Before you start
Export the collection from Swops (Export contacts to a CSV file) and prepare the file as described in Prepare your Swops export for a CRM. Splitting Name matters here: Salesforce requires a Last Name, and leads also need a Company. Decide where the people you met belong. Most teams bring trade-show contacts in as leads; if you skip leads, import them as contacts and accounts. You need the Import Leads permission for leads, or Import Personal Contacts for contacts and accounts you own. The wizard maps to fields that exist; it does not create them, so ask your admin to add any custom fields first (for example LinkedIn, or Priority on contacts).
Import as leads
From Setup, type Data Import Wizard in the Quick Find box, select Data Import Wizard, then Launch Wizard. Some orgs also show it in the Tools list on the Leads home page.
Under Standard Objects, choose Leads.
Choose Add new records, or Add new and update existing records if some of these people may already be leads.
Set Match Lead by to Email. If you like, use Assign New Leads to this Source to give the whole import a lead source, such as Trade Show if your list has it.
Drag your CSV onto the upload area. Set the character code to UTF-8, because Swops files are UTF-8 and accented names can come out garbled otherwise. Choose Comma as the value separator and click Next.
Check the mapping. The wizard maps every column it recognises. Click Map next to an unmapped column, choose the Salesforce field and click Map; click Change to correct one. Columns left unmapped are not imported.
Click Next, check the summary and click Start Import.
Follow progress in Recent Import Jobs on the wizard’s home page. You also get an email when the import has finished.
Import as contacts and accounts instead
Follow the same steps, but choose Accounts and Contacts in step 2. Set Match Contact by to Email and Match Account by to name and site. The wizard creates one account per company name, or uses a matching account you can edit, and links each contact to it. Columns you do not map to a field can go into a general Contact Note: choose it in the Map To list.
Which column goes where
| Swops column | Lead field | Contact or account field |
|---|---|---|
| First name, Last name | First Name, Last Name | First Name, Last Name |
| Name (the original column) | Leave unmapped | Leave unmapped |
| Company | Company | Account Name |
| Role | Title | Title |
| Phone | Phone | Phone |
| Mobile | Mobile | Mobile |
| Website | Website | Account Website |
| A custom URL field | A custom URL field | |
| Address | Street | Mailing Street |
| Country | Country | Mailing Country |
| Priority | Rating (Hot, Warm, Cold) | A custom picklist |
| Notes | Description | Description |
| Business analysis, In more depth | A custom long text field, or leave unmapped | Contact Note, or leave unmapped |
| Collection | The lead source in step 4, or a campaign | A custom field, or a campaign |
| Captured, Research date | Leave unmapped, or a custom date field | Leave unmapped |
Good to know
- Unrated. Rating offers Hot, Warm and Cold. Clear the Unrated cells before importing: a value a picklist does not know is either kept, replaced by the default or refused, depending on how the field is set up.
- Matching. Email matching needs the exact address. Matching by name is case-sensitive, so email is the safer choice.
- Campaigns. If you track events as campaigns, you can import straight into one: open the campaign and use Manage Members > Add Members - Import File. This needs the Marketing User setting and a Professional Edition or higher.
- Simple import. Some Lightning orgs also offer a simpler import from the Contacts or Leads list. It accepts UTF-8 files only, which suits the Swops file, but it only creates new records.
- Status page. Admins can also follow imports in Setup under Bulk Data Load Jobs (not in Professional Edition).
- No Map button? Zoom your browser out; the button can fall off the edge of the page.
- No undo. Salesforce’s guide has no undo step for the wizard, so import two or three test rows first.
Checked against Salesforce’s help pages in October 2026: Import Data with the Data Import Wizard, Import Limits, What Is Imported for Leads?, What Is Imported for Business Accounts and Contacts? and Contact and Lead Imports. Menus change from time to time; if a step looks different, follow Salesforce’s own import guide.