Importing Leads
Instead of adding lead contacts one at a time, you can bring many in at once from a CSV file. Import is one of the three standard actions on the Leads screen — Add, Import (CSV), and Export — and it is the usual way to move an existing lead list into PMSuite or to load a batch of leads collected outside the product.
Imported leads behave exactly like leads created by hand: they carry the same fields, can be linked to Deals, and follow the same conversion rule (a Deal moved to the Win stage converts its associated lead into a Client).
Who can use it
Access to lead import follows your Roles & Permissions matrix. The Sales module has per-role view / create / edit / delete controls with levels of None, Added, Owns, and All — a role needs create rights on Sales leads to import. If someone cannot see the Import option, check Settings → Roles & Permissions first, and have them log out and back in after any permission change; permission changes do not always apply to a session that is already active.
Prerequisites
- A CSV file containing your lead data.
- Lead sources configured, if your file includes a source column. PMSuite ships with Google, Facebook, Email, Referral, Direct, LinkedIn, Upwork, and YouTube. Additional sources are added under Settings → Lead Settings → Lead Source. See Lead Sources & Categories.
- Custom fields defined in advance, if you want to import into them. Lead is one of the objects that supports Custom Fields (alongside Client, Employee, Project, Invoice, Estimate, Task, and Expense). Create them under Settings → Custom Fields before importing, so the import can populate them.
How to Access
Sidebar → Sales → Lead Contact (/account/lead-contact), then choose the Import action on that screen.
Preparing your CSV
Your file should contain one lead per row. The lead record itself is made up of these fields:
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Salutation | Optional title for the contact. |
| Name | The lead contact's name. |
| The lead's email address. | |
| Lead Source | Should match a source configured in Lead Settings. |
| Lead Owner | The user who will own the lead. |
Added By is recorded automatically by PMSuite and does not need a column.
A few practical points:
- Match source names to what is configured. A value that does not correspond to an existing lead source cannot be resolved — add the source in Lead Settings first, or correct the spelling in your file.
- Keep the file clean. Remove blank rows and stray leading/trailing spaces before uploading.
- Save as CSV (comma separated values) from your spreadsheet application.
Custom fields
If you use custom fields on leads, create them before you import so the import can match them. Add a column for each custom field you want to populate, and give the column the same name as the field. Columns that cannot be matched are simply left out — nothing is removed from your source file, but the corresponding fields stay empty on the created records.
If a custom field is not picked up, check that it has been created for the Lead object under Settings → Custom Fields, then start the import again.
After the import
Return to Lead Contact to confirm the new records are present. It is worth opening a handful of them to check that names, emails, sources and any custom-field values landed where you expected before you build follow-up work on top of the data.
Effect on other features
- Lead Contacts: every imported row produces a full lead record, indistinguishable from one created through Adding Lead Contacts.
- Deals: imported leads can be attached to Deals straight away, and a deal that reaches the Win stage converts its lead into a Client.
- Reporting: imported leads feed the lead and deal reporting views alongside manually created ones.
Limitations
| Limitation | Workaround |
|---|---|
| Custom fields must already exist on the Lead object before an import can populate them. | Create them in Settings → Custom Fields, then re-run the import. |
| Lead sources in your file must correspond to configured sources. | Add the missing sources under Settings → Lead Settings → Lead Source before importing, or correct the values in the CSV. |
| Very large single uploads are harder to review and correct. | Lead volumes of 200+ entries are confirmed to work smoothly and there is no hard cap, but splitting a big list into smaller files makes mistakes easier to spot and re-import. |
Added By cannot be set from the file. | It is set automatically to the importing user; use the Lead Owner column to control ownership. |
Troubleshooting
- The Import action is not visible. This is almost always a permissions issue — check Settings → Roles & Permissions for the user's role, then have them sign out and back in.
- A custom field stayed empty after import. The field may not have been created for the Lead object yet, or the column name does not match it. Add or correct it in Settings → Custom Fields and restart the import.
- Source values did not come through. The values in your file do not match configured sources exactly. Add or correct the sources, then re-import the affected rows.
- The file is rejected. Confirm it is genuinely comma-separated CSV — spreadsheets sometimes export semicolon- or tab-separated files with a
.csvextension. Re-save it explicitly as CSV.