Contents:
Required Fields
In order to import new contacts into BenchmarkONE, the following information needs to be included:
Valid Email Address OR First and Last Name
Sales Rep
Contact Status
Email Address
All file types supported by the FTP import will create new contacts if there is a valid email address. The Add/Update file will also create a record with just a first name and last name if a valid email address is not included.
Email Address Import Rules:
All files must have an email address column configured (though in X and T files, the headers do not need to be present).
To be considered valid, email addresses must have proper formatting, including both an “@” symbol and a “.”.
For Add/Update files with multiple email address types configured into the import file:
New contacts - will follow primary flag ranking rules to determine the email address that is marked primary upon import. See the Handling Primary Data section for flag ranking rules.
Existing contacts - If new email address data is imported it will not affect the primary flag that already exists in BenchmarkONE.
In order to update contact records, a valid email address must be present. Existing records will not be updated based on First and Last Name only.
If more than one email address is sent in the same cell in an import file, the entire row will be ignored.
Note: any email address with acute accents (like á, é, í, ó, ú, ü, ñ, ç) will be skipped and added to the log file for identification.
First and Last Name
The Add/Update file will create a record with just a first name and last name.
If the row in the import file has data in both the First Name and Last Name columns, a new record will be created.
Existing records will not be updated based on First and Last Name only. In order to update contact records, a valid email address must be present.
💡 Tip: If a valid email address is not present in the Add/Update file, but a first and last name is, a new record will be created every time.
Sales Rep
Sales rep is a required field in BenchmarkONE and therefore must be associated with each record imported. Sales rep is matched based on the email address associated with sales rep’s BenchmarkONE account.
Sales Rep Import Rules:
File HAS a column for sales rep:
New contacts - The sales rep noted in each row of the sales rep column will be associated with the record created for that row. If the value in the sales rep column does not match any sales rep in BenchmarkONE, it will default to the user who has initiated the import.
Existing contacts - The existing sales rep noted in BenchmarkONE will remain and the sales rep data associated to import will be ignored.
File DOES NOT HAVE a column for sales rep:
New contacts - The sales rep will be assigned as the user who initiated the import.
Existing contacts - Will remain assigned to the sales rep defined on the existing record in BenchmarkONE.
Contact Status
Contact status is a required field in BenchmarkONE and therefore must be associated with each record imported. Please read this section carefully as there are two options for managing contact statuses via FTP.
💡 Tip: All contact imports must have the contact status in the files name. For more information on file naming please see the Import Files documentation.
Contact Status Import Rules:
File HAS column for contact status:
New Contacts - The contact status in each row of the contact status column will be associated with the record created for that row. Statuses listed in a column take precedence over the status listed in the file name.
Existing Contacts - The contact status in each row of the contact status column will overwrite the existing contact status in BenchmarkONE.
If the column contains a value for a contact status that does not already exist in BenchmarkONE, the status in the import file will be created and applied to the contact record. Note that this only works for values within a column, not the file name.
When provided in columns, contact status names should be written exactly as they appear in BenchmarkONE. Spaces DO NOT need to be replaced with periods as they do in file names.
💡 Tip: Supported Users should be careful when using the Contact Status in a column.
File DOES NOT HAVE column for contact status:
New Contacts - The contact status in the file name will be associated with records created for all rows of the import file.
Existing Contacts - The existing contact status noted in BenchmarkONE will remain and the contact status data associated to import will be ignored.
Handling Primary Data
Contact information, including Email, Phone and Address Groups, being imported into BenchmarkONE can be one of three types: work, home or other.
For new contacts, BenchmarkONE follows a pre-set ranking to determine which data should be marked primary. Ranking is as follows:
Work
Home
Other
Here are a few examples:
For existing contacts, BenchmarkONE will not overwrite primary contact information, regardless of type. All data imported for existing contacts will be secondary contact information until changed within the database.
Standard Fields & Field Mapping
The FTP import allows users to import data into standard BenchmarkONE fields. All fields support alpha numeric values.
