How do I import my contacts and job history?
Short answer
Export from your current systems, clean and deduplicate the file, map each column to a field, import a small test batch first, verify it, then load the rest. Job history, notes, and consent come with it, and you run both systems in parallel for a couple of weeks before switching fully.
Before you start
- Export access to every system holding customer data.
- A decision on what history you actually need to bring.
- Consent and opt-out records, which must migrate with the contacts.
- A quiet window, ideally not the week of your busiest season.
Step by step
- 1
Inventory where the data actually lives
The old CRM, the scheduling tool, an accounting system, a spreadsheet on somebody's desktop, and the contacts in the owner's phone. Write the list down before you export anything.
The forgotten spreadsheet is the one with your best customers on it.
- 2
Decide what history is worth moving
Contacts, addresses, job history, invoices, and notes usually earn their keep. Ten years of dead leads usually do not.
Importing junk makes every future filter and campaign worse.
- 3
Clean the file before it goes anywhere
One row per customer, consistent phone formatting, real email addresses, a single address format, duplicates merged. Do this in the spreadsheet, where it is easy.
Cleaning after import is ten times the work.
- 4
Bring consent and opt-outs with you
Anyone who opted out must stay opted out. Carry the flag over as its own column and verify it after import.
Losing an opt-out on migration is the most expensive mistake in this process.
- 5
Map columns to fields, and create what is missing
Match each column to a field, and add custom fields for what matters in your trade: equipment model, warranty date, gate code, plan tier.
The fields you skip now become the personalization you cannot do later.
- 6
Import twenty records first
Load a small batch, open five of them, and check every field, including tags, history, and consent. Fix the mapping, then delete the test batch.
Twenty wrong records are a fix. Twenty thousand are a restore.
- 7
Tag the import and load the rest
Stamp every imported record with the source and date so you can filter, audit, or roll back a batch cleanly.
A tagged import is reversible. An untagged one is permanent.
- 8
Run parallel, then cut over
Keep the old system readable for two to four weeks while all new work happens in the new one. When nobody has opened the old system in a week, turn it off.
Parallel running is how a migration stops being scary.
What good looks like
- Your whole customer list is searchable in one place, with history attached.
- Nobody retypes a customer that already existed.
- Opt-outs and consent survive the move intact.
- Reactivation campaigns become possible on day one.
Common mistakes
The ways this goes wrong in setup, and what to do instead.
Importing without deduplicating›
Three records for one customer means three follow-up sequences and one very annoyed homeowner.
Do this instead: Match on phone and email before import, and merge rather than create.
Leaving consent behind›
Opt-out flags must migrate. Losing them is a compliance problem, not a data problem.
Do this instead: Bring the opt-in status and source over with the record so outreach stays compliant.
Skipping the test batch›
A mapping error caught at twenty records is trivial. Caught at twenty thousand, it is a weekend.
Do this instead: Import twenty rows, inspect them, then run the rest.
Turning off the old system immediately›
Keep it readable for a few weeks. It costs almost nothing and saves you once.
Do this instead: Keep the old system readable for thirty days while the new one carries live work.
Frequently asked
6 questions about import contacts and migrateRelated guides
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