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How to Import Contacts and Create Relationships During Import

How to Import Contacts and Create Relationships During Import

Introduction

You can automatically create relationships between contacts you import and other contacts in your CRM.

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What this article covers:

How it works

  • When you import contacts via a CSV file (spreadsheet), your spreadsheet needs to have two sections

    • A section for the details of the Primary Contacts whom you want to import

    • A smaller section (one or two columns is all you need) that contains the most essential details about the Secondary Contact that you want to link each Primary Contact to

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Define your relationship types

Add details of your Primary Contact to the spreadsheet

Add a column or two to identify your Secondary Contact

Define your relationship types

Add details of your Primary Contact to the spreadsheet

Add a column or two to identify your Secondary Contact

Create new or choose existing Relationship Types that represent the links you want to create between two contacts - your Primary Contact and your Secondary Contact

Your Primary Contact is the person whose details you are importing - you’ll have a spreadsheet column for each characteristic, e.g. Name, Email, Phone, Address, Job Title, etc

Your Secondary Contacts can either be

  • contacts who already exist on Makerble (in which case, you need a column that can serve as a Unique Identifier to identify that contact - e.g. Secondary Contact’s Email Address)

  • or if they don’t already exist on Makerble, the system will automatically create a new contact profile for them during the import process. That’s why having a 2nd column e.g. for Secondary Contact’s Name is helpful - because it enables Makerble to know the name to give that newly created contact.

Step-by-step instructions

Stage 1: Prepare the Required Fields and Contact Forms

  1. Create all necessary fields – Ensure all dropdowns and text fields required for the Contacts have been created. Example: Gender, age, Name (Other relevant fields according to your needs)Create a Dropdown field

  1. Create a new contact form and  Add these fields to the Contact form.Creating & Editing a Contact Bio Form

  1. Add the contact form to projects – Add these forms to the relevant projects, You can assign it to existing projects or create new projects entirely. Example: (e.g., "Parents" and "Children").Add a Contact Bio Form to a project

 

  1. Ensure that the contact form is added to both projects. This allows for linking between contacts.

 

  1. Ensure you have the Relationship Types you need. Create a Relationship Category

  1. Go to Contacts → More options → Relationship Types

  2. Create a relationship Type(e.g., "Mother and Son").

 

Stage 2: Create a Contact for the Non-Imported Group

  1. Manually create a contact in the project for the group that won’t be imported i.e. Secondary Contacts. Example: If importing Children, first create the contact in the Parents project.

  2. Fill in all relevant details as per the contact form.

Stage 3: Import Contacts.

  1. Select Create in the top menu

  2. A drop down menu appears

  3. Select Import

    or Navigate to the Import section→New Import.

    4. Choose "Import Contacts" for What would you like to import?
    5. Name your import.
    6. Select the destination of the import.

    • Example: If importing Children (Primary Contact), choose the "Children" project(Primary Project). Upload the CSV file containing the contacts. Click "Next" to preview the spreadsheet.

      • Edit any fields if necessary before proceeding.

Stage 4: Establish Relationships During Import

  • Proceed to Step 3 of the Import process: Create Relationships.

  • When asked, "Do you want to create relationships between contacts?" select "Yes."

  • Choose the previously created relationship Type in the Dropdown (e.g., "Mother and Son").

  • Specify which group is being imported in, How do you want to assign each side of the relationship? Example: If importing Children, select "Son" in the dropdown.

Stage 5: Identify and Match Contacts

  1. On the "Identify Secondary Contacts" tab, Set rules for identifying Contacts.

  2. Choose how to identify secondary contacts (e.g., by email address).

  3. Select the corresponding field from the spreadsheet, which you want to use to Identify the contact associated with each update. For example, if emails are already added, use the email address  Makerble field to match the contact in the spreadsheet with the corresponding contact on Makerble.

  4. Click "Find Matching Contacts" to link them.

Stage 6: Handling Unmatched Secondary Contacts

  1. If some contacts aren’t matched, assign them manually in the UNMATCHED POTENTIAL SECONDARY CONTACTS Tab, Choose the Create option to apply to all.

  1. Ensure the correct project is selected for storing secondary contacts (e.g., "Parents"). 

  2. Assign the relevant contact form"

  3. In the column for the secondary contact, choose "Email Address.

Stage 7: Finalising the Import

  1. Match the Imported columns to your Bio form fields (e.g., Name, Gender, Date of Birth).

  2. Ensure all fields are properly aligned.

  3. Set Rules for Imported Items

  4. Complete/Confirm the import process.

Stage 8: Verify the Imported Contacts and Relationships

  1. Go to the Contact Profile page of an imported contact.

  2. Scroll down to check the established relationships.

  3. Ensure that the correct relationships (e.g., "Mother-Son") are reflected.

In summary

By following these steps, you can successfully import contacts and at the same time create a relationship b/w another contact when you're importing.


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