Moving data from one platform to another is rarely easy to do and never what you want to spend your time doing yet it remains a necessary evil. With the Cloud client and contact import tool, you can quickly get your data into Cloud so you can focus on what you do best. Before you get started, take a look at what we mean by clients and contacts.

Any data import tool is only as good as the data it's importing. Before importing your data, it's best to clean it up to make sure it's what you'll want to use in Cloud. Email addresses, phone numbers, and site and billing addresses are some common fields that can cause headaches down the road so make sure they're correct prior to importing; we'll upload these fields exactly as entered in your file. The good news is you can always edit your information later in the Cloud Contacts tab should you miss a field or two.

During import we'll attempt to match your column headers to what we use in Cloud but it's best to review them before importing. When you begin the import process, you'll have the opportunity to download a sample file with the Cloud client and contact headers filled. Getting your headers as close to these as possible will make the import process much easier and reduce the chances you'll have to manually match headers.

What's the difference between John Smith and John Smith? When using the import tool, there isn't one. If you have clients or contacts with the same name, we'll import the last one in the file and get rid of the rest. If you're uploading a file in the future and there is a client or contact name that already exists in your Cloud account, it'll be mapped to that client or contact automatically. We recommend that you indicate that the new John Smith is different from the existing John Smith so the existing record isn't overwritten.

In Cloud, your contacts can be associated with a client. To associate your contacts with clients, simply add them to the 'contact first name' and 'contact last name' columns in your import file. You can also link contacts to clients by adding the 'client name' header to your contact import file if you're using separate files.

Yes! If you've followed the above steps and recommendations, the upload process should be a breeze. If you're a first time Cloud user, you'll be up and running in no time skipping one of the most painful steps when adopting a new business tool. If you're an existing user and you maintain an external CRM for your business, regularly importing will remove the pain of duplicate data entry and introduction of errors. Click the button below to get started!