Link and Associate People to Companies

In the Associate app, select the CRM database and the record type in the top menu. Then explore the default templates for a pre-built solution.

Each row in Step 1 is for a field you want to look at to determine whether to include or exclude a record from this task. With this filter, you're telling Insycle what records you would like to update. 

In the below example, contacts that do not have an Associated Company ID but do have a Company Name, will be included in the results.

When you click Search, Insycle will list records in the Record Viewer at the bottom of the page. If you make changes to the filter, you need to click the Search button again to refresh the viewer.

Under Step 2, set up the rules that tell Incycle what records to use, fields to look at, and what criteria the values must meet in order to consider them a match for creating the relationship: 

1. Action tells Insycle what to do to the records that surfaced in Step 1. All CRMs allow you to Add or Remove associations. Additionally for Hubspot, you can use the Replace action to remove existing associations and create new ones.
2. Association specifies the type of record you want to create the relationship with. In the example above, contacts will be associated to companies.
3. Hubspot users will see a Labels field which is used to name or categorize the relationship. You can add, remove, or set multiple labels in one action.
4. Click the Companies Filter button to narrow the target records down to those that would be a good fit for this relationship.
   In the Company Filter popup you could, for example, add the "Company Name" field and set the Condition "exists." This tells Insycle to only consider companies for association if the Company Name field has a value in the database.
   Click Search to apply the filter and close the popup. Note that the company filter will not update the results in the Record Viewer, only in your final Review steps.
5. Click the Selection button to define rules for picking the company if there are multiple matches found.
   
6. Select the Contacts Field you want to try and match with the company record. In the example above, the Company Name from the contact record will be used. 
7. Select the Companies Field with the value that should match the contact field. In the example above, the Company Name field will be used for both the contact and company. The two matching fields are often the same for both record types.
8. The Comparison Rule tells Insycle whether the values between the contact and company records must be an Exact Match or Similar Match. In most cases, you'd select Exact Match, but you can learn more about these Comparison Rules in the Pro Tip below.
9. In the Ignored field, you can specify parts of a field value to ignore, such as specific text, whitespace, or characters. In the dropdown, check the box for the values you'd like to ignore. In the example, the Ignore rule tells Insycle to ignore a list of Common Terms that may appear in the Company Name field, such as "LLC," "Inc." or "Co." This is often a necessary field for matching companies. To view or alter the list of Common Terms, click the Terms button at the bottom of the step.
10. The Match Parts field tells Insycle whether to match the entire field or just part of it—such as the first or last few words, or first and last characters.
11. If no matching company is found, an association will not be created. In these cases, you can choose to automatically create a new company record based on what is in the contact record. Check the Create new companies when no matching is found box to enable. There are a couple of things to note when using this setting:
    • This feature only works when associating contacts to companies, not companies to contacts.
    • When using the "Exact Match" Comparison Rule, the "Create new..." setting could potentially create duplicates, so you should be thoughtful with the Matching Field and Comparison Rule that you use.
12. The Ignored "Common Terms" can be edited using the Terms button.
13. Check the Count unmatched Contacts records as Failed box to flag unmatched contacts as "Failed" on the Result popup and in the CSV report. When left unchecked, unmatched records are counted as "Unmodified."

After setting the association rules in Step 2, you can create rules to copy values between the records. If one record type consistently has values that would be helpful in the associated record, you can execute that copy in bulk.

Under Step 3, select the field from the source record type (in this example, contact), and the relevant field on the target records (Companies). You can choose to copy values from the source record to the target, or target record to the source.

The Copy Rule gives you three options: 

• Only when [the record you're linking to] field is empty
• Only when [the record you're linking from] field is not empty
• Always copy

The preview CSV will include these fields, and specify if the value was copied for each record.

Preview Changes in a CSV Report

Now with the filters and association/linking actions in place, you can preview the changes you are making to your data. That way, you can check to ensure the relationships are being created as expected before those changes are made in your live database. 

First, under Step 4, click the Review button.

In the Bulk Associate popup, select Preview and click Next.

On the Notify tab, add any additional recipients who should receive the CSV (and make sure to hit Enter after each address). You can add colleagues and additional context here.

