Formatting

Organizing and reviewing your data before importing it into Bonzo is a crucial step that can save you time by preventing errors and rework. Below, we'll explore essential spreadsheet organization techniques to ensure your data in Bonzo is well-structured and ready for immediate action.

Note: The People Tab can now be found under the "Data" dropdown in your sidebar navigation.

Best Practices for Spreadsheet Organization

Examine Bonzo's default fields to ensure your data can be mapped directly into one of these standard fields. Review this Sample CSV for default fields or export a contact out of Bonzo. To do this, navigate to the People tab, select a contact you'd like to export, and click the export button.

After reviewing these fields you can choose to create your own Custom Fields by following the steps in the section below labelled "Custom Fields"

• Make sure that each field on your spreadsheet such as, first name, last name, email, phone number, etc. is separated into its own column.
• Confirm that each contact on your spreadsheet has either an email address or a phone number. If no phone number or email is present, Bonzo will not import the contact.
• Additional contact data points such as IDs, labels, or other identifiers are placed in separate columns. During the mapping process you will be able to select one of Bonzo’s standard fields to categorize this data. Tags is a category commonly used for these types of identifiers.
• Ensure that your spreadsheet is saved or exported as one of these acceptable file types: csv, tsv, xls, xlsx, xml, vCard, ods

Once your spreadsheet is organized and prepared, follow the import process. After the import, double-check the imported data within Bonzo to ensure accuracy. You can manually make changes by clicking on a contact and editing the fields in their "Details" tab.

Creating Custom Fields & Views

Custom fields & views offer powerful customization options for tracking specific information that may not be native to the platform but is essential for your team and workflow. With no limit on the number of custom views you can create, Team Leads have the flexibility to create "Views," "Subviews," and "Fields" to ensure that every data point is organized and stored.

1. From your dashboard, navigate to the "Company" tab, and click on "Custom Fields & Views." Here you will see two tabs: "Views" and "Fields." The Views tab reveals any existing custom views and allows you to create new ones by clicking on the pink "+ Add view" button.

    

   

    

   The Fields tab provides a collection of all the unique fields that you have created or that have been shared with you.

    

   

    

   Click on the "pencil" icon to edit a field and to include it in one or multiple views

    

   

    

    

2. To create a new view, click on the Views tab and then on "+Add View." Remember, by creating a view, you are creating a new tab under which to house additional fields and data. In addition, you can make this new view visible to all members on your team, provide access based on different seat types, or, if you're a top-level user (Admin or Team Lead), grant access to a custom role that you've created for your organization.

    

   

    

    

   You'll also have the option to hide fields in the view if the fields are empty; preventing unnecessary clutter in your data organization.

    

   

    

3. Click "Create" to establish the view.

    

   

    

   Once the view has been created, click on the arrow icon to view and create fields and subviews for this new view.

    

    

   

    

4. Click on "+Add field" and then enter a "Field name," which will be the title of the field (e.g., First Name, Last Name, Telephone Number, Email). The "Field type" determines the field's functionality, and the "Help text" provides information that appears when you hover over the field. For certain field types, "Options" allows you to create a dropdown menu that team members can select from.

    

   

    

5. Once you've created your new fields, you can create "Subviews" to house additional fields grouped underneath the data fields you created above. Similar to views, for subviews, first create the view and then create the fields.

    

   

    

6. Once you've finalized your views, fields, and subviews, click "Create" and these views and subsequent fields will be active in the "Details" section of every contact record for you and your team.

    

    

   

    

   When you update fields in a contact record from this view or any other view, the fields will be highlighted in green, and a caution symbol will appear next to the view. This serves as a reminder to save the updated field information before navigating to another area of Bonzo. If you attempt to navigate away from the page without saving you will receive a pop-up notification reminding you to save.

    

   

   Simply click the pink "Save" button at the bottom of the page.

    

Importing

Now that you've organized and formatted your data and created your own custom fields in Bonzo, you are ready to import contacts into your People tab and kickstart communication.

