How to import CRM leads, notes, and contacts?

TB CRM · data-migration · Last updated October 13, 2026 · Version 1

This process works in apps: TB CRM, TB Books, TB Sync, TB WMS, TB POS, TB One

This article will teach you how to bulk-load prospect companies from CSV, then attach historical notes and extra contacts to those leads.

Lead migration lives under Organization Settings → Data Migration. Use three cards in order: CRM Leads (company + primary contact + address/source/status), Lead Notes (one row per note), and Lead Contacts (extra people). Notes and contacts attach to a lead by Company Name, External ID, or Lead ID — import CRM Leads first if those records are not already in TireBase. An External ID from your old CRM is the most reliable match key when company names are not unique.

Steps

• Go to Settings → Data Migration (Organization Settings) in CRM or any Tire Base app.
• Under Imports, pick CRM Leads and upload a UTF-8 CSV (max 2,000 rows). Company Name is required. Map First + Last or Contact Name for the primary person, plus Email, Phone, Address, Status, Lead Source, and Owner as needed.
• Map External ID when your file has a legacy lead id. Choose Add, Update, or Add or Update. Matching uses External ID, then Google Place ID, then Company Name. A Notes column writes one note on that lead.
• Click Import and review Created, Updated, Skipped, and row errors. Open CRM → Leads and spot-check a few companies, the primary contact, and status. Failed or incomplete uploads also appear under Activity with the file name, error, and a downloadable results file for 30 days.
• If your old system exported notes separately, pick Lead Notes. Map Company Name or External ID plus Note. Optional Created Date and Created By keep history. Duplicate note text on the same lead is skipped.
• If you have more than one person per company, pick Lead Contacts. Map the same lead match key plus Name or First + Last. Optional Email, Phone, Title, and Primary. Matching people (same email, or same name + phone) are skipped.
• Open a lead in CRM and confirm notes appear on the Notes tab and extra people appear on Contacts. Convert a sample lead to an account to confirm contacts carry over.

Conclusion & best practices

Run CRM Leads before notes or extra contacts. Prefer External ID over company name when two shops share a similar name. Status values are New, Contacted, Qualified, Engaged, Converted, Lost, or Unqualified. Blank cells never clear existing lead data on Update. These imports always use the first row of the CSV as the header. Clicking a different header row is on Product Catalog (Select Your Header Row) and on a vendor connection’s Field Mapping (Preview & Header Selection). Split files larger than 2,000 rows.