ClientBase is only as good as the data that is in it. Of course you can plug away and manually input the data and eventually you will have a robust database. But what happens when you come by a mailing list–maybe from a Bridal Show that you attended? Relax, there is an easy way to do this. It involves many steps, but it is not THAT hard. Follow along.

STEP 1–Get your data into an electronic format. I like Excel as it allows me to manipulate it easily and clean it up before it get’s into ClientBase.  Excel will allow you to import data from various text files as well.

STEP2--This is THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP. Create a different column and name it some field that you don;t use in ClientBase. I use the Web_ID field.  This will “tag” the imported profiles in the WEB ID field for this particular import. If you screw it up, it makes it really easy to delete them (by querying the WEB ID field) and do it again. I once imported 1200 names and transposed the first and last names. Not fun.  Save the file as a TAB DELIMITED TEXT FILE.

Be sure to add an additional column and fill it in with something unique

SAVE the file as a TAB DELIMITED TEXT FILE

Save file as a tab delimited text file

STEP 3–OK, so far so good. Now you are ready to import the data. If you notice, there is no IMPORT feature in ClientBase. Well, not in the main program but if you go to your START menu and navigate to the TRAMS folder you will see it.

The program you want is called TRAMS Profile Import (makes sense? huh?)

Click on that and you shoudl get the following screen. You may have to put in your info.

STEP 4– OK from here on out, it is easy, but I strongly suggest you do the rest when you will not be distracted.   Click the NEXT button and you will be brought to the import mapping screen. Click on the little “…” next to the top “PATH” box and find the file you caved above.  Make sure it is the right type of file (comma versus tab):

Click NEXT and we are off to the market.  Here is what the buttons to the right do:

• MAP=will allow you to match a ClientBase profile field to a column in your spreadsheet
• CONSTANT=this will insert a constant definition for all fields. If they are all leisure profiles, use CONSTANT for that. If they are all women, you might want to use a constant of “Ms.” in the salutation. Anything that is common to the list including marketing fields (was this a cruise show?)
• RULE=Allows you to create special rules for certain conditions and is rarely used under normal circumstances.
• AUTO MAP=Never use this. There is too much data to let a machine screw it up for you. Be a man and screw it up on your own.
• RESET=This is the whoops button. Will clear all of the mapping you have done

Click on the field you wish to map and then click on MAP. It will look to the spreadsheet file and select the field you want. In our example above, we want to assume they are all LEISURE profiles so we will click on the PROFILE field and select CONSTANT and then LEISURE.

Then click on the FIRST NAME field and then MAP, select FIRST NAME from your choice. Do the same for LAST NAME, ADDRESS, CITY, etc.  When you get to WEB ID, select the WEB ID field. As I said above, this will automatically fill in the WEB ID field with the code for the import.

You can continue clicking NEXT and filling in the information on communications, marketing, passengers, etc.

When you are done you will come to a summary screen.  Read it to make sure it all looks ok to you.

Now if this is a standard spreadsheet import (say your consortia or tourism board sends you prospects, SAVE MAP and you can go back and import with a few clicks.  If it is a one shot deal, click FINISH. And you are done.

Now, go into ClientBase and pull up one of the profiles you imported and make sure it looks ok.  If it does, go to a Level 2 PROFILE QUERY and query up the records with the code in the WEB ID, and then do a Global Modify and exchange the WEB ID with a blank and you are good to go.

You can also use the REFERRED BY field, but I find that if you are having a lot of referrals or lists from many different sources, it becomes a bit unwieldy.

Tags: Importing Profiles