On the When tab, click the Run Now tab and select which records to apply the change to (in most cases this will be All), then click the Run Now button.

Open the CSV file from your email in a spreadsheet application and review the columns. For each contact record that didn't already have an Associated Company ID value, Insycle tried to match it with a company record using the Company Name values. 

Each row in the CSV includes the Result of the association and a Message with details, the contact info, the associated company info, and if configured, the result of the copy operation. 

Apply Changes to the CRM

If everything in your CSV preview looks correct, return to Insycle and move forward with applying the changes to the live CRM data.

Under Step 4, click the Review button. This time, select Update mode. 

On the When tab, click Run Now, select which records to apply the change to (in most cases, this will be All), and then click the Run Now button.

Save Templates and Setup Automation to Maintain Formatting

After you've seen the results in the CRM and you are satisfied with how the operation runs, you can save all of the configurations as a template and set up automation so this association operation runs on a set schedule. 

By automating with a template, you'll save time and ensure that your records are consistently associated on an ongoing basis.

In Step 2, the Comparison Rule defines what kind of likeness to look for when deciding if field values should be considered a match for association.

It's a good idea to start with Exact Match for the straightforward matches, then use Similar Match to broaden the search and look for edge cases.

Exact Match looks for values that match exactly, with no differences from one record to the next. Any unique identifying fields should use Exact Match. This is usually your best bet when looking for associations.

Similar Match looks for values that may be close but with a one-character difference (like a typo, extra character, or missing character) and broadens the search. This search behaves like when Google shows results for a slightly different term or says “Did you mean...”

For example, if a Company Name of, “Acme” is found, it could include records with the Company Name values, “Akme," "acm," or "Acma,” as matches.

Similar Match uses looser criteria that cast a wider net for what can be considered matches. Make sure to carefully review the results to ensure the relationships being created are what you're expecting.

 If using ID fields to match, note that they will only work with Exact Match, not Similar Match.

You can specify more than one matching field when making associations in the Associate app. 

For example, maybe you want to compare a contact's Website Domain against a Company's Website, along with any listed in the Additional Domains field. 

To do this, under Step 2, select the Advanced Tab from the sub-menu. There, you'll be able to add Related Match Fields to catch more associations. 

It can take a while for Insycle to find and match records if the fields being used to identify the relationship have very long values. The longer the values the longer it takes Insycle to process the data and generate the results. This might come up when using links with long ID numbers, LinkedIn bios, or other URLs with long strings (ex, https://www.linkedin.com/in/svadin%C3%ADr-n%C4%9Bmec-1234b31a3/).

If the end of the values are all unique, you can try and speed this up by using the Match Parts parameter under Step 2, which will limit the comparison to the last several characters.

Or use the Ignore Text (Substrings) parameter, and click the Terms button.

On the Ignored Text tab of the popup, add the common portion of the URL or text string.

Select the CSV File for Import

Navigate to Data Management > Magical Import. Select the database and the record type in the top menu. Then choose the CSV file that you would like to import.

Uploading a file into Insycle does not automatically import it into the CRM. Instead, you can prepare the data in a variety of ways before actually importing it into the CRM.

The Preview panel will open and load the CSV rows, with a column for each field. 

Select a Template

Explore the templates to see if there's already something set up for your particular import task.

Magical Import templates load configurations that will affect the Data Mapping, Preparation, Validation, and Operations settings. When settings are loaded from a template, a blue number indicates where settings are applied.

AI-Powered Automatic Mapping

If you have AI enabled for your object type with at least "Meta" access, Insycle automatically uses AI to analyze your CSV column names, suggesting CRM mappings and matching criteria. This happens after loading your CSV.

The AI only accesses metadata, not actual record data.

Review and Adjust Field Mappings

If AI is enabled, the Data Mapping section will automatically expand after processing your CSV. If AI is not enabled, click the Data Mapping heading to expand the section manually.

Insycle automatically detects the matching CRM fields and maps them for you. The second row shows the mapped CRM field names.

