Import Data Into Salesforce

5 Jul

Written By Serena

Think of data as the foundation of your company. You don’t really see it unless you dig for it (pun intended), and it’s also essential to driving innovation and informed decision-making.

As such, it’s important to make sure the tools you utilize to support your business operations can rely on an accurate, tidy, and up-to-date database. After all, the tool is only as powerful as the data that it manages.

Salesforce is no exception, and administrators know how clunky and time consuming manual data entry can become whether it’s an org set-up undertake or a day=to-day data import operation.

The good news is that there are several different ways to import data into Salesforce. Depending on how you have set up your org and what your want your data to feed, there will be a solution that suits your needs. These tools exist in both the Classic and Lightning editions.

What to look out for

CRM implementations take a lot of time in the best of scenarios, so focusing on clean and tidy data imports become even more valuable in terms of time saving and administrators’ sanity.

Our recommendation would be to take extra time to breakdown the task at hand and evaluate each step with care.

Use a project roadmap to help with the project plan

Erin Peebles wrote a brilliant project roadmap in one of her articles on the data import subject so, rather than re-inventing the wheel, here is what she shows:

Credit: Erin Peebles, “How to Import Data Into Salesforce – Complete Guide”

Clean, migrate, and integrate are the keys to a successful data import.

Ask yourself the following questions to help you planning

How much data are you moving?
Depending on whether you are moving hundreds, thousands, or maybe even million of rows, the solution will look different.
How complex are your data transformations?
Data manipulation and some advanced mapping might be in order depending on how different the data at the origin is to the Salesforce data model.
How do you plan on cleaning the data up?
Again, look at what needs to be done in order to clean your data up to determine whether your data loading tool of choice can handle the task or you need a separate solution.
How advanced are your team’s technical abilities?
Are you planning on subsequent data automation? Does your ideal solution require low-code or SQL coding? Does any of the team require any training? Is outsourcing an option?
What is your budget?
Usually the most difficult question to answer to. The need to keep the project under budget and the freedom to set it all up to accommodate every little detail are usually pulling in opposite directions. It’s paramount to avoid cutting corners and explore all the avenues to get to the best approach within the cost limits.

Native Salesforce solutions

Here is an overview of the two methods native to Salesforce. You will notice how different they are and how they can cater to different needs.

Salesforce Data Import Wizard

This is the standard tool that comes out of the box with Salesforce: it’s available in all editions (at no additional cost) and comes complete with a wizard to guide admins and users alike step by step.

Can import up to 50,000 records at a time, up to 400 Kb files, and up to 90 fields per record
Easy-to-use interface
Allows for import of accounts, contacts, leads, solutions, campaign members, custom objects, and personal accounts
Can prevent duplicates by checking name, email, or SF ID fields. For Accounts, it reviews the account name and site field
Supports CSV format only
Supports scheduled exports
Can handle one import job at a time
Cloud based, doesn’t require installation

Three different import options using the Wizard:

Insert - creates new records
Update - modifies with the help of a record ID or external ID existing records
Upsert - combination of the two options

Salesforce Data Loader

The Data Loader tool is the most efficient external tool to move data rapidly into the platform. It is used not only for importing and exporting data, but it also handles updating and deleting data.

The Data Loader is a complex tool that supports all standard objects (except User objects) and custom objects.

Support and manage the excess amount of data
Use Drag-and-drop functionality for mapping fields
Can update records that already exist, bulk delete records, and export records
Used to streamline data in both Salesforce and database.com
Supports all objects
Error log files in CSV format
Doesn’t support scheduled exports
Available at no additional cost
Is installed directly on your computer (not cloud based)
Can import up to 5,000,000 standard objects
Available for Enterprise, Performance, Unlimited, Developer, and database.com

Third party solutions

Microsoft’s XL-Connector 365

A paid Excel add-on that allows you to interact with your Salesforce data directly from the spreadsheet. A must-have for companies operating in a Microsoft environment.

Available for Professional, Enterprise, Unlimited, Force.com, Developer, Performance
Pull any Salesforce Report (click on Reports button)
Pull any data using Salesforce.com SOQL (no coding required)
Insert, Update, Delete, or Upsert up to 1 million records
Mass-merge Accounts, Contacts, and Leads (Enterprise Admin edition only)
Convert up to 1 million Leads in one go
Work offline and push data back once connected
Translation workbench from Excel

Google’s Data Connector for Salesforce

A free Google add-on that lets you import, update, and delete Salesforce data from Google Sheets. The biggest Microsoft alternative, a good option for Google Workspace adopters.

Available for Professional, Enterprise, Unlimited, Force.com, Developer, Performance, Essentials
Import data to a Google Sheet from Salesforce using their query builder or SOQL
Bring a Salesforce report directly to your spreadsheet

Dataloader.io

Cloud-based and accessible via web browser originally powered by MuleSoft and later acquired by Salesforce. It comes with a free version available, and a Professional and Enterprise options.

Available for Professional, Enterprise, Unlimited, Force.com, Developer, Performance
Uses existing Salesforce credentials to log without the hassle of downloading an application
Drag and drop design with great usability
Auto-mapping, keyboard shortcuts and search filters to find and map fields quickly
Schedules imports and exports on a hourly, daily, weekly or monthly basis
Supports DropBox, Box, FTP and sFTP import and export data from multiple file sources
Canvas UI