Introduction

Unless you are brand new to the world of real estate, you will likely have people you are already working with before joining Lofty. With that in mind, here is a brief description of how to import leads into the Lofty CRM.

 

Summary

• Important Notes & Suggestions
• CSV/Spreadsheet Import Steps
• Reverse Option 
• Import History
• Importing to Lead Pond
• Email Verification
• Opt-In Probationary Period
• Google Contacts Import
• Import from Contacts (Lofty App)

 

Important Notes & Best Practices

1. It is usually best practice to wait to upload your leads until after your Lofty website is live and working, in case you want to send a welcome email (see Set Up the Welcome Email) or set these leads up on auto property alerts (see Setting Up and Using Auto-Property Alerts). Without the website having the MLS data fully integrated, neither of those two options is possible. 
2. Supported Sources:
   • Google Contacts
   • Spreadsheets in CSV, XLS, and XLSX (MS Excel) format
3. It is recommended to do a test import of 2-5 leads as you begin to use this tool so that you can make sure they import correctly before importing a large number of leads
4. If your spreadsheet has more than 10,000 rows, you will need to split the file and import it separately. Keep in mind that the bigger the file, the longer it will take to import.
5. If you try to upload the leads once but the import did not work correctly, you must go through and delete them all before trying again. To do so, go to the People Page select the leads to be deleted, choose "Delete" from the menu on the left, and then confirm. Then, you will need to go into the "Deleted Leads" section at the top of the People Page (this is like a "recycle bin"), to make sure they are completely removed from the system. If you do not erase them completely from the "Deleted Leads" section, new imports will merge or skip based on leads that exist there.  
6. Admin/ Owner must create the pipelines prior to import for easier mapping later in the process. If a Pipeline is not similar to the one found in the import file it will be imported as a tag.
7. If you want to move more than 200 leads at a time from one agent to another, kindly reach out to our Support Team via email at <support@lofty.com>, by phone at 1 (855) 981-7557, or by chat with us through your CRM.

 

 

CSV/Spreadsheet Import Steps

First, follow these steps to get to the right section in the CRM:

1. Click on Settings
2. Select Lead Import under the Features section
3. Click on the "Choose Files" button to begin the import process
4. Browse for and select the file containing the lead information
5. Click "Open"

 

We simplify the import process and support the selection of different competing products. After selection, the competing product fields and Lofty fields will be automatically matched.

By default, the system will attempt to match the column names from the spreadsheet with the fields where the data belongs in Lofty. Typically, however, you will need to tell the data where to go in Lofty. You will do this by (a) referencing the column name and samples of the file which are available on the right side, and then (b) clicking on the "edit" option in the "Lofty Field Name" column to designate the destination of that data in Lofty. For example, you would want to make sure "Lead Type" matches with "Lead Type" in Lofty. 

 

Repeat the above process until all the columns from the document are matched to fields in Lofty. Even if all the fields show as "matched," you will want to review them to make sure they import correctly. When you come across a situation where there is no field in Lofty that matches the data you are attempting to import, you have two options:

 

(1) Import directly to a custom field. You can only create 50 custom fields that are either "Date" or "Text." See Custom Fields.

 

(2) Import the data as a note. This will bring the column name into the note along with the data itself. This will then be saved to a lead profile for future reference. This information is not searchable.

 

The following are all of the supported fields that you can import into:

General Options

• Do Not Import. Use this option to skip a column.
• Import as Note

Basic Info

• First Name
• Middle Name
• Last Name
• Full Name
• Email
• Email Description
• Unsubscribe
  • Can be marked as any of the following three to mark as "Unsubscribed": yes/out/unsubscribe
  • If unsubscribed, the corresponding lead will keep automated emails (Smart Plan emails, property alerts, market snapshots, and market reports) from being sent to the lead. However, this does not affect text messages sent (see "Phone DNC Status" below for options there).
• Phone
  • Can also be formatted with dashes ###-####-####
• Phone Description
• Phone DNC Status
  • DNC stands for Do Not Contact. Use this to mark a number as one to not contact. To mark as DNC, any of the following three options will work: yes/DNC/out
• Pipeline
  • If you do not have permission to create a pipeline, the information within this field will be imported as a tag
• Segment
  
