Contacts

How do I import contacts?

You can export contacts from just about any desktop or web application into a CSV file (comma-separated values), and import it to Relenta by following these steps:

  1. Click on 'Contacts' tab in upper left
  2. Click on 'Import' contacts tab
  3. Click 'Import file' and browse for CSV file on your computer
  4. Click 'Upload'

After the CSV file is uploaded, it will be processed in the background. When completed, you will be able to view the stats on imported and updated contacts.

CSV file format
Your CSV file must contain a header row, or first line, that defines the fields in your table. Relenta recognizes headers from the CSV files exported by most common applications such as Outlook, Act!, Goldmine, Gmail, Yahoo, etc.

You also have an option to create and/or edit your own CSV files, using headers from the list below.

Standard headers

  • First, FirstName, First Name
  • Last, LastName, Last Name
  • Full Name, Name
  • Title, Job Title
  • Company, Company Name
  • Comments, Comment, Note
  • Email, E-mail, Email Address, Mail, Mail Address

Smart headers

The following fields will be imported along with a label, that is if the column header is "Phone Mobile" and the value is 555-1212, then the number will be imported as field type Phone with value "555-1212" and label "Mobile."

  • URL, Site, Web site, Website, Web page
  • Phone, Tel, Mobile, Cell
  • Fax
  • Text
  • Messenger, ICQ, AIM, Yahoo, MSN, GTalk, Google Talk, IRC, Skype
  • Street, Address, Location, Address Line, City, Region, Province, State, Post Code, Postal, Zip, Country

If your address-related headers have a common prefix, such as HomeStreet, HomeAddress, etc. the prefix, in this example "Home," will be used as a label.

Groups, tags and custom fields

  • Group, Groups, Group Name
  • Tag, Tags, Contact Tags
  • Custom:custom field name

Group and tag names should be separated by ; (semicolon).

Groups and custom fields must already exist in the system before you import contacts. Tags, if not already present, will be created on the fly during import.

Required fields

Any two of the following three fields must be present for a contact to be imported (or updated) by Relenta: First Name, Last Name, Email.

NB! If your imported file contains Relenta’s contact ID, the above rule doesn't apply.

NB! If your file contains the Full Name column, then — depending on its format — it will be split into first and last names either as First Last or Last, First.

Updating existing contacts

Relenta uses a smart algorithm in an attempt to make a match between each contacts that is being imported and an existing contact in your Relenta database. This way if you accidentally upload the same file, the contacts aren't duplicated. The algorithm takes into the account First Name, Last Name and Email and assigns points to each matching field. The contact with highest score is considered to be a match and is updated with imported data.

NB! The above algorithm doesn't apply to the duplicate records present in the CSV file itself.

How does contact search work?

By default, contact search will find matches in common contact fields, such as name, email, company, address, phone, fax, etc., as well as custom contact fields.

How do I post website forms to Relenta?

You can post forms from your website directly to Relenta via our form post API. This requires the following modifications to your existing form:

  1. Change the form action to post to
    http://YourAccountID.relenta.com/api/httpform
  2. Change the field names to match contact fields in Relenta. If your forms contain additional fields that don’t correspond to the fields listed, include them in the body of the form contents.
  3. Add hidden fields containing:
    • department_key It is unique for each department and can be found in My Account > API tab
    • r_redirect URL of the thank-you page
    • subject Specify the subject as you want it to appear in Inbox
    • contact_groups Group names or IDs to which the contact should be assigned to (IDs can be found in My Account > API tab). Separate multiple groups with semicolon (;)
    • message_template Format the form contents the way you want it to appear in Relenta.

Read more …

Preview contact details in Inbox

This screenshot shows what all those neat little icons in Inbox and other email folders do:


contact_preview.gif

  1. Opens contact details above email message (clicking on sender’s name or email subject will open email without contact preview)
  2. Toggles contact details on and off
  3. Takes you to contact’s info screen
  4. Takes you to contact’s email list screen

How do I associate an email message with another contact?

If you wish to associate an email with another contact, you will need to unlink email from the contact it is associated with, then re-assign it to another contact. The 'Unlink' link (no pun intended) is located on the contact’s email message view pane:

unlink_email.gif

If the message was archived, it will automatically become unarchived after you unlink it from contact.

NB: If you do not future emails from the same sender to be automatically assigned to the same contact, don't forget to remove that email address from the contact details.

