Import Your Contacts

BigContacts provides a free, easy-to-use import tool that allows you to import contacts, including custom fields, from any properly formatted CSV spreadsheet. However, this tool does not transfer items such as notes, historical emails, tasks, meetings, or sales opportunities.

To get started, select 'Admin' from the left menu and then 'Import Contacts.'

Step 1: Download Our Import Template

Before importing your spreadsheet, make sure to add any custom fields you want to include.
To ensure your data imports correctly, the top row of your spreadsheet must be a header row. This row should contain labels for each column, indicating where each field should map in your BigContacts account. We recommend aligning your data with the standard fields available in BigContacts. The Import Template already includes these standard fields for your convenience.
Once you’ve labeled your column headers and aligned your data, save your spreadsheet as a .CSV file format.

Step 2: Choose Merge Preference

You can use the Import Tool to either update or add new information to existing contacts in your account, OR you can simply upload contacts without trying to merge them with any duplicate contacts that might already exist in your account. Note: Contacts will only be merged if the "first name" and "last name" fields are an exact match, regardless of the values in other fields.

To delete an import, ALWAYS choose the second option: "Don't Merge Contacts."

Step 3: Upload your Spreadsheet

Click on "Browse" and select a CSV file.
Then, click "Continue to Next Step".

Step 4: Map Your Fields

You are now on the "Mapping Screen". Here, review all the header names to ensure they are mapped to the correct fields in your BigContacts account.

Once you have confirmed that all mappings are correct, scroll to the bottom of the page and click the "Continue to Next Step" button located in the bottom right corner.

FINAL STEP: Preview Screen

You are now at the final step of the import process, known as the "Preview Screen." This screen lets you see how a contact will appear once the import is complete. It's a useful way to confirm that all the data is mapped correctly to the appropriate fields.

At this stage, your contacts have not been imported yet. If you’re satisfied with the preview, click the "Finish" button to complete the import.

Note: Importing a large spreadsheet may take several minutes. If you're not satisfied with the preview, click the "Back to Mapping Fields" button in the lower left corner to return to the mapping screen and make any necessary adjustments.

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Special Notes:

Assigning contacts to a user on your team:

First, obtain the "User ID" for each team member.

Go to the "Admin" tab.
In the "Manage Users" section, click the "Add/Edit Users" link.
In the User table, locate the "User ID" column.

In your spreadsheet, create a column labeled "Assigned to" and paste the appropriate User ID next to each contact. This ensures that each contact is assigned to the correct person during the import process.

Adding Custom fields to your spreadsheet:

If you need to import fields that BigContacts doesn't offer as standard, you'll need to create a custom field before importing your contacts (except for Tags). The custom field must first be created in the Admin section of BigContacts so that the Import Wizard has a designated place to map the field. This step sets up a home for the custom field to reside during the import process.

Follow these steps to create a custom field:

Go to the "Admin" tab.
In the "Manage Account" section, click the "Customize Account" link.
In this section, you will find several tabs, including "Contact Types" and "Custom Fields," where you can customize the fields.

NOTE:

If you have a custom field called "Account Number," make sure your header is also labeled "Account Number."
If you have a custom contact group called "Country" (with a picklist of various countries), your header should be "Country." Then, in the cells below that column, you would have the appropriate country name for each contact row.

Tags:

Handling Tags During Import:

You don’t need to create tags in advance. If a contact has multiple tags, separate them with commas (e.g., blue, red, green, yellow).

Important Note on Re-importing Contacts:
When re-importing contacts that already exist, be cautious with tags. If you re-import a basic spreadsheet that includes basic columns (such as First Name, Last Name, and Email) and doesn’t include a "Tags" column, any existing tags on those contacts will be removed during the update.

To retain existing tags, ensure your spreadsheet has a "Tags" column and that all existing tags are listed in the appropriate contact rows. Remember to separate multiple tags with commas (without spaces).

Synchronizing Contacts with Marketing Module:

Add a column to your spreadsheet and label it "Marketing Contact."
For each contact you want to sync with the marketing module, enter "Yes" in that column.

Deleting an Import

If you realize you didn’t map certain fields correctly or forgot to add a custom field before importing, don’t worry! You can easily delete your import. Follow these steps for a quick fix.

Important: This delete feature is only available if you selected "Don't Merge Contacts" during the import process. If you chose "Merge with Existing Contacts," you won't be able to use this feature to delete the import.

You can delete your imports directly from the Import Contacts page.

Click on "View Import Files."

2. In the far-right column of the table, you will see whether or not you can delete each import. There are two possible messages:

"This file cannot be deleted" — This appears if you selected "Merge With Existing Contacts" during the import process.
"Delete imported contacts" — This appears if you selected "Don't Merge Contacts," allowing you to delete the import.

Important Information About Deleting Imports:

This safety feature is designed to prevent accidental deletion of contacts that were merged during import. This helps reduce the risk of losing important contact information including notes in history for certain merged contacts.

For imports that can be deleted, use this feature cautiously.

Be very careful when selecting an import to delete to ensure you are removing only the contacts you intend to remove.

Once you delete a set of contacts, all associated data and history will be permanently removed from your database.

That's everything you need to know about importing contacts. Please contact our support team if you encounter any issues or questions.