What's included when requesting that LACRM run an import

We understand that data migration is one of the most intimidating parts of starting with or moving to a new CRM. As a part of our standard free support, we’re happy to help you with importing your contacts into your CRM database.

However, since we’re a relatively small team, there are some limitations to the volume and kinds of assistance we can offer when it comes to importing. This article will explain what services we do and do not offer, and in what volume. (Note: All import assistance up to the limits described here is included free with every account. These are not upsells—additional imports or data manipulation beyond what is described below is not available for purchase.)

Here are the four main things to know:

Three imports per account.

• Each Less Annoying CRM account may request that our team of CRM Coaches runs up to three imports on their behalf. Each separate file or sheet of data counts as one import—for example, if you have three separate CSV files or a single Excel workbook with three unique sheets of data, those count the same.
• If your migration will ultimately require more than three imports—or if you think you’ll continue to run imports with regularity (e.g. to periodically add new leads to your CRM)—we’ll do our best to show you the ropes so that you can handle future uploads yourself.
• If and when you’ve used all three of your imports, we’ll still be here to provide support and offer advice—we may be able to offer suggestions on prepping your files or running your own imports, or we may even schedule a call where we can talk you through running your import(s). However, at this stage, we’ll ask that you actually execute the import yourself.

Data prep/manipulation is your responsibility.

• Most files sent to us here at LACRM require little or no formatting work to make them viable for import. However, sometimes files require some tweaking before they can be mapped into your database.
• In some cases this might mean using a spreadsheet editor (e.g. Excel) to make changes to the data’s formatting in bulk. In other cases cleaning up a file for import may require some manual work by you or a member of your team.
• While a CRM Coach will do their best to let you know what needs to be done to make your file ready for import, we’ll typically ask you to make any necessary changes to format it properly. (We’re often able to suggest how you might go about doing such cleanup, but keep in mind that we’re considerably more expert on our own software than Excel or other spreadsheet editors!)

30 minutes maximum per import.

• The most common thing that might take some time when preparing for an import is the kind of data cleanup described above. However, in some rare cases, just the importing/mapping process might take an unusually long time. For example, if you have very complex or numerous custom fields, groups, or other segmentation, this can mean considerably more hands-on human time to finalize a single import process.
• Often we’ll be able to tell when an import will have this level of complexity and let you know at the outset which parts of the import we’ll be able to handle within this limit, and how you can do the rest yourself. But regardless of the circumstances, don’t worry: we won’t just stop in the middle of your import and leave you without any guidance!

We have lots of help resources on importing!

• The Beginner’s Guide and Import Contacts page both have tutorial videos that explain the basics of importing—the former is quicker and simpler, the latter longer and more detailed.
• Our Help Center also has numerous articles on importing data, including our master tutorial on formatting a spreadsheet file for import.
• Many people surprise themselves with how easily they’re able to run their own import without sending their file to our team and waiting for us to get to it, so don’t be afraid to give it a shot yourself!