If your CSV contains fields that are not matched to your CRM, a red warning icon will show at the top of the column. These unmapped fields must be manually mapped by clicking the Not Mapped dropdown and selecting the corresponding CRM field. If they remain unmapped, they will not be imported.

To remove columns from the import, hover over the name and click the “X”.

If there are issues with any row data, a red warning icon will be displayed on the left side of the row. When you hover over the icon, an explanation of the error will be displayed. Records with errors will not be imported. Learn about various issues in the Troubleshooting: Seeing a red warning icon in the Preview section below.

Specify How to Import Values for Each Column

Next, tell Insycle how to handle data for each field by selecting the Import Mode for each column—update existing records, create new ones, or perform both actions based on your CRM data.

There are four Import Modes:

• Update: Import CSV values into your CRM, overwriting existing CRM values (will skip empty CSV values).
• Fill: Import CSV values only when there is no existing value in your CRM (will not overwrite existing CRM values).
• Overwrite: Import CSV values, including empty CSV values, into your CRM (will overwrite existing CRM values).
• Append: Add CSV values to existing values in your CRM. For example, append notes from a CSV to existing notes or add values on multi-select fields (checkboxes or picklists).

Review and Confirm Fields for Matching CSV Rows to CRM Records

If AI is enabled, it will suggest Matching Criteria based on your CSV columns and CRM fields. Review these suggestions, as Matching Criteria determine how Insycle compares your CSV data with CRM records to find matches.

Matching Criteria are unique identifiers like email, phone, address, or ID number, which typically belong to one entity. For example, a different person shouldn't have Maria Smith's email or ID in their record. If a record matches any of these fields, it's recognized as Maria Smith.

You can modify AI suggestions or select the Matching Field manually. Multiple matching rules can be set and evaluated in order from top to bottom, allowing multi-criteria matching.

When you configure your Matching Criteria rules, the Preview will refresh, and you'll be able to see which records are already in your CRM. The records that Insycle found will become blue links that will open the record in your CRM.

Validating AI Suggestions

While AI can provide an excellent starting point for column mapping and Matching Criteria, always verify that the suggestions are the best option for your specific use case and data quality standards.

In addition to creating associations, you can take advantage of the many other tools and features available to manipulate your CSV data before importing it into your CRM. Learn more about using these features in the Magical Import Module Overview.

Format and Clean Up Data Before Importing

Make formatting changes and other standardization updates to the CSV data in Insycle before uploading it to your CRM. Discover how to transform your data during the import process.

Exclude Data That Doesn’t Meet Validation Criteria

Use Data Validation to filter out records that don't meet your quality standards, or to target a segment before importing them into your CRM.

Make Bulk Updates to CRM Records 

Use Bulk Update to modify other data in your CRM. You can add a value to CRM fields even if you don't have the field in the CSV. This will add the same value for all the imported records.

Set Date Formats

You can override Insycle's automatic date standardization under Data Mapping using the Date Format tab. 

Make Individual Edits in Preview

You can also make one-off changes to values directly in the Preview. Hover over a value and click the pencil icon.

Click the Data Operations heading to expand the section, then click the Associate tab. 

Configure the rules that will create the relationship between the two record types: 

1. Select the Action to take. You can Add, Remove, or Replace associations. Additionally, for Hubspot, you can use the Replace action to remove existing associations and create new ones.
2. Click the Associate field and select the type of object you want to create the relationship with. You can associate objects of different types, such as contacts with companies, or objects of the same type, such as deals with deals.
3. Hubspot users will see a Labels field, which is used to name or categorize the relationship. 
4. In the CSV Column field, select the field from your CSV to identify matches.  If you were associating contacts to companies, for example, you could choose the “Company” or “Company Name” field from your CSV import.
5. On the Match Field, select the field in your CRM that should match your CSV value. For example, if you are using the “Company” field from the CSV, you'd want to match that to the “Company” or “Company Name” field in your database.
6. Additionally, you have the option to create a new record in your CRM when there is no match automatically found by Insycle by checking the Create when no matching is found box.

Select CSV Rows for the Operation

By default, Insycle will perform your chosen action on all of your CSV data. If you only want to process a few records, return to the table under Preview and check the boxes beside the selected records. Leave the checkboxes blank to import all of the records.