  • If you do not have permission to create a segment, the information within this field will be imported as a tag
• Agent
  • Who the lead should be assigned to and who is a user of Lofty? Must be their name exactly as it appears in Lofty. 
• Lender
  • The lender-type account to whom the lead should be assigned. Must be their name exactly as it appears in Lofty.
• Mailing Full Address
• Mailing Street Address.
• Mailing City
• Mailing State
• Mailing Zip Code
• Reg Date
  • Formatted as the following: 01/03/2019
• Lead Type
  • Buyer
  • Seller
  • Buyer&Seller
  • Renter
  • Other
• Source
  • If you do not have permission to create a source, the information within this field will be imported as a tag. Also, if no source is defined in the import, the default source will be "CSV Import"
• Tag
• Birthday
  • Formatted as the following: 01/03/2019
• Seller Timeframe
  • Seller leads only. Based on the number of months.
  • Options:
    • N/A
    • 0-1
    • 1-3
    • 3-6
    • 6-12
    • 12+
    • Just Looking
    • Refinancing
• Buyer Timeframe
  • Buyer leads only. Based on the number of months, it can be any one of the following:
  • Options:
    • N/A
    • 0-1
    • 1-3
    • 3-6
    • 6-12
    • 12+
    • Just Looking
    • Refinancing
• Pre-Qualified
  • N/A
  • Yes
  • No
• Family Member
  • Up to four family members can be added
  • Fields:
    • Family Member First Name
    • Family Member Last Name
    • Family Member Full Name
    • Family Member Email
    • Family Member Phone
      • Can also be formatted with dashes ###-####-####
    • Family Member Birthday
      • Formatted as the following: 01/03/2019
• Inquiries (for a buyer)
  • Also known as "Search Criteria" 
  • Fields:
    • Inquired City
      • If you would like to add more than one zip code, please separate each of them with a vertical bar: " | ". For example: City1|City2|City3|City4. The city will line up with the states if you add multiple so in this example, City3 would line up with State3.
    • Inquired State
      • If you would like to add more than one zip code, please separate each of them with the vertical bar: " | ". For example: State1|Stat2|State3|State4. The state will line up with the cities if you add multiple so in this example, State1 would line up with City1.
    • Inquired Zip Code
      • If you would like to add more than one zip code, please separate each of them with a vertical bar: " | ". For example 11111|22222|33333|44444. The zip code will be added separately from the city/state.
    • Inquired County
    • Max Price
    • Min Price
    • Avg./Median Price
    • Min Bedroom
    • Min Bathroom
    • Property Type
      • Single Family Home
      • Townhouse
      • Manufactured Home
      • Vacant Land
• Property Info (Selling)
  • Up to two properties can be added
  • Fields:
    • Property Full Addr.
    • Property Street Address
    • Property City
    • Property State
    • Property Zip Code
    • Price
    • Bedroom
    • Bathroom
    • Property Type
      • Single Family Home
      • Townhouse
      • Manufactured Home
      • Vacant Land
• Property Info (Buying)
  • Up to three properties can be added.
  • Fields:
    • Property Full Addr.
    • Property Street Address
    • Property City
    • Property State
    • Property Zip Code
    • Price
    • Bedroom
    • Bathroom
    • Property Type
      • Single Family Home
      • Townhouse
      • Manufactured Home
      • Vacant Land
• Custom Fields. Reference Custom Fields.

Click on the blue "+" to add additional slots for Family Members, Property Info (Selling), and Property Info (Buying). Limits to how many of each can be added are noted above.

