Import opportunities from a spreadsheet

When you start using the CRM in the middle of a sales year, your open deals live in a spreadsheet. The opportunity import loads them so the pipeline and the forecast are complete from day one.

Before you start

• Set up your opportunity stages in pipelines, with their probabilities.

• Import the customers first if the deals should be linked to them. See import customers.

• The file can be Excel (.xlsx or .xls) or CSV, up to 10 MB. Use Excel for Arabic text.

Prepare the file

1. Open CRM › Settings & Data › Import Opportunities. The page is titled Bulk import opportunities.

1. Select Download template and fill one row per deal. Columns are matched by their header name, so keep the template's headings.

2. Fill the required columns, name and amount.

3. Fill the optional columns you have:

   • stage: a stage ID, its short code or its name. Left empty, the deal starts in the first stage of the pipeline.

   • probability: 0 to 100. Left empty, the deal takes its stage's probability.

   • customer_id or lead_id to link the deal, assigned_to for the owner and assigned_team_id for the team. Without an owner, the deal is assigned to you.

   • expected_close_date, source, type, priority, description, next_step and next_step_date.

4. Select View valid values to see the accepted values for the constrained columns.

Import

1. Select Choose file and pick the file.

2. Select Upload.

Read the result

The screen shows how many rows were imported and how many failed. Each failed row shows the Row, the Row data and the Reason, for example a missing name, an amount that is not a number, an unknown stage, a customer that is not in your company, or a date in the wrong format.

The imported rows are saved. Fix the failed rows and upload only those again, to avoid creating the same deals twice.

After the import

• Open the opportunities pipeline and check that the totals match your spreadsheet.

• The weighted value of each deal is calculated from its amount and probability, so the forecast is ready at once.

Common questions

My stage names are in Arabic. Will they match? The stage column accepts the stage's ID, code or name. If a name does not match, use the stage ID from View valid values.

Can I update existing opportunities with the import? No. Every row creates a new opportunity. Edit existing deals on the opportunities screen.