How do I capture leads from email?

To automate lead capture from email via API (instead of creating contacts manually from email), you will need to send a specially-formatted email to your Relenta account. The following block of options and instructions needs to be present somewhere in the body of the email:

### BEGIN CREATE CONTACT ###
API_KEY:
EMAIL:
FULL_NAME:
FIRST_NAME:
LAST_NAME:
JOB_TITLE:
COMPANY:
CONTACT_COMMENTS:
PHONE(LABEL):
WEBSITE(LABEL):
MESSENGER(LABEL):
FAX(LABEL):
ADDRESS(LABEL):#START#

#END#
TEXT(LABEL):#START#

#END#
BLOCK NAME|PHONE(LABEL):
GROUPS: {comma-delimited list of group IDs}
OPTIONS: {overwrite/update/cancel}
MATCH_BY: {comma-delimited list of contact fields}
REMOVE_THIS_BLOCK: {yes/not}
### END CREATE CONTACT ###

Notes:

  • The API_KEY can be found under My account > API tab. It is optional unless OPTIONS is set to "overwrite" or "update"
  • Either FULL_NAME or FIRST_NAME and LAST_NAME should be used, but not both. The FULL_NAME string will be split into first and last names.
  • (LABEL) value is optional
  • #START# and #END# markers are required only for multi-line values (such as address or text field)
  • Group IDs can be found in Contacts > Categories and groups > Edit category > Show group IDs
  • If REMOVE_THIS_BLOCK is set to Yes, all text between and including ### BEGIN CREATE CONTACT ### and ### END CREATE CONTACT ### will be removed from email body.
  • The option to {Overwrite/Update/Cancel} pertains to the situations when contact with a given email already exists in the department database.
  • The following fields can be used in MATCH_BY: contact_id, email, first_name, last_name, job_title, company. If the fields listed in MATCH_BY match an existing contact, it will be updated. Otherwise, a new contact will be created. If MATCH_BY fields aren't specified, the default match by email only will be used.

Example:

### BEGIN CREATE CONTACT ###
API_KEY: c394dr5723te9f874qbb923dl8345
EMAIL: james.bond@mi6.gov.uk
FULL_NAME: James Bond
JOB_TITLE: Agent
COMPANY: Secret Intelligence Service
CONTACT_COMMENTS: Licensed to kill
PHONE(work): +44 347928374289
WEBSITE(work): www.mi6.gov.uk
MESSENGER(Skype): jamesbond
FAX: +44 384573957345
ADDRESS:#START#
PO Box 1300
London SE1 1BD
United Kingdom
#END#
TEXT(customer comments):#START#
That's pretty potent. Not the cork. Your after-shave.
Strong enough to bury anything. But the wine is quite
excellent. Although for such a grand meal, I would have
expected a claret.
#END#
Billing info|PHONE(billing): +44 90281465543
GROUPS: 12538044
OPTIONS: update
MATCH_BY: email, first_name, last_name
REMOVE_THIS_BLOCK: No
### END CREATE CONTACT ###

Can I associate shared files with a particular contact?

Yes. Click on New Activity within a contact, then on the 'upload file' link. The file will be associated with a contact as an activity stream line-item, arranged in chronological order.

How do I assign contacts to groups?

There are two ways to assign contacts to groups.

  1. List of contacts. 'Assign to groups' button > Check boxes > click 'Assign' button
  2. Individual contacts. Select a Contact > 'Groups' tab > Check boxes > click 'Save' groups
    button

How do I send a mass email to a contact group?

To send an email to a group of contacts, go to that group and click 'Mail to group' button.

Mail to group

What are contact categories and groups?

Relenta allows you to create custom contact groups combined into categories. Each category can contain any number of contact groups as in the following example:

Category: Personality type

  • Group: Choleric
  • Group: Sanguinic
  • Group: Phlegmatic
  • Group: Melancholic

You can also categorize contacts using custom contact fields.

Below is a hypothetical example of how you can use contact categories and groups to segment your contact database:

Level of interest

  • Hot
  • Warm
  • Cold
  • Closed
  • Dead

Contact source

  • Website contact form
  • Trade show
  • Phone inquiry
  • Cold calling
  • Direct mail
  • Print ads
  • Referral

Preferred contact

  • Email
  • Phone

Status

  • Potential Client
  • Current Client
  • Occassional Client
  • Previous Client


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