CRM

DCPS
Participant

Import Parent Child Relationships for Companies and Contacts...

SOLVE

I have over 500 parent companies each with anywhere from 10 to 500 child companies that I really don't want to set all the realtionships by hand. I also have thousands of contacts that I need to relate to their companies. Please help...

1 Accepted solution
karstenkoehler
Solution
Hall of Famer | Partner
Hall of Famer | Partner

Import Parent Child Relationships for Companies and Contacts...

SOLVE

Hi @DCPS and everyone,

 

This is now possible via regular import, as per a product update on August 15th. To see the update, open your HubSpot account, click on the account name in the top right corner, followed by Product Updates.

 

karstenkoehler_0-1660658546384.png

 

 

Copied from the announcement:

 

What is it?


Users can now include the "Parent company" property within a company import file to create parent child associations between companies in bulk.

 

Why does it matter?


Confidence that you can accurately reflect your business' data in the CRM is key. For many, this means creating parent-child relationships between company records. Today, the only way to create a parent-child relationship is manually on the company record, on a one-by-one basis. This simply doesn't cut it for those who are onboarding on to HubSpot and need to create potentially hundreds of theses associations.

 

With this update, you will be able to now take this action in bulk by using the imports tool, saving time and energy as you bring your data into HubSpot.

 

How does it work?


Before creating parent-child company associations via import, make sure that all your parent companies are already within the CRM.

 

Once all your parent records are in the CRM, find the record ID for your parent companies. You can do this by manually going to each record and searching for Record ID when viewing all properties. Alternatively, you can export a group of companies – the record ID will be the first column found within your import.

 

Next, create an import file for your child companies. Include a column called "Parent company" and add the record IDs of the corresponding parent companies into this column.


Finally, import this file into HubSpot. Make sure to map the parent company column to the HubSpot property of the same name.


Once your import is complete, you'll have created a parent-child relationship between the records in your import (child companies) and the records identified by the record IDs found within the Parent company column.


Hope this helps!

Karsten Köhler
HubSpot Freelancer | RevOps & CRM Consultant | Community Hall of Famer

Beratungstermin mit Karsten vereinbaren

 

Did my post help answer your query? Help the community by marking it as a solution.

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37 Replies 37
karstenkoehler
Solution
Hall of Famer | Partner
Hall of Famer | Partner

Import Parent Child Relationships for Companies and Contacts...

SOLVE

Hi @DCPS and everyone,

 

This is now possible via regular import, as per a product update on August 15th. To see the update, open your HubSpot account, click on the account name in the top right corner, followed by Product Updates.

 

karstenkoehler_0-1660658546384.png

 

 

Copied from the announcement:

 

What is it?


Users can now include the "Parent company" property within a company import file to create parent child associations between companies in bulk.

 

Why does it matter?


Confidence that you can accurately reflect your business' data in the CRM is key. For many, this means creating parent-child relationships between company records. Today, the only way to create a parent-child relationship is manually on the company record, on a one-by-one basis. This simply doesn't cut it for those who are onboarding on to HubSpot and need to create potentially hundreds of theses associations.

 

With this update, you will be able to now take this action in bulk by using the imports tool, saving time and energy as you bring your data into HubSpot.

 

How does it work?


Before creating parent-child company associations via import, make sure that all your parent companies are already within the CRM.

 

Once all your parent records are in the CRM, find the record ID for your parent companies. You can do this by manually going to each record and searching for Record ID when viewing all properties. Alternatively, you can export a group of companies – the record ID will be the first column found within your import.

 

Next, create an import file for your child companies. Include a column called "Parent company" and add the record IDs of the corresponding parent companies into this column.


Finally, import this file into HubSpot. Make sure to map the parent company column to the HubSpot property of the same name.


Once your import is complete, you'll have created a parent-child relationship between the records in your import (child companies) and the records identified by the record IDs found within the Parent company column.


Hope this helps!

Karsten Köhler
HubSpot Freelancer | RevOps & CRM Consultant | Community Hall of Famer

Beratungstermin mit Karsten vereinbaren

 

Did my post help answer your query? Help the community by marking it as a solution.

DNelson7
Participant

Import Parent Child Relationships for Companies and Contacts...

SOLVE

I'm actually trying to do company to company parent/child associations. This is what I was told to do by import2.

