Importing Data from Your CRM: A Seamless Integration with Clay

Importing data from your CRM into Clay is a crucial step in streamlining your workflows. Whether you're working with Salesforce, HubSpot, Close, or another CRM, Clay allows you to seamlessly pull in key records for enrichment, segmentation, and automation.

In this lesson, we’ll walk through the CRM import process, best practices, and key considerations when bringing data into Clay.

How It Works: Hubspot CRM Import 

Using HubSpot as an example, here’s how the CRM import works in Clay: 

1. Click on the “Actions” dropdown in the top right of your table
2. Select “Import”
3. Click “Import Contacts from HubSpot” 
4. Authenticate into your HubSpot account
5. Search for your list name and select it
6. (Optional) Select data preferences:
   
   • Include read-only properties (helpful for non-editable fields)
   • Exclude empty properties (reduces clutter in your Clay table)
7. Click Submit and begin your import

Once your CRM data is imported into Clay, it appears in a single column with all associated values. You can extract specific data points:

• Click into a record and select the data field you need (e.g., email, company name, first name, last name).
• Extract multiple fields to separate columns for better organization and analysis.

💡Tip: One of the powerful features of Clay's import function is the ability to selectively choose which data fields to import. With access to over 370 properties from HubSpot, you can tailor your import to include precisely the information you need. For instance, you might choose to pull email addresses and company names for each contact.

Salesforce Specifics

For Salesforce users, we offer two primary import methods: importing from a Salesforce list or a Salesforce report. 

It's worth noting that when importing from a Salesforce report, you'll encounter a cap of 2,000 records per report. This limitation isn't imposed by Clay, but rather by the Salesforce API itself. To circumvent this, we recommend importing directly from Salesforce lists whenever possible, as it allows for a more comprehensive data pull.

Supercharging Your Data Strategy

By leveraging these CRM import capabilities, we're able to seamlessly bridge the gap between our existing customer data and the powerful enrichment and prospecting tools available in Clay. 

This integration forms a crucial first step in many of our data-driven workflows, setting the stage for more advanced operations like data enrichment, list building, and targeted outreach campaigns.

Remember, the key to effective data management is not just in the import itself, but in how you structure and utilize that data within your Clay workspace. 

Happy importing, and here's to supercharging your data-driven strategies!

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