Importing Accounts Overview

This feature is not yet available to all users. However, Account Imports will be coming to all Lead Gen & CRM instances very soon.

An account in Lead Gen & CRM is just like a folder in a digital filing cabinet, where you can store all of the information related to a contact or an opportunity in one place.

Accounts contain information about contacts, opportunities, and organizations. Import accounts in bulk using our updated Account Import tool. You can import accounts from other Lead Gen & CRM instances and from other CRM platforms. 

You can even import accounts that were originally within Lead Gen & CRM, were moved to another CRM, and are now being moved back into Lead Gen & CRM.  

In this article, you'll learn what kind of information goes into an Account and how to edit it. 

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Article Contents

• Beginning An Import
• Prepare Your File for Uploading
• Uploading Your File
• Mapping Your Fields

Available With:

Trial	✓
Essential	✓
Advanced	✓
Ultimate	✓

Toolbar:

Sales

Users:

Administrators	✓
Company Managers
Marketing Managers
Sales Managers
Salespersons
Jr. Salespersons

Beginning An Import

You can initiate an import by clicking on the + sign in the instance top toolbar and selecting Import Accounts from the dropdown menu. 

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You can also initiate an Account Import by clicking on the “Import Accounts” button on the Account Manager page.

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Prepare your file for uploading

You can import accounts in bulk using a .txt or .csv file. Your file must have the Account Name field.

Account Name will be used as the unique identifier, to differentiate accounts from one another.  When an Account is created in Lead Gen & CRM, it is assigned an Account ID that is unique to that Account.  Account ID is an optional unique identifier you can use when reimporting accounts that may have had their Account Name field changed. 

The following fields are additional, pre-made fields that can be mapped for an easy transition into Lead Gen & CRM: 

• Account Name
• Website Address
• Phone Number 
• Industry
• Annual Revenue
• Number of Employees
• Year Started
• Fax Number 

Any of these system fields that are not included in your import file will remain empty within the Lead Gen & CRM account page once the import is complete. Any additional fields you want to include in your import can be turned into Lead Gen & CRM custom fields. 

Uploading Your File

Start an account import from the Contacts section, the + sign in the top toolbar, or the Account Management page. 

1. Click the inbox box to open your computer’s file manager and locate your account file, or open your computer’s file manager and drag your account file onto the inbox icon. 
   
   

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2. Select your import file. 
   
   

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3. Click Continue. 
   
   

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4. Check that the auto-selected file settings are correct and make adjustments as needed. 
   
   

   Items to Map		Description
   Delimiter		Select the character Lead Gen & CRM should use to separate the items in your file. For Excel files, commas (,) are the most common type of delimiter.  Other delimiters include semicolon (;), Pipe (|), and Tab (/t). Lead Gen & CRM will attempt to automatically identify your delimiter based on the file you’ve uploaded
   Date Format		Select the way dates are formatted in your file. The most common date format is MM-DD-YYYY, month, date, and then year separated by dashes. There are nine possible date formats:  MM/DD/YYYY DD/MM/YYYY YYYY/MM/DD MM-DD-YYYY DD-MM-YYYY YYYY-MM-DD MM.DD.YYYY DD.MM.YYYY  YYYY.MM.DD Lead Gen & CRM will attempt to automatically identify your date format based on the file you’ve uploaded
   Time Format		Select the way time is formatted into your file. The most common time format is the 12-hour format.  Lead Gen & CRM will attempt to automatically identify your time format based on the file you’ve uploaded.

5. Click Continue. 
   
   

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Mapping Your Fields

You’ll be able to confirm mapping for the fields in your file.

1. Check that the auto-selected mapping is correct and make adjustments as needed.
   
   
   Note: Industry, Annual Revenue, Number of Employees, Year Started, and Fax Number are account page system fields. Additional columns included in your file will be imported into Lead Gen & CRM, and into the account page, as custom fields.
   
   
   Important: Account Name will be used as the unique identifier, to differentiate accounts from one another. If any accounts have the same Account Name, then Account ID will be used instead. You’ll be able to decide what you want to do with duplicate accounts. 
2. Decide how you would like to manage duplicate fields then click Continue.
   • Do not import accounts with duplicate Account Name / Account ID. 
   • Merge and update only new or empty fields.
   • Merge and overwrite all fields.
3. Review your import settings and mapping, then check the verification box. 
   
   
   Important: Double-check that the date and time for your imports are accurate. Once this is set it cannot be changed. Inaccurate date and time data can make your entire import file inaccurate.
4. Click Start Account Import to start the import process. You’ll be sent to the Account Manager. 

Once your import has started and you arrive at the Account Manager, you can leave the page and your import will still be processed. You’ll see a notification within your Lead Gen & CRM instance when the import is finished.

Imported accounts will be available within the Account Manager. The Import History page will have a record of your import that contains a link to view your imported Accounts in the Account Manager. 

Click the Sales > Accounts tab in the left toolbar. Read the Using the Account Manager article for more information. If there are any problems with starting your import you will be alerted to the error and the import will not process.

You must correct any errors in the file (such as a missing Account Name or Account ID number, invalid date selection, or if you forget to make a decision on how to handle duplicate data) before the import can continue. Import records can be found on the Import History page. Read the Import History Page article for more information.