Lists, Lead Scoring & Workflows

David1
Participant

Why does Import need Lifecycle Stage?

SOLVE

When I import a list of Contacts, it is now necessary to specify the Lifecycle Stage.  Does anyone else find this extremely frustrating?  My company frequently holds offline events, and as such, I like to import these Contacts into HubSpot.  Many of these are existing, while some are new.  Of the former, some are Leads, others Opportunities, while others are Customers.  This new import feature forces us users to either specify everyone under one grouping, which is wrong, or to do several imports, which is foolish.

 

HubSpot - Please remove this as a necessity.  I can add all the field values I want in the CSV/Excel file that I use in my upload.  This mandatory feature is a hinderance, not a time saver.

2 Accepted solutions
BrettLanguirand
Solution
HubSpot Employee
HubSpot Employee

Why does Import need Lifecycle Stage?

SOLVE

Hello @David1,

 

Your concerns are understandable, however I think the information below will clear up how this setting works and what the expected behavior is while importing.

 

The option to choose a lifecycle stage during import has always been there, however in the previous version of the CRM, it required you to open up the advanced settings during the import process and was set to subscriber by default.  

 

If your CSV file has values in a LIfecycle Stage column, those values will be imported and the dropdown during the process won't impact those contacts.  If a contact doesn't have a value in the csv, the dropdown selection will apply to them.  However, if a contact already exists in your portal, and you choose a lifcycle stage in the dropdown during the import process, it will only change those contact's lifecycle stage if it is a lifecycle stage moving forward.  The dropdown will not move contact's lifecycle stage backwards.  

 

This feature has always been there, but now it is easier to choose the lifecycle stage that you want new contacts added as, instead of Hubspot setting the default as subscriber and forcing you to click through advanced settings to find the option to change it.

 

I hope this clears things up.  Let me know if you have any questions.

 

Brett

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0 Upvotes
ashley_milne
Solution
Top Contributor

Why does Import need Lifecycle Stage?

SOLVE

If it helps, I have some tips written up for how to correctly set the Lifecycle Stage during a Contact import, so that you don't have to use the default setting. You can check that out here: https://medium.com/import2/explained-setting-the-lifecycle-stage-when-importing-into-hubspot-2d842b6...

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6 Replies 6
ashley_milne
Solution
Top Contributor

Why does Import need Lifecycle Stage?

SOLVE

If it helps, I have some tips written up for how to correctly set the Lifecycle Stage during a Contact import, so that you don't have to use the default setting. You can check that out here: https://medium.com/import2/explained-setting-the-lifecycle-stage-when-importing-into-hubspot-2d842b6...

JohnS63
Contributor

Why does Import need Lifecycle Stage?

SOLVE

Hi Ashley, 

 

Thanks for your post - really helpful and good to knowl! I also had the issue of needing to import multiple lifecycle stages in one file. Haven't tried your solution yet as my list isn't quite ready but will do soon. I wonder whether you could clarify one thing? In Hubspot, the field field 'lifecycle stage for contacts in this import' is asterisked. Are you saying that if I leave it blank, as long as the exact lifecycle fields are in the CSV, it will update or is there something else I would need to do?

 

Thanks!

0 Upvotes
JohnS63
Contributor

Why does Import need Lifecycle Stage?

SOLVE

Just an update to this for anyone who's interested. Importing multiple lifecycle stages by csv did work as above.

 

Hubspot won't let you import your list until you select a lifecycle stage for all contacts. To get past this, when uploading your list, simply select 'subscriber' on that required field. You can then proceed to the next stage and map over the 'lifecycle' field. It will then update and overwrite as per the values in your CSV. 

 

Thanks to Victor from Hubspot Support for helping me out on this one. 

0 Upvotes
nicolebrenner
HubSpot Employee
HubSpot Employee

Why does Import need Lifecycle Stage?

SOLVE

Thanks @ashley_milne, this is a great resource, thanks for sharing with our community! If you like, I'd also encourage you to post this in our Marketing Best Practices Tips & Tricks Board so people comment on your work seperately as well

cc @roisinkirby 

0 Upvotes
ashley_milne
Top Contributor

Why does Import need Lifecycle Stage?

SOLVE

@nicolebrenner Thanks Nicole - will do! 

0 Upvotes
BrettLanguirand
Solution
HubSpot Employee
HubSpot Employee

Why does Import need Lifecycle Stage?

SOLVE

Hello @David1,

 

Your concerns are understandable, however I think the information below will clear up how this setting works and what the expected behavior is while importing.

 

The option to choose a lifecycle stage during import has always been there, however in the previous version of the CRM, it required you to open up the advanced settings during the import process and was set to subscriber by default.  

 

If your CSV file has values in a LIfecycle Stage column, those values will be imported and the dropdown during the process won't impact those contacts.  If a contact doesn't have a value in the csv, the dropdown selection will apply to them.  However, if a contact already exists in your portal, and you choose a lifcycle stage in the dropdown during the import process, it will only change those contact's lifecycle stage if it is a lifecycle stage moving forward.  The dropdown will not move contact's lifecycle stage backwards.  

 

This feature has always been there, but now it is easier to choose the lifecycle stage that you want new contacts added as, instead of Hubspot setting the default as subscriber and forcing you to click through advanced settings to find the option to change it.

 

I hope this clears things up.  Let me know if you have any questions.

 

Brett

0 Upvotes