 

"To import a CSV file with school districts and their accompanying schools into HubSpot and associate the data as parent/child accounts, follow these steps:

 

  1. Prepare your CSV file with two separate sheets: one for school districts (parent accounts) and another for schools (child accounts). Make sure each record has a unique identifier, such as an ID or name.
  2. Log in to your HubSpot account and navigate to the Contacts or Companies section, depending on whether you want to import the data as contacts or companies.
  3. Click on "Import" and choose "Start an import." Select "File from computer" and upload your CSV file with the school districts (parent accounts).
  4. Map the columns in your CSV file to the corresponding properties in HubSpot. Make sure to map the unique identifier (ID or name) to the "Name" or a custom property in HubSpot.
  5. Complete the import process for the school districts (parent accounts).
  6. Repeat steps 3-5 for the CSV file with the schools (child accounts). During the mapping process, make sure to map the unique identifier of the parent account (school district) to a custom property in HubSpot, such as "Parent Account ID" or "Parent Account Name."
  7. After both imports are completed, use HubSpot's "Associations" feature to associate the child accounts (schools) with their parent accounts (school districts) based on the custom property you mapped in step 6.

Please note that existing companies or contacts in HubSpot will be checked by name or email for a match before importing a new record. Make sure your CSV file has unique and accurate information to avoid duplicates or incorrect associations.

 

I just can't find an option to associate a company to another company.

0 Upvotes
DNelson7
Participant

Import Parent Child Relationships for Companies and Contacts...

SOLVE

Karsten -

You are awesome! Quick question. Based on your response, this looks like it would work if it were a 1-1 ratio. How would this work if I have 10-15 companies who are each child accounts to a parent account?

0 Upvotes
MShandor
Member

Import Parent Child Relationships for Companies and Contacts...

SOLVE
Actually if the contact has already been created you can upload multiple companies using a spreadsheet with all of the company fields plus a contact record id column. You don’t have to make any one company a parent company unless you want to.
0 Upvotes
DNelson7
Participant

Import Parent Child Relationships for Companies and Contacts...

SOLVE

I currently don't have contacts. I am trying first to create my companies and their accompanying associations. (Parent/Child)

0 Upvotes
MShandor
Member

Import Parent Child Relationships for Companies and Contacts...

SOLVE

Create the parent company first.  Once that has been completed depending on the number of companies you have you can either manually add them and then associate them as child companies or you can add a column for Parent Company ID and then just use that unique identifier in front of each of the child companies on an excel spreadsheet.  

In my industry we had owners/contacts that had multiple companies so our approach was to add the contact and then use the contact id to connect the companies.

If you take a spreadsheet with all of the parent companies and upload it or manually add all parent companies, that automatically assigns them a record ID.  That unique record ID is what you would use to import the child companies.

CorinaAvila
Member

Import Parent Child Relationships for Companies and Contacts...

SOLVE

Hi Karsten, how would we associate contacts with specific child companies? 

DNelson7
Participant

Import Parent Child Relationships for Companies and Contacts...

SOLVE

Not contacts. I'm trying to create Parent/Child associations with companies.

0 Upvotes
MShandor0
Member

Import Parent Child Relationships for Companies and Contacts...

SOLVE

glad this is available now.  for my business there is no true parent company and child companies.  I did find a solution when you want multiple companies under the same owner.  Once there is a contact id number you can upload all companies using the same contact id and then they all show under companies versus under child companies and then you have the choice to designate one as a primary company.  

CCaffrey
Contributor

Import Parent Child Relationships for Companies and Contacts...

SOLVE

This feature really needs to be implemented.  This is incredebly frustrating.  I have thousands of contacts that need parent/child associations imported.  I really do not want to pay for a third-party service for such a simple solution that should already exist natively. 

MShandor
Member

Import Parent Child Relationships for Companies and Contacts...

SOLVE

I believe I have found the workaround for this.  NOTE:  To use this technique both the parent company and child company must already exist in Hubspot and have a Company ID.

 

Ex. ABC Company with Company ID 123456 Parent Company

DEF Company with Company ID 222222 CHILD

GHI Company with Company ID 333333 CHILD

Using an Excel spreadsheet, add an additional column with the title Parent Company

Next to companies DEF and GHI in the Parent Company column enter 123456.  

MShandor_0-1646362912772.png

 

I was not able to do this without first adding the companies to Hubspot.  I would recommend uploading all of your companies, then creating a list with any of the companies you had to add to Hubspot (if you are setting up your account for this first time this will be easy).  Export the list and add the appropriate Parent Company for each child.  

 

This should allow the association to happen.

0 Upvotes
MShandor
Member

Import Parent Child Relationships for Companies and Contacts...