Note: Import can be found under the "Data" dropdown in your sidebar navigation.

1. From your dashboard, click on your "Data" dropdown and then click on "Import."

2. Click on "New import," then select "Import from file."

3. You'll start with step 1 of the 4-step import process outlined at the top of the page: Upload, Map fields, Settings, and Summary.

The upload step begins with a question — "Where should these prospects go?" — and a set of destination cards. Choose a destination before you upload anything. The "Next" button stays disabled until both a destination and a file are set.

• "Assign to a user" — every contact in the import goes directly to one person.
• "Use a lead routing policy" — contacts are distributed by a policy's rules, such as Round-robin or Weighted distribution.

Once you've picked a destination, drag and drop your database spreadsheet into the upload field, or click to browse. When the file is accepted, a green card confirms the file name and size, with a "Remove file" link if you grabbed the wrong one.

Below the upload field, three checkboxes control how Bonzo reads your file:

• "File contains column names" — skips the first row. Leave this checked when your first row holds column headers.
• "Merge duplicates" — merges contacts found in your file based on phone number and/or email instead of creating separate records.
• "Show advanced settings" — reveals the delimiter, enclosure, and escape character options for CSV files that aren't comma-separated.

4. Next, map your fields, making sure each column in your file aligns with the corresponding data field in Bonzo. Verify that information such as first name, last name, and email address match up appropriately.

Each row shows your column name, a sample value pulled from your file, and the Bonzo field it maps to. Bonzo pre-matches columns whose names line up with its own fields.

If a row doesn't match or comes up blank, search Bonzo's fields for the appropriate match. To move through a large file faster, use the "All," "Mapped," and "Unmapped" tabs to filter, and the search box to jump to a column by name. Set anything you don't want to bring in to "— Don't Import —."

The footer tracks your progress as "X of Y columns mapped."

Once everything is properly mapped, proceed to the next screen to adjust your import settings.

5. The Settings page is where campaign, pipeline, sharing, and the optional paid services now live.

Pipeline & campaign — optionally drop contacts into a pipeline stage and enroll them in a campaign. If you selected a routing policy that already sets one of these, a notice replaces that field and tells you which policy is handling it.

Sharing & classification — share the imported contacts with specific members, tag them with relevant labels, and choose how duplicates are handled ("Update existing prospect," "Update and reassign to new user," or "Skip duplicates"). These actions can also be taken in your People tab after the import.

Additional options — two token-based services you can apply to each contact:

• "Run DNC scrubber" (1 token per prospect) cross-references your import against the National Do Not Call Registry, so you only import actionable data. Anyone on the registry is added to your Bonzo DNC list and cannot be contacted. You'll confirm a disclaimer before this turns on.
• "Run enrichment" (15 tokens per prospect) pulls additional data from the web into your contact records, including address, phone number, and email. New data populates the "Additional Contact Information" section of the record and never overwrites what's already there. If nothing new is found for a contact, you aren't charged for that contact.

After confirming the settings, click "Next" to proceed to the Summary page.

6. The Summary page shows exactly what the import will do before anything is processed.

If you turned on the DNC scrubber or enrichment, a "Token spend breakdown" shows the cost per service, your row count, and an estimated total. Final spend is calculated per row at processing time, so contacts with no result don't count against you.

Below that, "Configuration review" lists your row count, routing destination, file handling, mapped field count, campaign, pipeline stage, shared members, tags, duplicate resolution, and enhancements.

Check both confirmation boxes — one confirming you reviewed the mapping and settings, one attesting to TCPA compliance and applicable messaging law — then click "Start import" in the bottom right.

Depending on the size of your file, the import may take a few moments. You'll receive an email notification once it's complete, or you can monitor progress directly on the import page.
 

Once finished, your imported contacts will be seamlessly integrated into your People tab within Bonzo, ready for further organization and action.

Note: To learn how to initiate an import from another CRM, click the link below.
Import Data from Another CRM

People Organization: Best Practices & Tips

Most Bonzo members looking to import their existing database into Bonzo will have their contacts organized in one of two ways.