Surfe is sending data from LinkedIn to specific columns and rows in your Google Sheet. When the Google Sheet isn’t arranged in the way Surfe expects, this can create bugs, meaning Surfe doesn’t know where to send the data and your sheet no longer works.
To help you keep the Google Sheet working, we’ve put together some Dos and Don’ts of changes you can make to the Google sheet without breaking it.
Here’s what you can do
Hide columns if you don’t want to see them. Deleting columns will confuse Surfe, but you can hide them instead without any worries.
Create and use new columns to send data from the Extra Fields section of the Surfe Panel. To do this, create and name a new column in your Google Sheet. Then, in the Surfe panel, select ‘Edit properties’ in the Additional Fields section of the Google Sheet. Now, any data you enter here will be added to the column of the same name in your Google Sheet.
Copy data into your sheet from another sheet on the condition that it contains a LinkedIn URL and that all of the data is in the correct column. We recommend reordering the data you want to add beforehand so that first names are in the first name column, LinkedIn URL is in the LinkedIn URL column, the company name is in the company column, and such.
Here’s what you can’t do
Delete default columns. Surfe needs to know where to send data. Deleting these columns will confuse Surfe so we recommend hiding columns instead of deleting them.
Don’t rename any of the default columns, otherwise Surfe won’t know where to send the data.
Don’t delete the first row of the Google Sheet that includes the column names.
Don’t delete the sheet. If you delete the sheet, you may lose data that you have already added.
Don’t apply filters or functions to the sheet. If you need to apply filters or functions, we recommend copying your data into a new, separate sheet so that none of the data in your Surfe Google Sheet is affected.
If your Google Sheet has been broken, you’ll be prompted about this the next time you try to use it on LinkedIn. If your Sheet is broken, you’ll be notified by a pop-up on LinkedIn when you try to add somebody. You’ll see a prompt to ‘Fix my spreadsheet’. Click this, and we’ll revert your spreadsheet back to its working state!
If you are still experiencing issues, we recommend reverting to an earlier version of the sheet. You can do this by clicking the Version History button in the top right of your Google Sheet. Here, you’ll see all of the changes and edits to the sheet. The easiest way to fix the Sheet is to find the change that broke it.
If you’ve recently made any changes listed in the ‘Don’t’ list above, revert to before that change and try using your Sheet from LinkedIn again.
Looking to connect Surfe with Google Sheets? Learn more here.
Check out the features offered through the Google Sheets integration and those available with CRMs