SOLVE

I apologize because I know the solution did not work for everyone although I was hoping it would.  I do have a confirmed workaround that I have tried and it does actually work but it is not a true solution if you really need a parent/child.

Normally, Hubspot will not allow you to associate multiple companies with the same contact which for my industry is why I was using parent/child.  We work with owners who have multiple properties.  On a whim I decided to upload a spreadsheet where each property had the same contact listed and the same contact ID.  When I did this it associated all of the properties with the contact.  Now when I look at John Smith for example if he owns 4 properties they all show under his name.  

 

Not perfect but it works.  Note if the contact is not in Hubspot already you must add them first.  Once they have a contact ID, you can list that ID for each of their locations/companies/businesses and they will all appear associated with that contact.

 

If you really need parent-child my recommendation would be to upload the parent first and then do another upload with all of the children companies because by default the first one you upload/enter will be listed first.

 

Hope this helps until the feature is added.

0 Upvotes
CCaffrey
Contributor

Import Parent Child Relationships for Companies and Contacts...

SOLVE

@MShandor  tried this exactly as you outline and it does not work.  There is no way to select "Parent Company" during the import because it is a "Read Only" value.  See screenshot below.  Is there another way???

 

CCaffrey_0-1651099828618.png

 

CBEAUCAMP
Contributor | Platinum Partner
Contributor | Platinum Partner

Import Parent Child Relationships for Companies and Contacts...

SOLVE

Bonjour @MShandor

Selon votre exemple, un problème se pose.

Lors de l'importation dans Hubspot les propriétés Company ID et Company name sont reconnues mais pas Parent company. Pouvez-vous décrire votre process ?

Parent company est en lecture seule

 

0 Upvotes
SakariJokinen
Participant | Diamond Partner
Participant | Diamond Partner

Import Parent Child Relationships for Companies and Contacts...

SOLVE

HubSpot says:
"Parent Company" is a read-only property, so no data can be imported to it.

 

I was not able to do any import this way. I have not heard that this would work before. Do you have a video or screenhsots of it working?

0 Upvotes
aislync
Participant

Import Parent Child Relationships for Companies and Contacts...

SOLVE

We really need this feature to be an option. I am updating our database and as we work with schools and districts, i have over 9000 districts that need up to 800 child companies associated with them and doing this manually is not feasable. It is causing us to not be able to use companies and company properties as well as we should be as well as associating contacts with those companies.

Elyn
Participant

Import Parent Child Relationships for Companies and Contacts...

SOLVE

100% agree. 

0 Upvotes
johncgilmore
Member

Import Parent Child Relationships for Companies and Contacts...

SOLVE

Same problem here. Hubspot's approach just doesn't really take government or school sales very seriously, probably because the market for b2b (with defined domains for each sales group) is their focus. 

 

Or they just don't understand that every school in a district uses the same domain. 

 

The only way I've been able to make this stuff work is very large zapier workflows. 

 

I tried for a year using a certain deal pipelines as "schools" and not using parent child relationships at all -- districts were companies and schools were deals on the SCHOOLS pipeline. But then reps started using those School pipeline deals as real deals and I couldn't get them to remember not to touch those since they are actually child companies tied to parent districts. 

 

The advantage of the above is that the data can be aggregated up to the parent district. 

 

Now I am using actual parent child relationship with parent district and child schools, but none of the data rolls up, which is disappointing and also a bit confusing to me. Not quite sure what the value of a parent child relationship is when it's not rolling up data. 

 

Having been in ed tech 10 years this is why I've tried and then dropped hubspot so many times haha. 

TiphaineCuisset
Community Manager
Community Manager

Import Parent Child Relationships for Companies and Contacts...

SOLVE

Hi @aislync 

 

Thank you for reaching out. 

 

At the moment it's not possible natively with HubSpot but you could do that with Import2 or Trujay for example. I'd also recommend upvoting this Idea in our Ideas Forum regarding this. You can also subscribe to the idea (Options > Subscribe) to get notified if the status changes. 

 

Thank you

Best

Tiphaine


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MatthewBoyd
Contributor | Elite Partner
Contributor | Elite Partner

Import Parent Child Relationships for Companies and Contacts...

SOLVE

Hey All, 

 

If this is still something you are looking for, @Dave_ at Integration Fox has built a tool that does this really well and is able to recreate it for others incredibly affordably

 

Based on setting a Parent Company ID property either manually or via an import, Integration Fox automatically creates a Parent/Child relationship with the matching Company. 

 

Easy!

0 Upvotes