set all the contacts you are importing too automatically.

Importing the CSV File

To import the new CSV file into JobNimbus, click on the Contacts link on the left side navigation.

In the top right corner of the Contacts grid, click on the button that says Import Contacts.

A helpful explanation appears to remind you of some stuff that we already went over in this tutorial. Click the Select button to choose your CSV file to import.

After you select your CSV file to upload from your computer, JobNimbus will scan your file and try to determine what each column in your CSV file matches to in the JobNimbus contact field options. You will be presented with a list that looks a lot like this:

JobNimbus does its best to guess what each column in your CSV file means. But sometimes it can’t determine what field a specific column is for based on the name alone. Look through the list presented and make sure nothing is missing. If JobNimbus was unable to determine a field, use the drop down list for that field to select the correct column.

For example, in the spreadsheet uploaded here, the Address Line 1 is currently set to None.

In this example, we have a field for that value but it was called “Street” in my CSV file. So I’m going to tell JobNimbus that the column “Street” means “Address Line 1”. I do this by choosing the correct column to map this value to in the drop down list.

Once all of the fields are mapped correctly, I am ready to perform the import. I click Next to have JobNimbus scan my document and make sure there are no errors or other issues before importing.

JobNimbus will tell you if there are any issues. It will show how many contacts expect to be imported. If all of this information looks correct, you can perform the actual import by clicking the Import Contacts Now button.

The import will immediately start. The import runs in the background so you are able to still use JobNimbus and even close your browser while the import runs. When the import completes, you will receive an email notification.

Your contacts are now imported and immediately available in JobNimbus to search, edit, and manage.

Conclusion

Having all your contacts in one place is critical as you move into using a CRM. It’s built to help you build strong relationships with your customers, to provide you insights into how you can better serve them and how you can attract new customers in the future.

Now that you have all your contacts imported, it’s critical that you keep adding every new contact and that you keep up with status changes and other developments.

This will provide you the most up-to-date information possible in order to build your relationships and make smart marketing and product decisions.

There are tools to help you along the way, so don’t feel like maintaining your CRM is a burden. It’s a huge help if you do it right, and we’re here to show you how.

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