Data cleaning for CRM imports

Checklist

The CRM list upload checklist (run this before you hit import)

A repeatable pre-import checklist, drawn from marketing-ops list-upload practice, so an import does not fail or quietly overwrite good data. Work through it once and your file goes in clean, with a record of exactly what changed. Sift runs the file side of every step in your browser, so nothing is uploaded.

Run the checklist in Sift →

The checklist

1. Dedupe within the file and decide the survivorship rule.
   In Sift: exact and fuzzy dedupe merges duplicate rows into one golden record, and you choose which value survives on each field.
2. Fix casing and trim stray or weird characters in the email field.
   In Sift: trim and casing fixes clean up the whitespace and odd characters that quietly break the email field, each shown as a before/after diff.
3. Catch email syntax errors and typo domains like gmal.com.
   In Sift: the email repair step flags invalid syntax and common typo domains (gmal.com instead of gmail.com) so you can correct them before they bounce.
4. Normalize phones and countries.
   In Sift: phones and country names are standardized to one consistent format, so click-to-call and country matching do not break on import.
5. Standardize dates to one format.
   In Sift: mixed date formats are rewritten to a single consistent format the CRM will accept.
6. Map every column to the target field and confirm mandatory fields are filled.
   In Sift: map columns to a CRM template, then the import-readiness pre-flight flags any mandatory field left blank before you export.
7. Match picklist and dropdown values exactly.
   In Sift: the readiness check flags values that fall outside a field's allowed set, so a restricted picklist does not reject the row.
8. Decide overwrite vs append before you import.
   In Sift: this choice is made in the CRM, not the file, but Sift shows you exactly which fields your file will write, so you can decide with eyes open.
9. Keep a change log so you can prove what changed.
   In Sift: export a change log and hygiene report listing every fix, and save the steps as a reusable pipeline for next time.

Do it in one pass with Sift

1. Load the CSV or Excel file into Sift. It profiles every column in your browser.
2. Approve the fixes for dedupe, emails, phones, countries, and dates, each with a before/after diff.
3. Map and pre-flight: map columns to a CRM template, then check required fields, types, and allowed values.
4. Export a clean file plus a change log, and decide overwrite vs append in the CRM import wizard.

What Sift can't fix

The overwrite-versus-append choice and the never-overwrite field settings live in your CRM's import wizard, not in Sift. Sift hands you a clean file and a change-log receipt, but you still make the import-time choice. That is exactly what prevents the outcome one community member described after a bad import, where a colleague lost most of his contacts: a clean file plus a deliberate overwrite decision, not a blind upload.

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