Importing clients from a spreadsheet

Before you start

• One row per client, the first row holding the column names. Up to 5,000 rows and 5 MB per file; split a bigger list and import it in parts.
• Client name and Phone are required. Indian numbers without a country code get +91; other numbers need their country code.
• Useful optional columns: Email, City, Project, Budget, Purpose, Notes (several Notes columns are joined), Original source, Team member (the person’s email in BMexa) and Date added (2026-10-01, 01/10/2026 or an Excel date).
• Any other column is kept on the enquiry as a form field under its own name, so nothing in the sheet is lost.
• Download the sample template from the Import tab to see the expected shape.

Running an import

1. Go to Marketing › Automations › Import & export. On the Import clients tab, click Choose a CSV, XLS or XLSX file (or download the sample template first).
2. Map columns: BMexa guesses from the column names; correct anything it got wrong. Two columns cannot both be the same field, except Notes.
3. Review: how many rows are ready, how many are skipped up front and why (no name, no or invalid phone, the same phone twice in the file), how many are already clients, and which team-member emails were matched.
4. Preferences: Date added (today, or the sheet’s date), Who the clients land with (Lead automation rules, one person, the team-member column, or the unassigned pool), and Numbers BMexa already knows (skip, or follow the duplicate-lead setting).
5. Click Import. The file is processed in the background a few hundred rows at a time; the page shows progress and the final counts, and the skipped rows can be downloaded with the reason for each.

What happens to each row

• A new number becomes a client and an enquiry from the connection “Spreadsheet import”, with the file name and the original source kept as form fields.
• A known number is skipped (default) or handled by the duplicate-lead setting: added to the open enquiry as a remark, or opened as a new enquiry.
• Lead Automation Rules can target imports by platform (Import clients from a spreadsheet) or by any field in the sheet.
• Past imports stay listed under Past imports with their counts, who ran them, and the skipped rows.

What happens when a lead arrives

• The lead is created in Clients within seconds, with the source name on the record and on the alert.
• The person you chose on the connection is assigned and gets an in-app alert (and a browser push if they allowed it). If they turned on Lead alerts on WhatsApp, they also get the lead on WhatsApp from BMexa’s number, or from your own connected number when its card has the lead-alert option on; the client’s phone and email are masked in that message.
• Every field we recognise fills the client record: name, phone, email, city, project, budget, purpose, message, campaign. Any other field is kept as a form field and written to the remarks, so nothing the form captured is lost.
• A phone number that already has an open enquiry does not create a second lead: the message is added as a remark on the existing one, and if it came from a different source a lead clash is raised for the manager to settle.
• Assignment rules, duplicate settings and auto-replies apply to these leads as they ship (see Automations & WhatsApp).