 

Once you have matched up all of the columns and have everything mapped to the desired location in Lofty, click on the "Next" button in the bottom right.

 

 

You will then be presented with the following options to choose from.

• Choose from "Team Leads" or "Private Leads" (if you have permission to do so)
• Assign any segments to this entire import. Alternatively, you can create a column in the actual document with different segments for each lead, separated by commas.
• Assign unmatched leads to a specific agent. Alternatively, you can also create a column for the agent to assign the lead to and match it up with the "Agent" option on import so that they are assigned to that person automatically
• Assign unmatched leads to a lender. You can also create a column to assign directly to different lenders if you would like.
• Choose to merge or skip duplicates. If merged, the incoming data will merge and be saved as a note on that lead profile. If skipped, nothing will be combined. For the logic on merging, please reference Duplicate Leads + Merging Duplicates.

• Decide whether to send Welcome Emails to these imported leads or not. If you choose yes, you will want to make sure your IDX Website is up and ready with MLS data, etc. This will send out an email with that lead's login information so that they can connect to your Lofty IDX website and begin browsing listings.
• Choose to apply auto property alerts if so desired. These will be based on any property information that comes in during the import.

When you are ready, you can select "Confirm." The file will then begin importing. If it is a large document, it might take some time to complete. You will receive a notification via email and a web push notification letting you know the file import has been completed. 

 

The Import button will be greyed out until you check the box indicating that you agree to Lofty's Terms of Use. 

 

If there is no column in the CSV/Excel document for Lead Type, the process will require you to choose whether they are Buyer/Seller as an additional part of the previous step. You can either make sure to separate them by the lead type (Buyers, Sellers, etc.) before you upload the CSV, or you can add a column before importing the document and add the information there.

 

Reverse Option 

When importing leads, there is often a need to reverse the import and remove the leads that were created because the import was done incorrectly, etc. Lofty allows users to reverse their import after one has already been processed as long as it is within 30 days of actually importing the leads. This option is available under Settings > Features > Lead Import > Import History > Reverse. 

This will work regardless of whether the leads have been contacted, etc. The option will no longer be available after 24 hours of processing the import. The leads will be deleted completely from the system with this option--meaning they will not be sent to the "Deleted Leads" section of the People page. 

 

Import History

You can review all leads that failed to import by navigating to Settings > Lead Import and then selecting the "Details" hyperlink next to the file that you want to download a report on. This is a great way to make sure that everything makes its way into Lofty correctly. 

 

 

Importing to Lead Pond

Currently, you are unable to import directly to the Lead Pond. If you have a CSV import that you would like to place into the Lead Pond, you would have to (a) import the CSV and then (b) manually assign all of those leads to the Lead Pond.

 

Email Verification

If the lead was imported in a CSV file, the Lofty system will call a third-party API to determine the validity of the lead's email address. We will mark the lead's email status as "Bounced" if the results provided by the third party indicate that it is an "invalid email." The accuracy level of this third-party API is typically between 90% - 97%.

 

Opt-In Probationary Period

If, when importing leads, you see an option to "Send opt-in emails to the leads" under the  Lead Import Settings options before finalizing the import, this is due to a high email bounce rate and an opt-in probationary period being triggered. You can learn more about this process here.

 

Google Contacts Import

Please reference the following article: Lead Import (via Google Contacts).

 

Import from Contacts (Lofty App)

Another import option is made available through the CRM app. Below are the steps you can follow. 

1. Click the People icon in the mobile app> hit the plus sign in the upper right-hand corner. 

 

2. Click the import from contacts button.

3. Select using the search button on top of the radio button on the right side of the contact then click. Refresh your people page to see the newly added contacts. 

  Note: Currently, there is no select all option for this feature.

 

Questions?

If you have any questions regarding this topic or any others, please reach out to our Support Team via email at <support@lofty.com>, by phone at 1 (855) 981-7557, or by chat with us through your CRM.