Siebel Marketing User Guide > List Management > Importing and Managing External Lists >

Importing External Lists

Lists that you import must be in text (.txt) format. When you import a list, List Management performs the following tasks:

• Loads the list names into the prospects table as individual records.
• Allows you to set the Matching Approach and Match Resolution values so that matches between incoming names and existing records can be handled according to your requirements.
• Allows you to save and reuse the file structure you develop during the import process by mapping the columns of the file.
• Controls the matching and address cleansing settings applied by Siebel Data Quality (optional module).

When the import is finished, the imported list and its associated contacts and prospects display in the List Contacts and Prospects list.

Before you can import an external list, you need to perform the following tasks:

• Creating a Record for Importing an External List
• Selecting Matching Approach and Match Resolution
• Mapping External List Columns to Database Columns

Creating a Record for Importing an External List

Before you import an external list, you must create a record in your Siebel application that describes the list. This record tells the list import utility what file to import.

To create a record for importing an external list

1. Navigate to the List Management screen > Lists view.
2. In the Lists list, create a new record and complete the fields.

   Some fields are described in Table 25.

3. Save the record.

Selecting Matching Approach and Match Resolution

You need to specify how you want duplicates handled before importing a list. If Siebel Data Quality is not installed or enabled, you can elect to the use the exact match matching approach. If Data Quality is enabled, you can use Data Quality (intelligent matching) as the only matching approach or you can use Data Quality in conjunction with exact matching. For more information, see Siebel Data Quality Administration Guide. You can choose one of the following match resolutions:

• Reject Import Record Mode. In this mode, if a match is detected by the matching process, any incoming records matching existing contacts or prospects will not be added as new records in the database. Instead, the matching record which already exists in the database will be associated with the list. Each skipped record is recorded in the List Import log file for reference.
• Overwrite Existing Record Mode. In this mode, if a match is detected by the matching process, any incoming records can overwrite the existing match in the database. The columns that are allowed to be overwritten are set by the administrator for the List Import Format used by the file. To set which fields will be updated by an incoming record, navigate to the List Import Formats view in the List Management screen and select the Allow Field Updates check box. For reference, the List Import log file records all records that are updated as well as the old and new values for any updated fields.

  If you use Overwrite Existing Record as the matching approach and an imported field value does not match any value on the bounded LOV, then the application will not change the field on the existing prospect record (the original value is preserved).

  NOTE:  Update Existing Duplicates Mode only updates prospect records. It will not update contact records.

• Create Additional Record Mode. In this mode, matches are detected but the incoming record is added to the database as new prospect without changing or overwriting the preexisting record. This mode allows the administrator to resolve any matches later on a case-by-case basis or by using the Siebel Data Quality module. To resolve duplicates, you can use the Duplicate Prospect Resolution view tab in the Data Quality view of the Data Administration screen. In resolve mode, all matches are recorded in the list import log file.

NOTE:  If the matching process detects a matching contact, the match results will not appear in the Data Quality resolution views. This process can only display matching prospects for resolution.

To select a matching approach

1. Navigate to the List Management screen > Lists view.
2. In the Lists list, select your list.

   Some fields are described in Table 26.

3. Drill down on the list name.
4. Click the List Import view tab.
5. Select the Matching Approach to indicate what method of matching you want.

   The choices are:

   • Exact Matching Only. This option uses the fields marked as Exact Match Fields in the List Import Format and queries for any existing contacts or prospects that exactly match the values from the incoming record.
   • Intelligent Matching Only. This option uses the data quality matching service to search for matching contacts or prospects.
   • Exact and Intelligent Match. This option uses both exact matching and data quality matching. The option first searches for an exact match in the existing contacts and prospects, and then uses intelligent matching to search for matches if no exact match is found.
   • No matching. This option disables matching for the import job.
6. In the Match Resolution drop-down list, select the action that you want to apply.

   For more details, see Selecting Matching Approach and Match Resolution.

Mapping External List Columns to Database Columns

Every column in the file you want to import must be mapped to an existing column in the prospects table in the Siebel Database or to an attribute created for this purpose. If you import response or campaign data, you can also map to response and campaign fields. For information about mapping attributes, see Adding Additional Attributes to a List.

CAUTION:  Make sure that you map every column before launching the import.

To map list columns to database columns in the prospect table

1. Navigate to the List Management screen > Lists view.
2. Drill down on the list name.
3. Click the List Import view tab.
4. Scroll down to the List Import Format list and map every column to an existing database column in the prospect table or to an attribute created for this purpose.
5. In the List Import Format list, save the format in one of the following ways:
   1. The first time you save a format, click Save as New.

      Save as New allows you to retain the original format and save the modified format separately. All saved formats appear in the List Management screen's List Imports Formats view tab.

   2. Click Save to overwrite the original format.

      Use this save option if you make changes to the mappings and want to preserve them.

6. After you save the List Import Format, perform the following steps to verify the columns that will be used for matching and update.
   1. In the form in the List Import view, copy the name of the List Import Format in the List Import Format field.
   2. In the List Management link bar, click List Import Formats.
   3. Query for the name that you copied in the List Import view.
   4. In the lower list, you will see the columns that you mapped from the import file.
   5. In the Exact Match Column field, check each column from the list that you want to use for the exact match.

      NOTE:  These settings are only used when you have selected Exact match or Exact and intelligent match as the matching approach.

   6. In the Allow Field Updates field, check any fields that you want to allow to be overwritten when using the Overwrite existing record match resolution.