Importing leads

Import leads from a CSV

Drag a spreadsheet of contacts into Compass. Column names are matched flexibly so most exports work without remapping.

Compass accepts CSVs from any other CRM, mailing list, or wedding directory. The importer auto-matches column names so you usually don't have to remap anything before uploading.

How to import
  1. Open Settings → Import and scroll to "Import leads from CSV".
  2. Drag your file in, or click the picker. Limits: 5MB and 5,000 rows per upload. Split larger files into batches.
  3. Compass parses the file in your browser and shows the first five rows so you can sanity-check the parse.
  4. Click "Import". Each row goes through the same flexible normalizer the webhook uses, so non-conforming names and field labels still land cleanly.
  5. You'll see a summary: imported / duplicates / skipped / errors, with a per-row reason for anything that didn't go through.
Field aliases

Your column headers don't need to match Compass's field names exactly. The importer treats the following as equivalent:

  • Name: name, full_name, contact_name, customer_name. Or use first_name + last_name (or firstname, given_name, fname).
  • Email: email, email_address, mail.
  • Phone: phone, mobile, cell, tel, telephone.
  • Event date: wedding_date, event_date, shoot_date, project_date, date.
  • Budget: budget, price, price_range.
  • Source: source, lead_source, channel, utm_source, referrer.
  • Notes: notes, message, comments, enquiry.
Names that aren't "First Last"

Compass's name parser handles most variants without fuss:

  • "Sam Smith" → first = Sam, last = Smith.
  • "Smith, Sam" → first = Sam, last = Smith.
  • "Sam & Alex Smith" → first = Sam, partner = Alex Smith.
  • "Dr. Sam Smith Jr." → first = Sam, last = Smith. Honorifics and suffixes are stripped.
  • "Sam" → just Sam in the first-name slot, no error.

The original string is always saved as the lead's display name, so nothing is lost if the parser guesses wrong.

Dates and money

Dates parse from ISO (2026-11-14), 14/11/2026, 11/14/2026, "Nov 14, 2026", or "14 November 2026". When the format is ambiguous (both numbers ≤ 12), Compass defaults to day-first.

Money parses from $5,000, £12,500.50, 5000, or anything with a number in it.

Anything we don't recognise

Columns that don't match a known alias aren't dropped, they land on the lead's activity log so you can see what came in. Once we ship custom fields they'll be promoted to first-class data on the lead.

Common issues
  • "Skipped: No name, email, or phone", the row had no identifying field. Add at least one of those three.
  • "Duplicate", a lead with the same email already exists in your workspace. Imports never create duplicates by default.
  • Funny characters in the preview, your file's encoding probably isn't UTF-8. Re-save the spreadsheet with UTF-8 encoding and re-upload.

Also in Importing leads