Customer Feedback Tool

Deb
Contributor | Partner
Contributor | Partner

Importing data no longer creates a list - this is now manual

SOLVE

Yesterday I imported contact data and it created a list, today I have done the same activity and it no longer automatically creates a list - this is now a manual process.  Why has this been made more complicated and requires more manual manipulation, the automation before was easy and simple and worked.

1 Accepted solution
Dylan
Solution
HubSpot Product Team
HubSpot Product Team

Importing data no longer creates a list - this is now manual

SOLVE

Thank you for your feedback @cstevens21 and others on this thread. At this time, we do not have immediate plans to replace the automatic list creation feature, or the ability to bulk-set lifecycle stage upon import.


Regarding lists, I would recommend creating a contact list from the import home page, using the "more" dropdown. You can also use the "View Contacts" "View Deals" or "View Companies" quick links to apply a custom filter to the objects you have imported. 

Regarding lifecycle stages, you will need to include this on your import file just like you would any other property. Otherwise, the stage will default to "subscriber". 

 

I'm also excited to inform you all of some improvements to the import tool which will definitely speed up your process. As of last week - we are storing all of the recent mappings that you have made with previous imports and applying them to future mappings with the same name. This will make importing all objects much faster, and there are more similar improvements coming to the tool in the near future. 

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0 Upvotes
14 Replies 14
cstevens21
Participant

Importing data no longer creates a list - this is now manual

SOLVE

I agree! This is non-intuitive and not user friendly. Sure, I know how to do it, but when someone else in my group tries to do an import and doesn't see a list once they've imported, they'll be confused and lost. I spent a good 2 hours trying to figure this out thinking it was something I was doing wrong. Then I called, and was informed of what had changed.

 

This is not very Hubspotty. I'd highly suggest this gets changed back. There's zero benefit and creates extra work - like I need extra work!

 

Thank you,

 

Christopher

0 Upvotes
Dylan
Solution
HubSpot Product Team
HubSpot Product Team

Importing data no longer creates a list - this is now manual

SOLVE

Thank you for your feedback @cstevens21 and others on this thread. At this time, we do not have immediate plans to replace the automatic list creation feature, or the ability to bulk-set lifecycle stage upon import.


Regarding lists, I would recommend creating a contact list from the import home page, using the "more" dropdown. You can also use the "View Contacts" "View Deals" or "View Companies" quick links to apply a custom filter to the objects you have imported. 

Regarding lifecycle stages, you will need to include this on your import file just like you would any other property. Otherwise, the stage will default to "subscriber". 

 

I'm also excited to inform you all of some improvements to the import tool which will definitely speed up your process. As of last week - we are storing all of the recent mappings that you have made with previous imports and applying them to future mappings with the same name. This will make importing all objects much faster, and there are more similar improvements coming to the tool in the near future. 

0 Upvotes
cstevens21
Participant

Importing data no longer creates a list - this is now manual

SOLVE

Usually when HubSpot makes adjustments, it's a benefit; not so in this case.

 

I've noticed you wrote that we need to now add a column to our data with the Lifecycle to bring the list of customers in as customers. This is a huge disadvantage. Most lists are provided by programmers. Now the programmers need to either adjust the program so the lists include a column of data which isn't data that in their systems. Or the one loading th list needs to more manual manipulation by adding a column with the appropriate information for their respective Lifecycle.

 

How about adding an option to box we can toggle if the list is a list of Customers in their Lifecycle? Also, someone had a great idea in this string of comments about an option to add a box to toggle if the import should be a "list" too. That's brilliant and would solve MANY of the issues your clients are running in to with this change.

 

I hope these suggestions get to you and passed on to those who are making decisions on how to improve the HubSpot platform. I'm still a big fan of HubSpot, but some of these changes don't seem to beneficial to the masses of the clients at HubSpot.

 

Thank you for all your hard work,

 

Christopher

Deb
Contributor | Partner
Contributor | Partner

Importing data no longer creates a list - this is now manual

SOLVE

Hi Dylan,

 

I have just done my first import since raising this issue and it does work, it is just that it makes extra steps and as you've seen from comments it isn't just me that has found this.

Debbie

0 Upvotes
jfelci
Member

Importing data no longer creates a list - this is now manual

SOLVE

I agree with many of this thread that the 'improvements' to the list set up are not helpful.

 

Couple of questions:

1. how do you access the Import homepage

2. how do I set up a static list from the import (it keeps setting up Smart lists and those are not helpful)

 

Please stop fixing what isn't broken

 

Thanks!

