Table of Contents
Overview
If you want to save some clicks and time, there are some updates to clients that can be made in bulk by taking advantage of the client import process. In particular, automated notifications for clients and archived status can be changed with this method. Using this process saves you from having to navigate in and out of individual clients to make these changes.
Settings that can be changed with the client import process are:
- If a client's phone number can receive text messages
- If a client can receive automated visit and assessment reminders
- If a client can receive automatic job follow-ups
- If a client can receive automatic quote follow-ups
- If a client can receive automatic invoice follow-ups
- Archived status
- New tags can be added
- Text-based client level custom fields can be updated
Other fields can be changed using this method (such as the client's name or main phone number), but this guide is going to focus on changing client settings, rather than information. If you have any questions about how to make mass changes to your client list, please reach out to our Success Team.
Only admin users are able to import and export clients. However some client data can be exported by team members with the Reports permission setting. Learn more about user permissions.
Export your client list
The first step is to export your client list. To do this, go to the Clients tab from the side navigation. In the top right of this page, click More Actions > Export Clients. When prompted to select an export format, select CSV.
A CSV is a type of spreadsheet file and you will soon receive an email with the CSV file attached. It can then be opened in a program like Excel, Numbers, or Google Sheets to be edited.
Edit your spreadsheet
Open your CSV file in the spreadsheet editing program of your choice. If you scroll through the client export, you will see columns that correspond to fields in Jobber.
Note: As you are editing information in the spreadsheet, make sure not to touch the J-ID column. This is the identified that matches your existing data to the changes you are making by editing this spreadsheet. Changes to the J-ID column will negatively affect the way your data imports.
Below are the columns that can be edited and what you'll need to change to update information in Jobber:
- Text Message Enabled Phone Number
- Column will include the phone number that can receive text messages.
- Receives automatic visit reminders?
- Column will be TRUE if you want the client to receive automatic visit reminders, FALSE if not.
- Receives automatic job follow-ups?
- Column will be TRUE if you want the client to receive automatic job follow-ups, FALSE if not.
- Receives automatic quote follow-ups?
- Column will be TRUE if you want the client to receive automatic quote follow-ups, FALSE if not.
- Receives automatic invoice follow-ups?
- Column will be TRUE if you want the client to receive automatic invoice follow-ups, FALSE if not.
- Archived
- Column will be TRUE if you want the client to be archived or FALSE if they are still an active client.
- Tags
- Tags must be separated by a comma
- Note: Tags can only be imported using this method. Existing tags cannot be edited or removed with the import process, however these can be bulk edited from your client list.
- Custom fields
- Enter the new text for this custom field in the custom field column. When you re-import this file, select the option to Add as new field.
- Note: this must be a text-based custom field on the client level (not a property custom field). Drop-down custom fields cannot be imported using this process.
Re-import your spreadsheet
Once you are done making changes to the spreadsheet, make sure to save the file as a CSV. Then the next step is re-import the file back into Jobber. To start the import process, go to the Clients tab from the side navigation and click More Actions > Import Clients.
This will open the Import Clients window. To continue with this process click Begin Import.
The next step is uploading your CSV file from this screen by clicking Add File.
Next, is a prompt to make sure that the headings in your CSV file match the fields that are supported in Jobber. The matching is done automatically, however if there is a discrepancy, you can select the correct field from the dropdown menu or choose to add data as a custom field.
To the right of the column headings, there is a section that shows which field in Jobber the column was matched to. This section also shows a preview of the values that are filled in for this column so you will be able to confirm that it's the correct column. If the headings look correct, select Continue.
The next step is to review the data you've inputted so far. If there are any problems with the import data, this is where you can make edits to ensure everything is imported correctly. Any errors will be highlighted in red and can be filtered using the Invalid filter selection.
There is validation that happens in this step to ensure that the data being imported doesn't contain any errors. The fields that are validated are:
- Name - there is a check to make sure a full name, first name, last name, or company name exist
- Email - must be proper format. If there are multiple email addresses they must be separated by a comma.
- Title - must map to one of the title options in Jobber (Mr, Ms or Mrs)
- J_ID - this field appears when you are importing clients previously exported from Jobber. This number must be two numbers separated by an underscore. For example, 3434_5434.
When you're ready to bring this data into your Jobber account, select Import.
The next screen will show the import progress. You can navigate away from this page and still use Jobber while the import is happening!
And that's it! Once the import is complete the updates you made to the spreadsheet will be live!
Note: After running a client import, you may need to re-run the route optimization to ensure all your properties are geolocated.