Importing saves you from typing every business by hand, whether your list lives in a spreadsheet or comes from another membership system. You stay in control, because nothing reaches your roster until you click Commit import.
Before you start
Save your list as a CSV file (a plain text file in the same shape also works), up to 10 MB. The first row must be column headers, and each row should be one member business. Columns for contacts, tags and custom fields are welcome too.
Run an import
- Click Imports in the sidebar, then New import. You can also click Import at the top of Members.
- Choose your file.
- Under What is this file?, pick the kind of list. Members is your roster. Other choices are Contacts (people at your members) and Prospects.
- Match each column in your file to the field it belongs to. Set anything you do not need to Skip this column.
- If your headers are cryptic, click Suggest mapping and let AI propose a match. Check its work before moving on.
- Click Validate & preview.
- Read the preview. It shows how many members would be created, how many updated, and which rows are invalid and why.
- Happy with it? Click Commit import and confirm.
How matching works
Businesses are matched by name, ignoring capitals, punctuation and endings like Inc. People are matched by email address. A match updates the existing record instead of creating a twin. Spelling is not guessed, so keep names consistent between files.
People come separately
If your representatives are in a separate file, import your members first. Then run a second import and choose Contacts (people at your members). Each person is attached to a member you already have.
If something looks off
- Too many new members in the preview usually means a name column is not lining up. Go back and fix the mapping.
- Invalid rows are skipped, never saved.
- To undo a committed import, open it from the Imports list and click Roll back. This removes the members and contacts it created. Records it only updated stay as they are.
Related: Members and contacts: what is the difference?; Working your prospects