Configure the Import

At the bottom of the Magical Import page, select the Records Mode to instruct Insycle on how to handle the imported data during the import process.

• Update existing and create net new – If Insycle is unable to find a corresponding record, a new record will be created in your CRM.
• Only update existing – If a corresponding record is found, it will be updated with the data from your CSV import. Records that are not matched with an existing CRM record will not be imported.
• Only create net new – Only records that can not be matched with an existing record in your database will be imported. Records that already exist in your CRM will not be updated.

When you click the Import [X] Contacts button, you'll be prompted to confirm.

After the import runs, the Import Result breaks down the import information—how many records you tried to import and how many succeeded, failed, were updated, deleted, or unmodified. Click the Run ID to open a CSV record of the import.

Insycle will generate a CSV report of these changes and email it to you. If you open the CSV file, you can look at the Result column to see how each row of your import was handled.

The Result column may show:

• Created - A new record was created in your CRM
• Updated - An existing record was found and updated with data from the CSV
• Failed - If there is an issue, the Message field will give you details so you can troubleshoot

You can also see the (Before) and (After Update) values side-by-side for each field in your import.

If you see any "Failed" Results, review the Message to understand the issue and determine steps to resolve. You can also revisit any warnings shown in the Preview.

After you've seen the results in your CRM and you are satisfied with how the operation runs, you can save all of the configurations as a template to reproduce the same formatting operation in the future.

Insycle uses Matching Criteria to compare your CSV to your database. Matching Criteria must be "unique identifiers." These are data points that could only belong to a single entity—such as email addresses, phone numbers, street addresses, or ID numbers.

Additionally, when using an email field, Insycle will automatically cross-reference any additional email fields in the records for a match. If using a domain field, Insycle will check additional domain fields. 

When you configure your Matching Criteria rules, the Preview will refresh, allowing you to see which records are already in your CRM. The records that Insycle found will become blue links that will open the record in the database.

If AI is enabled for your object type, many warning icons may automatically disappear after the initial CSV processing. Remaining warning icons indicate issues that still need your attention.

If there are issues with a CSV row, a red warning icon will appear at the left end of the row and next to the relevant field in the Preview. Rows with errors will not be imported.

To learn what the problem is and determine steps to resolve it, hover over the red exclamation mark—an explanation of the error will display.

Several common reasons for the warning icon include:

• Your validation rules
• Several records match your criteria
• Invalid picklist values
• Invalid reference values
• Unmapped columns

Your validation rules. A row will show warnings and be excluded from the operation based on your validation rules. The warning info will list which rules apply to the row.

There are several records in your CRM that match. If multiple records have the same Matching Criteria, Insysle identifies these as matching records in your CRM.

If there should be only one record with this value, you may need to first merge duplicates and then try importing again.

If there are legitimate reasons for a Matching Field value to exist in more than one record, try adding additional Matching Criteria to make it more specific.

Invalid reference values. If a column is mapped to a CRM field that references other data, such as owners or associated record IDs, and no match is found, an error will appear.

Invalid picklist values. If a CRM field includes dropdown options and the data in your CSV does not match, you'll see an "Invalid picklist value" error. This value needs to be changed to match the dropdown options in your CRM.

To quickly fix the import data directly in the Preview, hover over a value and click the pencil icon.

Once you've selected your Matching Criteria, filter options will become available in the Preview. You can use the Show Only Warning Rows filter to view only rows with warnings.

When Insycle detects multiple potential matches for a single record during association, it marks those records as 'Failed' in the CSV report to prevent incorrect links. You will also see a Message similar to "Multiple target matches (x)..." or "Multiple source matches..." 

For example, if you were associating contacts with companies, and Insycle found ten company records named "Microsoft," it wouldn't know which Microsoft to establish the relationship with, so this would fail.

There are a few options for resolving this issue:

Merge duplicates: If there shouldn't be multiples of these records, you should first go through the process of merging duplicates before trying to create the relationships.

