If your lead import is failing, producing errors, or not bringing in the data you expect, this guide walks through the most common causes and how to fix them. It covers CSV bulk imports, third-party source imports, field mapping, and validation errors.
Before you start: import requirements
Every bulk import must meet these minimum requirements or BoomTown will reject the file or skip individual rows:
Requirement | Detail |
File format | CSV (.csv) only — Excel (.xlsx) and other formats are not accepted. |
Email address | Not required, but strongly recommended. BoomTown uses the email address as the primary identifier for detecting duplicates. Importing leads without an email significantly increases the risk of duplicate records being created. |
Duplicate emails | Leads whose email already exists in BoomTown are skipped — they are not updated by the import. Edit existing leads manually from their profile. |
Column headers | Headers must exactly match BoomTown's field names. Unrecognised headers are ignored entirely. |
File encoding | UTF-8 encoding is required. Files with special characters (accented letters, symbols) saved in other formats can cause row-level errors. |
Field mapping reference
BoomTown maps CSV column headers to lead profile fields by exact name match. Use this reference when setting up your CSV:
Lead profile field | Required CSV column header | Notes |
Strongly recommended. BoomTown uses email as the primary deduplication key — rows without an email are more likely to create duplicate lead records. | ||
First name | first_name | Optional but recommended. |
Last name | last_name | Optional. |
Phone | phone | Digits only — no dashes, spaces, or parentheses. |
Lead source | lead_source | Must match an existing source name in your account exactly. |
Notes | notes | Free text. Imported as a note on the lead's profile. |
Need the full list of supported fields? Contact BoomTown Support and ask for the bulk import field mapping guide for your account.
Common errors and how to fix them
"Rows were skipped" after import
BoomTown sends a results email after every import showing how many rows succeeded and how many were skipped. Skipped rows are almost always caused by one of these:
Duplicate email address — a lead with that email already exists in the system. Duplicates cannot be updated by import; edit the existing lead profile manually.
Invalid email format — the address contains a typo (e.g. .con instead of .com) or is formatted incorrectly.
Blank required field — a required field is empty. Check that your email column header exactly matches email (all lowercase, no spaces).
To find which rows were skipped, download the error report attached to the results email. It lists the row number and reason for each failure.
Import appears to succeed but leads don't show up
Wait a few minutes — large imports can take up to 10 minutes to process before leads appear in Lead Central.
Check your Lead Central filters — imported leads may be filtered out by your current view. Clear all filters and search for the lead's email directly.
Check the results email — confirm the row count shows the leads you expected were successfully imported (not skipped).
Verify the import permission is enabled — go to Admin > Users - Agents > your profile > Settings and confirm that bulk import access is turned on for your user.
Column headers not mapping correctly
If data is landing in the wrong field or being ignored entirely, the column header in your CSV doesn't match what BoomTown expects. Common issues:
Extra spaces — "email " (with a trailing space) won't map to the email field.
Wrong case — field names are case-sensitive. Use all lowercase: email, not Email or EMAIL.
Unsupported field name — if BoomTown doesn't recognise a header, it ignores the entire column. Check the field mapping reference above.
Fix: open the CSV in a plain text editor (not Excel, which can reformat values) and check the exact header names in row 1.
Importing from other third-party sources
When exporting leads from other third-party sources to import into BoomTown, the exported file's column headers usually don't match BoomTown's field names out of the box. You'll need to rename the headers before importing.
Export your leads from the third-party source as a CSV.
Open the file and compare the column headers against the field mapping reference above.
Rename each column header to the matching BoomTown field name (e.g. rename "Email Address" to email, "First Name" to first_name).
Delete any columns BoomTown doesn't support — unrecognised columns are ignored but can cause confusion.
Save the file as CSV (UTF-8) and proceed with the standard bulk import steps.
Tip: Once you've built the correct column mapping for a third-party source, save a blank template with those headers so future imports are ready to go immediately.
Phone number formatting errors
Phone numbers that include dashes, parentheses, spaces, or a +1 country code prefix often fail to import correctly. Format phone numbers as digits only before importing:
Format | Example | Accepted? |
Digits only | 8005551234 | ✓ Yes |
Dashes | 800-555-1234 | ✗ May fail |
Parentheses + space | (800) 555-1234 | ✗ May fail |
Country code | +18005551234 | ✗ May fail |
In Excel, you can strip formatting with a formula: =SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(SUBSTITUTE(A2,"-",""),"(",""),")","")," ","") — then paste the result as values-only before saving as CSV.