People Import

This week we will be taking a more detailed look at the People Import tool (available on app exchange). As previously mentioned this is a stand alone app that can be downloaded and installed from the appexchange or CRM Fusion site. I have already uploaded a detailed presentation on the Salesforce User Guide site which provides information on each step of the import/update process. I will also be adding videos detailing the process within the next few days.

Do you have a list of prospective students you wish to import into salesforce but are considered there may be pre-existing salesforce records already in the system ? Are you looking to match an external spreadsheet of leads or contacts to those in salesforce to prevent duplication? Do you not have a unique field in order to exactly match the records in the external source to those records in salesforce? Are you looking for a way to match records using methods other than an exact math perhaps you are looking to match values that contain typos or varying punctuation. If so, People Import may be a valuable tool in acheiving these goals.

People Import is a great way to import new leads or contacts from an external data source into salesforce. The import process also provides the ability to match records that may already exist within Salesforce to ensure only new leads are imported (avoiding duplicate leads) and update the fields of your choosing for those records that match the system. For example, you can easily take a spreadsheet of new admits to your program and update their data in salesforce accordingly as well as add any students that may not already exist within the system. The People Import wizards provides 5 easy steps to achieve such a task.

Of course the most seamless way to integrate data from external data sources would be using the Salesforce Web API (Applicaton Programming Interface). This enables the data source to communicate directly with Salesforce to create, retrieve, update or delete records, such as accounts, leads, and custom objects.

* Please note when logging into People Import for the first time you will need to use a security token to login successfully. I have created a video on resetting and using your security token for the Oulook plugin fund on the Salesforce User Guide site.