Add parameters to be more specific in the Associate app: If there are supposed to be multiple similar but distinct records, there are several features in Step 2 of the Associate app that you can use to refine the criteria:

1. Add a second field. A record would have to match both field values to be considered appropriate for making the relationship.
2. Use the filter. This will narrow the set of records to be associated.
   
   For example, in the filter popup, you can add the "Company name" field and set the parameters to "contains" and "HQ." This tells Insycle to only consider companies for association if the Company Name value includes the term "HQ."
   
3. Add Selection rules. In cases where there are multiple target records that could match, you can add Selection rules to choose the appropriate record.
   
   When you add multiple selection rules, the criteria are evaluated sequentially, one at a time. If a record meets the first criterion, the remaining rules do not affect the selection. The first record that matches is considered the appropriate match, and no further criteria are checked.
   For example, you can create rules in the selection pop-up to choose the record where the Lifecycle Stage is 'Customer'; if there is no single match, then select the record with the most associated deals, and so on.
   
4. Add a Condition field. Add a Condition to your second matching rule to create more specific criteria. For example, to remove contact-to-company associations where the contact's country doesn't match the company's country, add a condition that Country/Region must not match.
   

An "Unmodified" Result with the Message "Unmodified, no matching record found (use 'Grid Edit' to troubleshoot)" result occurs when there aren’t any records that meet your matching specifications.

You can examine the data in the unmatched records and troubleshoot using the Grid Edit module. Look at different fields and values to identify why your associate setup didn’t work for the record. Then decide what match options could work or if some cleanup is needed.

Learn more about reviewing your data using the Grid Edit module.

When using the Associate app, you have the option under Step 2 to Count unmatched records as Failed. When checked, any record where there is no match to create the association will be counted as “Failed.” This will be reflected by a "Failed" Result with the Message "No matching record found (use 'Grid Edit' to troubleshoot)" message in the CSV report.

You can examine the data in the unmatched records and troubleshoot using the Grid Edit module. Look at different fields and values to identify why your associate setup didn’t work for the record. Then decide what match options could work or if some cleanup is needed.

Learn more about reviewing your data using the Grid Edit module.

Bulk associations require that you have a field that you can use to match the two records. For instance, you might select "Company" for contact records, and "Company Name" for company records. You then use these two fields to associate the two records.

But what do you do if you have no obvious matching field between the two record types that you would like to associate?

This is a fairly common scenario. For example, maybe you would like to associate contacts not only with the company that they work for but with the parent company as well. In this scenario, it is not very likely that you capture the parent company on the contact record, which means that you may have no field to use to match the association. As a result, you'll need to create a custom field for contacts and companies, such as "Custom Parent Company." Ideally, if child companies are already associated with parent companies, you'll be able to pull this data from your company records and populate both custom fields using your CRM's automation features.

Then, you can use the Custom Parent Company field for both contacts and companies to make the match.

The key is finding a data point that allows you to match the associations, even if it is only available for one record type. Then, you create the custom matching fields that allow you to make the associations.

You can use any field in your database to create relationships between records, you just need to figure out which field in each record type will have the same value. For instance, you might select "Company" for contact records, and "Company Name" for company records. Or you could use "Email Domain" on the contact, and "Website Domain" on the company.

Commonly used fields for linking include company names, company domains, and company URLs.

Yes, you can associate record types in either direction.

Though making relationships will work in both directions, consider that contacts to companies is the standard direction, and some features (such as the "If Company is Not Found Create New Company" feature) are only designed to work when contacts are being associated to companies.

In some cases, such as creating relationships with custom objects or child and parent companies, the direction may be important.

Yes, Insycle can help manage parent-child associations. For more information, see the Associate or Link Parent-Child Companies article.

Yes. If no matching record is found, you can choose to automatically create a new record based on what is in the source record. The option is located in a different place in each module.

Associate App

In the Associate app, under Step 2 on the Simple tab, check the Create new [record] when no matching is found box to enable, then select one or more fields to use for naming the new company.

Magical Import Module

In the Magical Import module under Data Operations, check the Create when no matching is found checkbox to enable.

No, Insycle does not currently support accessing, updating, or associating activities.