From a spreadsheet to a CRM, step by step

A CSV is a plain text file in which the lines are the table's rows and a delimiter separates the values. Almost every CRM accepts it, and it is the safest route between two systems.

1. In Excel, choose Save As and pick the “CSV UTF-8” format.
2. UTF-8 matters because without it the letters ő and ű can arrive as unreadable symbols.
3. Hungarian Excel often separates values with semicolons; that is fine, HelloCRM's importer recognises commas, semicolons and tabs.
4. After saving, open the file in a plain text editor and check that the accents look right.

HelloCRM's importer can also read the first sheet of an .xlsx workbook, along the same path as a CSV. If you are unsure, CSV UTF-8 is the more predictable choice.

In HelloCRM you load contacts under Contacts → Import. The importer recognises common Hungarian and English headers on its own; you map the rest to the right field from a list, or skip them.

• Before you start, the preview shows what will come in, what will be updated and what is wrong, so nothing is written blind.
• Rows with an email are updated, not duplicated, on a second run, so a corrected file can safely be loaded again.
• A row without an email cannot be tied to an existing record: it is created as a new contact on every run. Load those once, at the end.

If the contacts file has a company name column, the importer creates the companies that do not exist yet and links the contact to them. If you have more company data (VAT number, website, industry), load it from a separate file under Companies → Import.

Bring open deals across in a separate file too, under Deals → Import: title, pipeline, stage, value, currency and expected close date. The contact's email address ties the deal to the right person, so do not leave that column out.

1. Companies first, if you have a separate file for them.
2. Then the contacts, with the company name.
3. Finally the deals, with the contact's email address.

In this order, whatever the next file refers to already exists at each load. Old, closed deals do not have to come across; a note on the customer about what they bought before is often enough.

However careful the cleaning, an old spreadsheet always keeps a few people twice: once with a work address and once with a private one, or once with a misspelt name. In HelloCRM an email address belongs to only one live contact within a company, so duplicate detection looks not at the email but at the phone number and at name plus company.

• It brings phone numbers to one form, so +36, 06 and the area-code form mean the same number.
• It shows the pairs it finds side by side, and you decide which one stays.
• Merging keeps everything: notes, emails, tasks and deals move to the record that stays.

On the first day after the import, go through the duplicate list once, before colleagues start writing notes on the records.

Only those whose consent you can demonstrate. Under Article 7(1) of the GDPR, where processing is based on consent, the controller must be able to demonstrate that the person consented. A row in a spreadsheet is rarely such proof on its own: it does not show when, where and next to what wording someone signed up.

• If the file has a “Newsletter” or “Subscribed” column, the importer recognises it: “yes” marks the contact as subscribed, “no” as unsubscribed.
• Someone on the suppression list (because they unsubscribed) is not subscribed again by an import, even if the file says yes.
• Do not leave the decision to the file: add such a column and write “no” for everyone whose consent you cannot demonstrate.
• You can ask them again with a double opt-in sign-up form; there consent is recorded at the click, with the wording that was shown.

This is general information, not legal advice; check your own processing with your data protection adviser.

The import is only half of the move. The other half is getting the team to work in the CRM rather than in the old spreadsheet. That takes a few simple habits in the first week.

1. Make the old spreadsheet read-only, so there are not two versions of the truth.
2. Log every call-back and to-do as a task with a due date and an owner; HelloCRM sends a reminder a day before by default.
3. Set up your sales stages and put the open deals on the board. The free plan allows two pipelines, and the Deals module is free.
4. Invite colleagues (up to 3 users on the free plan) and set who should see only their own customers.
5. Connect the company mailbox, so emails land on the customer's timeline.
6. At the end of the week, do an export and check that everything came across.