Joanne

0 Upvotes
JBurke
Participant

Importing data no longer creates a list - this is now manual

SOLVE

I understand the justification, but adding steps to create a list from an import makes a lot of extra work for a process I use regularly. Perhaps you can have a box to check at the beginning of the import process that offers to turn the import directly into a list? Also, I'm glad to hear that the "make list" function will auto assign the name of the import. It wasn't clear to me that the first step to creating a list was making a new name, and only then could I choose "Done" and then "Save." That's several additional steps that I had to figure out on my own, even after reading your published information on this update. Another, even bigger issue for me is that LifeCycle stage is no longer assigned during import. I'm glad I can assign Lifecycle stage via a spreadsheet column, but now I am forced to add that column when adding new users at existing customers, which is a very frequent occurrence for me. The system I'm pulling this data from doesn't have a field to designate that the users are customers (because in that system they're all customers) so I have to manually add it every time. It's not difficult, but it's an inconvenience. Would you consider adding that feature back in?

Dylan
HubSpot Product Team
HubSpot Product Team

Importing data no longer creates a list - this is now manual

SOLVE

Hello Deb,

 

Thank you for posting on the community regarding the removal of automatically created lists in the import tool. This removal was the first step to a larger overhaul to the import tool which is broken down here.

 

I understand the use case for creating a list for every import, but I would like to illustrate the broader picture:

 

1) We consistently had issues of users hitting their list limits due to this automatic creation. This is set to 1,000 lists per portal.


2) We plan on adding new capability all across imports, like deduplicating on HubSpot object ID and the ability to associate objects upon import maintaining a lean import flow allows us to release critical features like this.


3) This new dynamic way of filtering will open up even more possibilities to filter using imports (i.e. creating a list of more than 1 import at a time)

 

We, however, are working to make list creation even easier for you with this new tool. Now, the import name is automatically set to match the file name. And soon, we will release functionality that will auto-name the list as the import name.

 

I'm interested to know how the list creation was part of your workflow though - was this something you had done for every import? Were you emailing those lists or doing something else with them?

 

- Dylan, CRM Product Manager

Deb
Contributor | Partner
Contributor | Partner

Importing data no longer creates a list - this is now manual

SOLVE

Hi,

 

I would import a set of data into custom fields on the contact records and then email them this data.  I only wanted to email contacts who had had these fields updated and list creation at the point of import was logical and easy for me.

 

1000 lists is enough capacity for me and the usage we have as a business, we manage our lists and cleanse them regularly as some of them are specific to one campaign.  We are obviously unique in our use of this.

0 Upvotes
Bob2
Participant

Importing data no longer creates a list - this is now manual

SOLVE

Yes, I would import a list of users and then email them. Now you've added an extra time-consuming step. 

Bob2
Participant

Importing data no longer creates a list - this is now manual

SOLVE

Exactly. This has added friction to what once was a seamless process.  Why do you continue to tweak things that are not broken? Again, an update should make things seamless, not friction-filled.

0 Upvotes
Deb
Contributor | Partner
Contributor | Partner

Importing data no longer creates a list - this is now manual

SOLVE

Thanks Bob, I'm glad to hear it's not just me!

0 Upvotes
MFrankJohnson
Thought Leader

Importing data no longer creates a list - this is now manual

SOLVE

_hubspot-button-accept-as-solution-gif-v00.gif

Help other HubSpot searchers find this post quickly by accepting this solution today.

 

Q: Importing data no longer creates a list - this is now manual?

 

Short A: Importing data into HubSpot still creates a static list. (tested today)

(see image)

_hubspot-Import-static-list-v20180731.png

 

Longer A:

You may also (optionally) add the imported contacts to an existing list of your choosing.

(see image)

_hubspot-Import-v20180731.png

Also, see this post about the dynamic nature of the HubSpot import process ...

 

 

Note: Please search for recent posts as HubSpot evolves to be the #1 CRM platform of choice world-wide.

 

Hope that helps.

 

Be well,
Frank


www.mfrankjohnson.com
0 Upvotes
MFrankJohnson
Thought Leader

Importing data no longer creates a list - this is now manual

SOLVE

 

There's been a recent portal-wide update to the HubSpot import process.

- see [Now Live] 5 Updates to Import You Don’t Want to Miss

 

We can now confirm the behavior you're seeing. Thanks for your patience.

 

Best,

Frank

 

Note: Please search for recent posts as HubSpot evolves to be the #1 CRM platform of choice world-wide.

 

Hope that helps.

 

Be well,
Frank


www.mfrankjohnson.com
0 Upvotes
Deb
Contributor | Partner
Contributor | Partner

Importing data no longer creates a list - this is now manual

SOLVE

Hi, I have sales pro and on MOnday I did an import of upsates to contact records and I repeated the process on Tuesday to a different number of contacts and this was when i saw the difference. Previously imports have asked for a name as part of the import and this has created a new list - on Tuesday this did not happen.

Unfortunatley I have no more imports scheduled for a few weeks to runa new test on this.

It just seemed odd to me that an automated process now required additional work from me to get the same result (eg list creation) that I had had previously.

0 Upvotes