Import Customers

Bulk import your existing customer database from a CSV file. Ideal for migrating from another system or adding historical customer data.

Preparing Your CSV File

Format your customer data in a CSV file with these columns:

Column	Required	Notes
name	Yes	Full name
email	Recommended	Used for deduplication
phone	No	Any format accepted
address	No	Street address
city	No	City name
postal_code	No	ZIP/postal code
notes	No	Internal notes
tags	No	Comma-separated

Example CSV

name,email,phone,notes,tags
John Smith,john@example.com,555-0123,Prefers morning appointments,VIP
Jane Doe,jane@example.com,555-0456,Allergic to latex,Regular
Bob Wilson,bob@example.com,555-0789,,New

Download template

Get a properly formatted template from Customers → Import → Download Template.

Importing Steps

Go to Customers in the sidebar
Click Import at the top right
Click Choose File and select your CSV
Map your columns to SeroBook fields
Preview the import data
Click Import to complete

Column Mapping

If your column names don't match exactly, you can map them:

After uploading, you'll see a mapping screen
For each SeroBook field, select the matching column from your CSV
Use "Skip" for columns you don't want to import
Preview shows how data will be imported

Common Mappings

"First Name" + "Last Name" → "Name" (will be combined)
"Mobile" or "Cell" → "Phone"
"Zip" → "Postal Code"
"Comments" or "Memo" → "Notes"

Handling Duplicates

Choose how to handle customers who already exist:

Skip duplicates – Don't import if email matches existing customer
Update existing – Overwrite existing data with new values
Create anyway – Create new record even if duplicate (not recommended)

Matching by email

Duplicates are detected by email address. Customers without email addresses cannot be deduplicated automatically.

Validation

Before importing, SeroBook validates your data:

Required fields – Checks name is present
Email format – Validates email addresses
Duplicates – Identifies existing customers
Data quality – Flags potential issues

Error Handling

If validation finds issues:

You'll see a list of rows with problems
Fix issues in your CSV and re-upload, or
Import valid rows only and fix errors later

Importing Tags

Include tags in your CSV to categorize customers:

Use a tags column
Separate multiple tags with commas: VIP, Regular
New tags are created automatically
Tag names are case-insensitive

After Import

Once import completes:

Review the import summary (created, updated, skipped)
Check a few random customers to verify data
Run duplicate detection to clean up any issues
Add any missing information manually

Import history

View past imports in Customers → Import → History. You can see what was imported and when.