Customer / Leads Import

Activation of this module must be requested via CommTrak Support. There is no upfront or ongoing cost for this module.

Prior to starting the Customer / Lead import process, it is vital that you are familiar with the entire process and ramifications; please ensure that you have read and understood the available documentation before proceeding.

  • Importing of Customers and Leads from a CSV file
  • Import records with 65 standard fields
  • Existing custom fields in the import file are matched where those custom fields have been configured in CommTrak settings
  • Roll-back feature to undo an incorrect import (this feature is available for one hour after the import)
  • Exception report available (download a CSV file containing a list of failed records, with reason for each failure)
Accessing the Customer Import Module

Access to the Customer Import module is permission based, and is available to Supervisors by default.

Custom roles which allow access to this feature can be created if required, by applying the appropriate permissions:

Importing Customer / Lead Records

IMPORTANT: There is a distinction between Customers, Leads, and Opportunities in CommTrak. Opportunities should be imported into the Telesales module. Please contact CommTrak Support if you require advice about the difference between the record types, and how they should be imported.

When the Customer Import feature is selected from Utilities menu, the following screen is presented:

Press the information icon to download a CSV file containing headers for all the importable Customer / Lead fields.

Although you can use your own CSV template, we recommend using the sample provided, to ensure that the field labels (column headings) are valid and in the default order (which eliminates the need to manually assign columns to fields during the import process). The generated template includes all importable fields for Customers and Leads. For your convenience, columns for custom fields configured for Customers (if any) are automatically appended to the standard CommTrak fields in the CSV; custom Leads fields are not automatically appended, and should be added manually if required.

CSV File

Press the Browse button to select a single CSV file, or drag and drop a single file onto the button.

If the selection was successful, the filename will replace the No file selected label:

Example Data Template

Download an example data template into which new customer records can be added. We recommend using the template for customer/lead importing as it ensures correct field labels are used, which can save time and errors when executing the import.

Skip 1st Row

If ticked (default), the first row of the CSV file will be ignored.

Typically, the first row of a CSV file contains the column headers, and should not be imported. If your CSV file does not have any column headers (i.e. the first row of data is row 1), untick this option to ensure that the first row of data is imported.

Import Comment (mandatory)

Enter a descriptive comment for this import. The comment will be displayed in the Previous Uploads list.

Upload

Press the Upload button to confirm the import of data from the CSV file.

Pressing the Upload button pre-processes the data; each row of the CSV file is checked for validity, and the Import new list screen is presented:

In the above example:

  • The import file contains only three records, but a maximum of ten records are displayed for verification purposes
  • The top row (shown highlighted with the orange border) contains the column headings from the first row of the imported file (which will not be imported). If the Skip 1st Row option was unticked prior to uploading, this line will not be displayed.
  • The imported data (in this example, only the Company Name data is displayed in the image) is correctly matched with the dropdown options. The dropdown options represent the field names in CommTrak, into which the data will be imported.

Matching CommTrak Fields with Data

CommTrak will match the correct CommTrak fields with the imported data columns if the first row of the imported CSV contains the correct field labels. We strongly recommend downloading and using the example template for importing data, and leaving all the columns intact, even if some are blank; this will aid the accurate importing of data into the correct fields.

If the CommTrak field label in the dropdown list does not correctly match the imported data column, select the correct field label from the dropdown list.

In the following example, the first row of the CSV file contains a column labelled Contact Name, which is not a valid CommTrak field. The column has been matched Address (cont), which is the first available unused field in the list of CommTrak fields:

To resolve the incorrect match of the Contact Name column, shown in the previous image, select the correct CommTrak field name from the dropdown list:

When the file is imported, the Contact Name in the CSV file will correctly be imported into CommTrak as the name of the first contact person for this company.

If the example template has been used (with no columns added or removed), no further action is required before proceeding to the next stage.

If any columns have been removed or added (compared to the example template), ensure the correct fields labels are selected before proceeding, or cancel the import and edit the CSV file accordingly.

Uploading the file does not complete the process; the import is not finalised until the data has been verified!

If the same CommTrak field label is selected more than once (for example, if Contact Person 1 is also specified as the CommTrak field label for a later column), the import will be rejected at the verification stage.

Verify / Import

Press Verify / Import to continue the import process...

A notification of record rejections (if any) is presented at the top of the screen:

If desired, the banner can be hidden by pressing the X icon.

The following options are presented:

Selecting this option completes the import of valid records.

Depending on the number of records, the import may take anything from a few seconds to a maximum of forty seconds.

Upon completion of the import, the main Customer Import from CSV screen is displayed, with a notification banner advising of the rollback period:

The completed import (and other previous imports) are also listed.

See the later section, Rollback Feature, for information relating to rolling-back (undoing) an import.

The Rollback feature is available for one hour after an import has occurred, after which it is disabled, and the rollback can no-longer be executed.

Download Rejections

If there are any rejected rows, selecting this option downloads a CSV file containing the rejected rows.

A column, containing the reason for each rejected row, is appended to the CSV.

Back

Return to the previous screen ( Import new list); this will enable you to review the first 10 rows of data, and select alternative CommTrak field label headings if needed.

Cancel

Cancel the import and return the Customer Import screen.

Data Considerations

Mandatory Fields

Without the following fields, records will be rejected:

  • Company Name
  • Main Phone
  • Suburb
  • State

Recommended Fields

Although the following fields are not mandatory, we advise that the following fields should be included in the imported data:

Customer / Lead
  • Address
  • Postcode
  • Suburb
Contact Information
  • Contact Person 1
  • Contact Phone 1
  • Contact Email 1

Data Formatting

Consider the following data formats when preparing a file for import; records that do not conform to these specifications will be rejected at the verification stage.

Date Fields

The following date/time formats are accepted:

  • DD/MM/YYYY
  • DD-MM-YYYY
  • YYYY-MM-DD
  • YYYY/MM/DD
Yes / No (Boolean) Fields

Where a field requires a Yes/No input, the following formats are recognised:

  • Yes / No
  • Y / N
  • True / False
  • T / F
  • 1 / 0

Customer Groups

To add an imported record to a Customer Group, enter the name of the group into the Customer Group column of the CSV.

The Customer Group must already exist in CommTrak.

For additional information about groups, refer to the Customer Groups article.

Importing Leads

To identify a row as a Lead, add Yes (or other valid alternative, as noted in the Yes / No (Boolean) Fields subheading), in the Lead column of the import file.

Duplicate Records

Imported records are considered to be duplicates if the Company Name and Suburb fields are identical to existing records, and will be rejected at the verification stage:

Pressing the Download Rejections button (visible in previous image) downloads a CSV file containing the rejected duplicate records.

Rollback Feature

When rolling-back an import, any additions or changes to imported records, made after the import and prior to the rollback, will also be removed; please read this section in full prior to executing a rollback.

The Rollback feature is available for one hour after an import has occurred, after which it is disabled, and the rollback can no-longer be executed.

Previous Customer imports, if any, are listed in a table below the import options on the Customer Import screen:

Rollbacks that occurred within the previous hour display an icon in the Rollback column, as shown in the previous image.

To execute a rollback:

  1. Press the rollback icon
  2. Press the OK button to confirm the rollback, or Cancel to return to the previous screen.

Once confirmed, the rollback cannot be cancelled.

A banner is displayed at the top of the screen, advising that the Rollback has been scheduled, and an email notification will be sent to you when the rollback has completed.

The Status column for the import changes from Complete to Rollback Pending.

Once the Rollback background process has completed, the previously imported records will no-longer be available.