#81: Importing a Contact list

Did you know that you can easily import a list of contacts into Advisors Assistant? You can import basic demographic information from an Excel Spreadsheet or CSV File to populate that information in your Advisors Assistant database. This import only includes basic name and address information and does not include notes or product information.

To import a contact list, go to the Admin Menu and choose Contact List Import & Maintenance.

The Contact List screen will open and if you have imported a list in the past, the name of the list will appear on the screen. When you are ready to import a new list, click on Import List and you will be taken through the Import Contact List Wizard that walks you through each of the steps.

Once you have imported a list of names, you can also remove the entire list in the future. So if you rent a contact list for one or two mailings, you can remove that list after your rental period expires. You can keep the names you contacted in your database by changing their Name Type from the Type you assigned during the List Import process.

The import function does try to detect duplicates and does not overwrite a contact record that is already in the database. It uses fields that are in both the existing record and the incoming record, such as Last Name, First Initial, Date of Birth, and Tax ID.

If this is the first time you are importing a list, we recommend calling technical support at (800) 643-4488 to demonstrate the process.

Just another way Advisors Assistant helps save you valuable time!