Your contacts power your marketing to your sphere of influence, driving your business. That is why it is vital to have all your contacts with complete information. MoxiEngage makes it easy to stay connected to your sphere with features like Stay in Flow and Neighborhood News.
To take advantage of these features, you will need to import contacts directly into the program. Within Engage you can download the import template, add your data, and upload into the program. Once in your Engage, the contacts flow automatically into your email program, ensuring you have synced data. Going forward, any contact details you add in MoxiEngage will be part of the contact record in your connected email as well.
To ensure you have as seamless an import process as possible, we have put together these best practices.
Best Practices for the Import Template
Preparing for Your Import
First, a little prep work. Proper contact preparation and placement can ensure a complete upload of all your contacts.
Downloading the Import Template
The contact import template can be found in the MoxiEngage My People screen. Select the gear icon at the top-right corner of the screen and select Import Contacts.
A pop-up window will appear with instructions for downloading the template and uploading contacts into MoxiEngage. Select the link to download the template.
Save the template to transfer your contacts into.
If you have previously downloaded the import template, please download it again, as there have been recent changes to the template to simplify the import process.
Export Your Contacts
If you have your contacts in another CRM, follow the instructions that the CRM provides to export the contacts. Most likely they will be exported into a .csv file, which is a spreadsheet without formatting. Once you have completed the export, we recommend the following steps.
Clean Up Your Contacts
Review your contacts to see if they all need to be imported into MoxiEngage. Are there contacts whom you will not be doing business with again? Are there contacts that really don’t belong in your CRM? Cleaning up your contacts will ensure that every contact you import into Engage is one that will grow your business.
Clean Up Your Data
All your contacts should have the following information for you to use MoxiEngage to its fullest.
- First and last name
- Contact physical address
- Phone number
- Email address
Other information you may want to include:
- Spouse, partner, children
- Birthday
- Notes about the client
When cleaning up your contacts, please look at the contact import template you downloaded and where you are going to store every piece of information.
Look for Mistakes in the Export
When your data was exported, did it export cleanly or are there extraneous marks or symbols mixed in? Did specially formatted fields like birthdays or phone numbers export properly? Making sure all these fields are properly formatted can aid in a smooth import process.
Best Practices for the Import Template
The import template has been simplified for easier importing. To increase your chances of a successful import, follow these suggestions.
Column Headers
Do not change any column headers in the import template. Do not delete columns, add columns, or rename any columns in the template. Doing so will cause your import to fail. Instead, for any data that does not have a specific column, please place in the Notes column.
The Categories Column
The Categories column in the template will create groups in MoxiEngage. For example, if you would like a particular client in a luxury group in Engage, type Luxury in the Categories column of the contact’s row and they will be assigned to that newly created group.
Date Format
For columns such as anniversary or birthday, please use the mm/dd/yyyy format for the date. Using anything else may prevent import of that record.
In your spreadsheet program, you should have a column formatting option allowing you to bulk change the dates if needed. Make this in your export file and then copy to your import template.
Paste as Plain Text
When you are ready to transfer your information to the template, copy the data in your exported contacts and paste as plain text in your import template. Most spreadsheet programs have this option for pasting, and it ensures no background formatting causes issues.
If using Microsoft Excel, you may want to use the Paste Values option when pasting in your data into the import template.
Importing Your Data
Once you have filled in the template, once again go to the MoxiEngage My People screen. Select the gear icon at the top-right corner of the screen and select Import Contacts. Press the Select File button, choose your import spreadsheet, and import your contacts.
You’ll see a status screen indicating your success.
For more information on the import process, please refer to this help desk article: Importing Contacts Directly via CSV File – MoxiWorks Help Center