==================================
How to import contacts to the CRM?
==================================

In Odoo CRM, you can import a database of potential customers, for
instance for a cold emailing or cold calling campaign, through a CSV
file. You may be wondering if the best option is to import your contacts
as leads or opportunities. It depends on your business specificities and
workflow:

-  Some companies may decide to not use leads, but instead to keep all
   information directly in an opportunity. For some companies, leads
   are merely an extra step in the sales process. You could call
   this extended (start from lead) versus simplified (start from
   opportunity) customer relationship management.

-  Odoo perfectly allows for either one of these approaches to be
   chosen. If your company handles its sales from a pre
   qualification step, feel free to activate first the lead stage as
   described below in order to import your database as leads

Activate the lead stage
=======================

By default, the lead stage is not activated in Odoo CRM. If you want to
import your contacts as leads rather than opportunities, go to
:menuselection:`Configuration --> Settings`, select the option **use leads
if…** as shown below and click on **Apply**.

.. image:: ./media/import01.jpg
   :align: center

This activation will create a new submenu :menuselection:`Sales --> Leads`
from which you will be able to import your contacts from the
**Import** button (if you want to create a lead manually, :doc:`click here <manual>`)

.. image:: ./media/import02.jpg
   :align: center

Import your CSV file
====================

On the new submenu :menuselection:`Sales --> Leads`, click on **Import** and select your
Excel file to import from the **Choose File** button. Make sure its
extension is **.csv** and don't forget to set up the correct File format
options (**Encoding** and **Separator**) to match your local
settings and display your columns properly.

.. note::
	If your prospects database is provided in another format than CSV, you can
	easily convert it to the CSV format using Microsoft Excel, OpenOffice /
	LibreOffice Calc, Google Docs, etc.

.. image:: ./media/import03.jpg
   :align: center

Select rows to import
=====================

Odoo will automatically map the column headers from your CSV file to the
corresponding fields if you tick *The first row of the file contains the
label of the column* option. This makes imports easier especially when
the file has many columns. Of course, you can remap the column headers
to describe the property you are importing data into (First Name, Last
Name, Email, etc.).

.. image:: ./media/import04.jpg
   :align: center

.. tip::

	If you want to import your contacts as opportunities rather than leads, make
	sure to add the *Type* column to your csv. This column is used to indicate
	whether your import will be flagged as a Lead (type = Lead) or as an
	opportunity (type = Opportunity).

Click the **Validate** button if you want to let Odoo verify that
everything seems okay before importing. Otherwise, you can directly
click the Import button: the same validations will be done.

.. note::

	For additional technical information on how to import contacts into Odoo CRM,
	read the **Frequently Asked Questions** section located below the Import tool
	on the same window.

.. seealso::

	- :doc:`manual`
	- :doc:`emails`
	- :doc:`website`