Manually Import for First Data Upload
It is suggested to manually import your first set of contact data in order to map your spreadsheet column names to BenchmarkONE fields. When using the standard import, BenchmarkONE's smart mapping feature will recognize the column names going forward and will auto-map them. This can save time and result in smoother FTP imports.
💡 Important: If needing to map to custom fields, a manual import must first be completed before FTP import can recognize custom field column names.
Mapping Fields via FTP Import
If you do not use the standard import for first data upload and do not require custom field mapping, please view this document for our FTP Field Mapping Guide.
The column names in files uploaded to the FTP must be named according to the field name map provided. Since the FTP import is an automated process, there are system defined rules around which column names will map to which standard fields.
Character limits and other format requirements should be considered when importing data. Any data over the character limit for any field will be truncated. Data that does not match format requirements will not be imported.
💡 Important: Columns that are named anything other than what is listed in the FTP Field Mapping Guide, are not named, or have not been pre-configured in the smart map by using standard import, will be ignored from FTP imports. This includes custom fields.
💡 Tip: Columns that are not imported will not be displayed in error logs.
Custom Fields
In addition to the standard fields noted above, users can also add data to any custom field that has already been created in BenchmarkONE. Custom fields must be mapped using BenchmarkONE's standard import first in order to be considered in the FTP import process.
It is important to note the data type of the custom field, as the values included in the column must match the appropriate data type.
Data Handling by Data Type
Data handling by data type rules apply to both standard and custom fields.
Dropdown
IF there is an existing value in BenchmarkONE that matches the value listed in the import file, data is saved to the record.
IF there is not an existing value in BenchmarkONE that matches the value listed in the import file, the option is automatically added to the dropdown field values in BenchmarkONE and then data is saved to the record.
Date, Date and Time, & Numeric
IF format is correct, data is saved.
IF format is not correct, data is not saved.
Data types and required formats are as follows:
Tags
All of the FTP file types support adding tags to contact records in BenchmarkONE. This section outlines some specific details about how tags are managed on records when adding or manipulating them via FTP.
Tag Columns
Tag columns are either columns with the header “Tag” in an Add/Update file or any column to the right of the email address in X and T files.
Tags can be formatted within import files in their own respective columns, or can be provided in a single cell, separated by commas.
Add Tag Methods
There are two “Add Tag Methods” supported by the FTP process:
From a file name
From a tag column within the file
With either method, the tag will be added to the contacts listed in the file regardless if they are new or existing records in BenchmarkONE.
Resetting Tags
Tags can be reset via FTP. Resetting a tag clears the tags included in the X file from all records in BenchmarkONE and then associates those tags only to the records in the file. For more information on X files, please see the Import Files documentation.
💡 Tip: When a tag name is included in the file name of an X file, that tag will NOT be removed from records in BenchmarkONE. Tags provided as part of the file name will only be added.
Creating New Tags in BenchmarkONE
If a tag is listed in a tag column or file name that does not already exist in BenchmarkONE, a new tag will be created and applied to the appropriate contact records per the import file.
Tag Counts
Tags are counted once per “Add Tag Method” used in the import. Therefore, if a tag is in the file name, it will be counted once and if it is found again in the file, it will be counted again, adding a count of two to the tag on the record. However, if a tag is listed multiple times in tag columns for the same contact, even if on different rows, the tag will only be counted once.
In the example below, the pink tags will not be counted again:
Other Data Specifications
If a contact source column contains a value that does not already exist in BenchmarkONE, the source listed in the import file will be automatically created and applied to the contact record.
Blank cells in import files will be skipped and therefore will not delete existing data in BenchmarkONE.
Any email address with acute accents (like á, é, í, ó, ú, ü, ñ, ç) will be skipped and added to the log file for identification.
Tags should be written in columns as they are desired in BenchmarkONE. Periods should only replace spaces when used in T file file names.
For more information on file naming, please see the Import Files documentation.