Importing leads into Goldmine is a pain

Posted on March 17, 2005 by Dave J.

I guess there is a learning curve any kind of software. But aren’t we all a little impatient to get to work, and we think we know how it works anyway. So it was with my first attempt at importing leads from our trade shows into Goldmine. Here are some of the issues I had:

  • GM looks for txt files to import by default, which means it found my tab-delimited export from Excel quickly. Unfortunately, it doesn’t recognize the tab as a delimiter. Instead I had to view ‘all files’ and find the CSV (comma separated) export.
  • I also had to drop the quotation marks (which Excel automatically generated) as a way to lock text elements together, in order for GM to recognize the records. Not a big deal until later.
  • The phone numbers didn’t load because they had parentheses and dashes. Deleted the imported records, fixed the CSV file, and started over.
  • Found out that the problem with not having quotation marks active during import meant that addresses and company names with commas make for big problems. Found it easier to manually fix the offending records.
  • Zip codes from the Northeast US didn’t import properly because they didn’t have a zero at the beginning. Manually fixed these to. (How do you keep a leading zero in a CSV or txt file?)
  • The first time I tried to mail-merge cover letters, nothing happened. I think this was caused by the fact that I already had another Word document open.
  • The second mail-merge went much better. But I didn’t get a print dialog box, so I couldn’t pick the paper-tray with letterhead in it. 47 individual print jobs to wait for, or try to cancel.

I would suggest using mailing labels as a way of previewing the imported records quickly. I wish I had done that instead of rushing to do the letters first.

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  • David Shaw

    Dave:Regarding the zip code problem. This may work. In Excel, go for Format: Cells, and roll down to Special. You should be able to format your zip or zip+4s, and this should hold the 0 on east coast zips for an export.I think…Best,Dave Shaw

  • David Shaw

    Dave:Regarding the zip code problem. This may work. In Excel, go for Format: Cells, and roll down to Special. You should be able to format your zip or zip+4s, and this should hold the 0 on east coast zips for an export.I think…Best,Dave Shaw

  • Dave J.

    As long as its formated as a number, the CSV or txt file drops the zero.Need to use the TEXT() function, I’ve found in Excel help, but haven’t tried it yet:“Formatting a cell with an option on the Number tab (Cells command, Format menu) changes only the format, not the value. Using the TEXT function converts a value to formatted text, and the result is no longer calculated as a number. “

  • Dave J.

    As long as its formated as a number, the CSV or txt file drops the zero.Need to use the TEXT() function, I’ve found in Excel help, but haven’t tried it yet:”Formatting a cell with an option on the Number tab (Cells command, Format menu) changes only the format, not the value. Using the TEXT function converts a value to formatted text, and the result is no longer calculated as a number. “

  • Russ Lombardo

    The best way to import records into GoldMine, I’ve found, is as follows. If you can read the file via Excel (which you can with most text files), then save it as (FILE/SAVE AS) a dBase IV file (.dbf extension). In GoldMine, specify the importing file as a DBF file type. This format imports the easiest. Hope this helps for future imports.Russ

  • Russ Lombardo

    The best way to import records into GoldMine, I’ve found, is as follows. If you can read the file via Excel (which you can with most text files), then save it as (FILE/SAVE AS) a dBase IV file (.dbf extension). In GoldMine, specify the importing file as a DBF file type. This format imports the easiest. Hope this helps for future imports.Russ

  • Dave J.

    Thanks Russ, will give it a try!

  • Dave J.

    Thanks Russ, will give it a try!

  • ScottRussell

    How do you format an excel spreadsheet comprised of text and numeric (ph#s)data so it can be imported into goldmine?What do I do about the parentheses on the phone numbers?Do I have to remove spaces between words?

  • Scott Russell

    How do I format an excel spreadshet containing numeric and text data into goldmine?

  • Scott Russell

    How do I format an excel spreadshet containing numeric and text data into goldmine?

  • Scott Russell

    How do I format and properly import text and numeric data into goldmine from an excel spreadsheet?I am importing Company names, addresses, city, state, zip, phone # with ()?Do I have to remove spaces between text withing spreadsheet cells?

  • Scott Russell

    How do I format and properly import text and numeric data into goldmine from an excel spreadsheet?I am importing Company names, addresses, city, state, zip, phone # with ()?Do I have to remove spaces between text withing spreadsheet cells?

  • ScottRussell

    How do you format an excel spreadsheet comprised of text and numeric (ph#s)data so it can be imported into goldmine?< />< />What do I do about the parentheses on the phone numbers?< />< />Do I have to remove spaces between words?