Import from another CRM
Bring your clients, leads, invoices and payments into Hailo from your old CRM, step by step, from the Settings page or during onboarding.
Hailo can read the export from your old CRM and turn it into clients, leads, invoices and payments, so you start full rather than empty. There are two ways in: the Import from another CRM page under Settings, and the Import step of the onboarding wizard. Both accept CSV, Excel, PDF or a screenshot.
Do the import once, early. Everything you type into Hailo afterwards attaches to the couples the import created.
Before you start
- Read Which CRMs Hailo imports and export the files it lists for your tool.
- Keep each file under 5,000 rows and each upload under 32 MB. See Import limits and fixes.
- If your tool has no export, a spreadsheet you keep by hand works, and so does a screenshot of a list.
Import from Settings
Pick your tool
- Go to Settings > Import from another CRM.
- Click the card for your old CRM. A small dot on a card means "One-click CSV import"; the legend below the grid reads "One-click CSV import. The rest are guided, with exact export steps."
- If your tool is not listed, click Spreadsheet / Other.
Export from your old CRM
The page for your tool is titled Import from followed by its name. Section 1 Export from … lists the exact clicks to make in your old tool, and a box titled What won't come across lists what that tool does not export. Follow the steps and download the files.
Upload your files
Section 2 Upload your files has three drop zones:
| Drop zone | What to drop |
|---|---|
| Clients / contacts | Your clients or jobs export. Required |
| Invoices & payments (optional) | Your transactions, invoices or payments export |
| Contracts & quotes (optional) | Signed contracts or quotes as PDF or images. Hailo rebuilds the proposal and deliverables for that couple |
Each zone accepts CSV, Excel (.xlsx, .xlsm), PDF and images, and you can drop several files on one zone. A line under the zones offers Hailo's own templates, clients.csv and invoices-payments.csv, if you would rather fill a sheet by hand.
Click Have Hailo sort it. Hailo reads each file, matches its columns to Hailo's fields and builds a preview. Nothing is written yet.
Review & import
Section 3 Review & import shows two mapping grids, Clients file and Invoices / payments file. Each row is one of your columns with a dropdown for the Hailo field it maps to. Hailo fills these in for you; change any that look wrong and click Re-check after mapping change to rebuild the preview.
Below the grids, the preview totals how many clients, leads, invoices and payments will be created, and lists any rows Hailo had to skip with Download the skipped list so you can fix and re-import them.
Click Run import. The button reads "Importing…" and a progress line moves while Hailo writes the records. Section ✓ Imported then shows tiles such as Clients added and Clients updated.
Import during onboarding
The onboarding wizard's Import step runs the same import in a guided loop. Choose Import my clients & payments (pick your tool first), Have Hailo sort it for me (drop anything, no tool needed) or Type it in.
Which tool are you coming from?
"Pick your old CRM. Hailo reads its export and matches the columns for you." Click a card. Other / a spreadsheet is the last one.
Drop your export
One screen per file your tool exports. The line under the heading reads "CSV, Excel, PDF, or even a screenshot. Hailo matches the columns for you." A card titled How to export from your tool lists the clicks, and a fold titled What won't come over lists the gaps.
- Drop the file or click the zone. When a file is ready the hint reads "File ready. Tap Next to go on." (or "Continue" on the last file).
- Have no file for this step? Click Skip this file. The hint reads "Don't have this one? Skip to the next." or, on the last file, "Don't have it? Skip. You can always add it later."
- Back returns to the previous screen.
Reading your leads and clients…
The heading itself is the progress: Reading your leads and clients… with a bar that reads your clients file, then your payments file ("Reading your clients…", "Reading your payments…"), then "Matching couples…". There is no Back button while this runs; wait for it to finish.
The result appears under two tabs, Clients and Leads, with a Show all leads toggle when the list is long. Each couple has a pencil that opens an inline editor with Wedding date, Balance due, Total ($), Collected so far ($), Deliverables chips, a field to add a deliverable, and a drop zone for that couple's contract. Save or Cancel.
Click Import & finish to write everything, or go on to the contracts screen.
Any contracts or quotes?
"Drop a signed contract or quote and Hailo rebuilds the proposal and deliverables for that couple. Nothing handy? Skip." Drop PDFs or images, then Skip or continue.
Add your weddings (typed entry)
If you chose Type it in, the heading is Add your weddings: "Enter each job: couple, money, due dates, deliverables. Add as many as you have, then review them all together."
| Field | Notes |
|---|---|
| Couple | Placeholder "e.g. Maya & Liam" |
| Placeholder "couple@email.com" | |
| Wedding date | A date |
| Total ($) | Contract value |
| Deposit collected ($) | What they have paid |
| Balance due | The date the rest is due |
| Deliverables | Chips: Teaser, 8-10 min Highlight, Ceremony film, Speeches film, Dances film, Documentary edit |
| Add another deliverable (optional) | Free text, for example a drone reel |
Click Save & add another to stack the wedding and clear the form, or Review weddings (it counts them, for example "Review 3 weddings") to move on. Saved weddings list below the form with a × to remove one.
Review what we found
"Everything below lands in Hailo. Anything flagged is missing a detail. Go back to fix it, or import as-is."
Couples are grouped under Clients (booked, with money on record) and Leads (no payment yet, filed as prospects). If Hailo guessed wrong, click Move to leads or Move to clients on the card. Cards missing a detail are flagged with How to fix.
If some couples need a detail, the screen says how many and offers two buttons: Keep building it out (answer the questions now) and Finish for now (import as-is). When nothing is missing the button reads Import & finish.
A few quick questions
The gap interview: "Hailo couldn't find everything for these couples. Fill what you know. Skip the rest." One couple per screen with only the fields that are missing (Wedding date, Total ($), Collected so far ($), When is the balance due?, Deliverables). Click Save & next, Save & review on the last one, or Skip this one. Back to review returns to the review screen.
Commit
Import & finish writes the records and moves you to the next onboarding step. A progress bar shows real work as each file is written. If you skipped every file and every contract there is nothing to import, and the wizard moves on.
After the import
- Open Manage > Clients and check names, dates and totals against your old tool.
- Open Leads for the couples filed as prospects.
- Open Finance > Invoices to check balances.
- Anything a tool could not export (venue, package, deliverables) can be added on each record.
Old inquiry dates are kept, so a lead from two years ago imports as a two-year-old lead and does not crowd your active pipeline.
If it didn't work
"Couldn't read those files. Check the columns and try again." A file has no header row or no recognisable columns. Open it, make sure the first row is column names, and re-upload. Hailo's templates show the shape.
"Couldn't read that file." or "That file was empty." The Excel, PDF or image could not be read. Re-export it, or save a CSV instead.
"Couldn't read a booking from that file." The contract or quote you dropped did not contain a couple, date or amount Hailo could find. Add the details on the couple's card instead.
A column mapped to the wrong field. Change it in the mapping grid and click Re-check after mapping change.
The import stopped partway. See Import limits and fixes. Re-running is safe; nothing is written twice.