Firstly it is important to understand how custom field rows work BEFORE going ahead and uploading custom data to automatically pre-populate or update in bulk inside contact records.
The process is more complex than your normal custom fields and this is why you need to take time and care to read these instructions to ensure the data gets imported correctly.
How does a Custom Field row look when it is exported out?
Understanding how the data is exported out with give you a guide on how it should look i.e. the format of how data should be input into the Excel sheet before you import it or if you re-import any new data how it should be set out in the spreadsheet BEFORE uploading.
1. When you export out your contacts data which has a custom field row associated to it the data is populated out in the spreadsheet in a different way to other custom fields.
2. All the data in the row relating to the specific contact record is pulled out into one column under the custom field row heading in your export spreadsheet.
3. Here is an example of a sales pipeline tracker row that has been exported out - notice the heading 'Sales Pipeline Tracker':
Underneath the heading you will see all the data from the row relating to each contact which includes a dates, drop down menus and text fields that have already been pre-populated.
4. Here is an example of how this sales pipeline tracker custom field row is displayed inside a contact record:
How to re-import changes to existing Custom Field row data?
If you wish to import in any data changes to the already existing populated custom field row then you need to send the contact data back EXACTLY in the FORMAT it was exported, following the same LAYOUT, as shown below:
1. The example above has the code for the Sales Pipeline Tracker custom field information i.e. {20150227, at the front and at the end of the data 20150227,} which has been captured against the contact.
2. Notice the data itself is separated by a comma BUT no space in between i.e. Phone Enquiry,Level 2 Ready to Buy,Quote Given, this is very important as the comma separating the data ensures that it populates the data into the correct field, drop down or date field.
If you do not add the comma in between then it will not populate correctly.
3. So instead of having the sub headings: Contact Date, Status, Type, Pipeline etc we just have the data captured for each sub-heading followed by commas.
4. Please note the the data will only correctly import into the custom fields when you follow this format.
5. If you try and import row data with any other drop down choice, other than those already set up inside your custom field settings, the data will not be collected as it will not know where to place the data as it is not set up as a drop down option inside your custom field settings.
6. You need to ensure that you use either the existing custom field drop down options or that you add the new drop down option to the existing custom fields BEFORE uploading the data so it will work correctly.
The above screenshot shows you the Status drop down with the drop down options that have been set up inside your account, the way this is recorded on the Excel sheet is shown below:
Please contact our Support Helpdesk if you need any additional custom field drop down options adding to your existing custom fields.
For guidance on importing using an Excel spreadsheet please click here.