Importing Contacts Into Infusionsoft Without Creating Duplicates
Keep your database clean when importing into Infusionsoft. No more duplicate contacts!
Keep Your Infusionsoft Database Clean by Avoiding Duplicate Contacts on Import Using Excel’s VLOOKUP Function
You know what’s a pain? Importing contacts and ending up with duplicate records.
Thankfully, Infusionsoft has a decent system in place to find and merge duplicate records, but really wouldn’t it be nice if they weren’t even created in the first place?
Well, read on my friend because with some simple trickery in excel, you are able to reduce (or eliminate) the number of duplicate records created when importing a list.
Export Your Existing Infusionsoft Contact List
On export, the only fields that are required are the Contact ID and email.
Format Your Lists
- Add a column to your import list for Contact ID
- Ensure the Email column is to the left of the Contact ID in both lists
Create Your Search Formula
- Click in the first empty Contact ID cell on your import list, and select the excel function selector
- Select VLOOKUP in the function search
- Set your lookup parameters
- Lookup Value: Select the email address field in your import list
- Table Array: Select the entire range of data from your exported list (both the Contact ID and Email columns for all contacts)
- Column Index Number: The column number on your exported list where your search value exists. In our example, that would be column 2 (wherever the Contact ID) resides.
- Range Lookup: False
- Click ok
Copy the VLOOKUP Formula Into the Remaining Cells of the Column
Verify the Results
All of the emails that were matched to existing contact records should now have the Contact ID field populated.
Remove the #N/A Values
Do a quick “sort by Contact ID” and clear all the cells that returned a value of #N/A
Import Into Infusionsoft Using the Data Cleanup Option
Instead of doing a regular contact import, you’ll want to go to Admin > Data Cleanup Option and selecting “Modify Existing Records.” Any contact that was already created will now just be updated instead of creating duplicate records.
PRO TIP: You’ll probably want to run a duplicate check after the import just to ensure there are no other duplicates. If you aren’t sure how to do this, check out this handy article.
Using Excel’s VLOOKUP to Eliminate Duplicate Contacts in Infusionsoft
While the VLOOKUP function may seem daunting at first, once you get the hang of it it can literally save you a ton of time on post-import cleanup.
If you have any questions about importing your contacts into Infusionsoft, please just let us know by completing the form below! We are always happy to help!
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About the Author
Jessica is the Director of Digital Marketing and Owner of Dohmain Designs. She is a small business sales and marketing expert specializing in business growth through intelligent website design and sales & marketing automation.
Jessica is a Certified Infusionsoft Partner, marketing automation and CRM expert with 20 years of professional sales and marketing experience. In 2011, she combined that experience with innovative website design and created Dohmain Designs. She has worked with biotech giants, overseen the digital marketing for a popular Discovery Channel hit TV series, worked with internationally known influencers, and helped hundreds of clients grow their business. Prior to creating Dohmain Designs, Jessica worked in the fast-paced biotech sector focusing primarily on technical sales and marketing, as well as providing complicated sales-focused CRM training across various disciplines.
Jessica is a member of her local Rotary Club where she has previously served as the Membership and Public Relations chairs and currently serves as the 2020-2021 President-elect. Jessica truly believes in the "Service Above Self" Rotarian philosophy and strives to dedicate her time and talents to helping others, both in her personal and professional relationships.
She is located in the Minneapolis / St. Paul area and works with clients all across North America. If you'd like to get in touch with Jessica, simply complete the contact form below.
