Import Contacts from CSV

This article explains in detail how to export your contact list, prepare it for import and successfully import your contacts into RealOffice360 in minutes using our import wizard.


Here are examples of sources that you may be able to import your contacts from:

  • Spreadsheets - Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, Apple Numbers (Mac) or similar
  • Email programs - Outlook, Gmail (Google contacts) or other email programs
  • Phone contacts - Android phone (Google contacts) or iPhone (iCloud contacts)
  • Real estate software - most real estate tools such as CRM's, lead generation, client or transaction management
  • Other CRM's - most contact relationship management programs

Required steps

  1. Export your contact list
  2. Prepare your CSV file for import
  3. Import CSV file into RealOffice360 CRM

Step 1. Export Your Contact List

As the first step you will need to export your contacts from your other program or device. If you have a CSV file already, jump ahead to Step 2 below. Otherwise, select the option below that best describes where you want to export your existing contacts from.


If your contacts are in a spreadsheet:

  • Open the spreadsheet on your computer
  • Be sure the first row is a header line with columns names (see supported fields below)
  • Use the "Save as" or "Export" function in your spreadsheet program to save it as a CSV file

If your contacts are in a CRM, email or another program:

  • Go to the website for your specific product
  • Search the help center or contact technical support
  • Follow the instructions provided to export contacts as a CSV file

If your contacts are in Google Contacts (Gmail or Android phone):


If your contacts are on an iPhone (iCloud contacts):

  • Export your contacts to a vCard file
  • Convert the vCard file to CSV using a free online tool. We suggest http://labs.brotherli.ch/vcfconvert/
  • Select CSV format, comma delimited, include the header line, and Unicode UTF-8 encoding

If you prefer to start with a blank CSV template:

  • Download our sample CSV template file
  • The template includes a header row with all supported columns
  • Delete or replace the included example contacts
  • Add your contacts and their information
 

Step 2. Prepare Your CSV File

It is recommend to clean up your CSV file before importing. To do this, open the file in a spreadsheet program (eg. Excel, Sheets or Numbers) to purge unwanted contacts, update missing data and update the header column names. Remember, be sure to save it as a CSV file.


Below is a list of all the contact information that can be imported into RealOffice360 CRM. It is recommend to name your header columns similar to these, as it will make it much easier to map the columns in Step 3.

PRO TIP: the import feature will try its best to auto-map the columns in your CSV to the fields available in RealOffice360 CRM. However, this may not be 100% accurate, and as such we strongly suggest you verify each column to CRM field mapping to ensure it maps to the correct field type.

  • First Name (*required)
  • Last Name
  • Email (*recommended, used to auto-merge duplicate contacts) - multiple emails allowed
  • Phone Number - multiple phone numbers allowed
  • Birthday
  • Next Follow Up (date field, it will create a Task and an email notification on the day of)
  • Company
  • Spouse First Name‡
  • Spouse Last Name‡
  • Spouse Email‡ - multiple emails allowed
  • Spouse Phone Number‡ - multiple phone numbers allowed
  • Spouse Birthday‡
  • Wedding Anniversary
  • Home Anniversary
  • Street Address (line 1)
  • Unit Number (line 2)
  • City
  • State / Province (or region)
  • Zip / Postal Code
  • Country
  • Website
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin
  • Twitter
  • Youtube
  • Origin Source (lead source, or referred by)
  • Note - multiple notes allowed
  • Groups - multiple groups allowed (available on Premium Plan)

‡ Note that Spouses are not created as separate contacts, but are included as family "Relationships" in the main contact. Any Spouse emails, phone numbers or birthdays are also included under the main contact with the Spouse's name specified in the label.

PRO TIP: if you can't find a suitable RealOffice360 CRM field to map a CSV column to, please map to the Note field, as this will still capture and import that data under the given Contact record - as a note record.

NOTE ON PHONE NUMBERS: when you import contact data, we check the phone numbers in the CSV file to determine whether they include the country code (based on your location at the time of signing up for your RealOffice360 CRM). If the country code is missing, the importer will automatically add your country code to all the imported phone numbers. This is required so the app correctly formats and displays the phone numbers.

Step 3. Import CSV to RealOffice360

Navigate to the Contacts tab from the side bar.

Select Actions  from the top right.

Choose Import or Sync contacts from the drop down menu.

Select the Import a .csv file from your computer button.

RealOffice360 tip: a csv file means your file name should end in .csv,

  • Correct file type example: contacts.csv
  • Incorrect file type example: contacts-csv.numbers or contacts-csv.xlsx

If your file is in a different format, simply save-as and change the file type to .csv

Click in the upload box to select your contacts csv from your computer.

Click next in the bottom right.

Match the columns from your file to available fields in RealOffice360.

  1. Names of the columns from your csv.
  2. Preview of the data in that column to help you choose the right fields to map your data.
  3. Drop down menu with contact profile fields in RealOffice360.

*During the CSV import, there is an option to either merge contacts, or keep them separate. The contacts will be merged if they have the same email address. If multiple emails are mapped, all emails mapped will be checked, and merged.* 

Click next in the bottom right.

Important! Choose how to handle duplicate contacts.

  • Separate contacts: each contact you are importing will be added as a new unique contact in your database
  • Merge contacts: if you are importing a contact that has the EXACT SAME EMAIL ADDRESS as an existing contact in RealOffice360, then the new contact information  will be merged into the existing contact. NOTE: only the email address is used to merge duplicates (we do not merge by the same name or phone).

Click submit in the bottom right.

Once the import is complete, click Acknowledge.

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