Importing and exporting leads
What this page is — how to load leads from a spreadsheet, and how to get them back out.
What it is for — bringing an existing list into Pulse, and extracting a filtered set for use elsewhere.
The problem it solves — getting an existing list into Pulse without typing it. The import reads four columns, so this page also says what it cannot bring in and what you will want to set afterwards.
Import permission: Create New Leads · Export permission: View Marketing Suites lead management
Import Leads and Export Leads both exist in the role editor and neither is enforced anywhere. Import is gated on Create New Leads; export on View Marketing Suites lead management. Granting the import permission alone achieves nothing.
1. What the import does
Reads a CSV or Excel file and creates one lead per row.
| Lead import | Inbound webhook | Created by hand | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Volume | Many rows | One at a time | One at a time |
| De-duplicates | No | Yes | No |
| Validates name + contact | Weakly — see below | Yes | Yes |
| Sets pipeline and status | No | If supplied | If chosen |
| Runs assignment | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Runs scoring | No | No | No |
Columns it reads
The importer looks for four columns, by any of several header spellings:
| Field | Accepted headers |
|---|---|
| Name | name, full_name, fullname |
email | |
| Phone | phone, mobile |
| Company | company, company_name |
Source, pipeline, status, grade, owner, budget, custom fields and consent are not importable. A file containing them is accepted and those columns are ignored silently. Everything beyond name, email, phone and company must be set afterwards, by hand or in bulk.
2. What the import does not do
Each row goes through the same checks as creating a lead by hand: a name is required, so is an email or a phone, and a row matching an existing lead is recognised rather than duplicated. Rows that fail are reported individually with the reason.
Imported leads are also given the project's default pipeline and its first status, so they appear on the board straight away.
If a file overlaps one you already imported
Rows matching an existing lead are reported as duplicates rather than creating a second record, so a repeat import is safe. Read the result summary: a high skipped count usually means the file overlaps an earlier load.
3. Step by step — importing
- Leads → Import.
- Choose the file. Ensure the header row uses one of the spellings above.
- Review the reported result: total rows, successful, failed, and a per-row error list.
- Set what the import could not. Select the imported leads and use bulk update to give them a pipeline, a status and a source.
The import reports each failed or skipped row with the reason. That is the quickest way to spot a mis-mapped column or an overlap with an earlier import.
4. Exporting
Export writes a CSV of the leads matching the current filters, generated server-side.
It is server-side, it honours filters, and it is complete. The contacts and deals exports are built in the browser and neither is — see contacts and the deals board. Do not assume they behave like this one.
5. The admin contract
| Needs | Or |
|---|---|
| Create New Leads | Import is refused |
| View Marketing Suites lead management | Export is refused |
| A header row the importer recognises | Every row fails |
| A pipeline and status to assign afterwards | Imported leads never reach the board |
6. Downstream
Imported leads are assigned automatically if an assignment rule matches, appear immediately in the list, and land in the project's default pipeline so they show on the board straight away.
7. Don't confuse this with…
| This | Not this |
|---|---|
| Lead import | Contact import — different screen, different permission |
| Import Leads | Create New Leads, which is what is enforced |
| Lead export | Contacts export, which writes only the loaded page |
8. Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Cause |
|---|---|
| Every row failed | Header row not recognised. Section 1 |
| Imported leads all in one pipeline | They are given the project's default. Move them with bulk update |
| Rows skipped as duplicates | The file overlaps leads that already exist. Section 2 |
| Source column ignored | Only four columns are read. Section 1 |
| A row was rejected for having no contact detail | A name plus an email or a phone is required |