If you spend your day wrangling leads and fighting your CRM, you know the drill: getting fresh, enriched lead data where you need it is never as easy as the demo made it look. If you’re using Salesbolt to collect and enrich your leads, you’re halfway there—but “exporting to CRM” can mean anything from a one-click sync to a clunky CSV import that breaks half the time. This is for salespeople, marketers, and operations folks who want a no-nonsense, step-by-step guide to getting that enriched lead data out of Salesbolt and into your CRM—with as few headaches as possible.
Before You Start: What “Enriched Data” Means (and Why It Gets Messy)
Let’s get clear: “enriched” doesn’t just mean “more data.” It means your leads have extra info—job titles, company details, social profiles, sometimes even technographic or intent data—pulled in automatically. That’s good for targeting and personalization. But it also means more fields, more places for things to go sideways, and more chances for your CRM to choke on weird formatting.
Pro tips before you export: - Decide what fields you really need in your CRM. More isn’t always better. - Double-check field mappings between Salesbolt and your CRM or you’ll end up with junk data. - Clean up duplicates and trash data in Salesbolt before you export, not after.
Step 1: Gather Your Enriched Leads in Salesbolt
First, make sure your leads are actually enriched. Salesbolt usually enriches lead data automatically when you capture leads from LinkedIn or web forms, but it never hurts to double-check.
- Review your lead list. Look for missing fields or strange data (like “N/A” for company size).
- Filter and tag. Use Salesbolt’s filters to create a list of leads that are ready to export. This saves time and keeps your CRM tidy.
- Bulk edit if needed. If you spot obvious errors (wrong job titles, outdated company names), fix them now. Garbage in, garbage out.
What to ignore
- Don’t bother exporting leads that are half-finished or missing key data. They’ll just clog up your CRM and annoy your sales team later.
- Skip “enriching” fields you’ll never use (like obscure social profiles). Focus on what your sales process actually needs.
Step 2: Map Your Fields (Don’t Skip This)
This is where most exports go off the rails. Salesbolt fields don’t always match up perfectly with your CRM’s fields. If you don’t map them right, you’ll end up with data in the wrong place—or lost altogether.
- Go to the Salesbolt export settings. Look for “Field Mapping” or similar—it’s usually in your account or export settings.
- Match Salesbolt fields to your CRM fields. For example, Salesbolt’s “Company Industry” might need to go to your CRM’s “Industry” field. Sometimes the names don’t match, so pay attention.
- Create custom fields in your CRM if needed. If there’s valuable data from Salesbolt that doesn’t have a home in your CRM, decide if it’s worth creating a new field.
Honest take:
Don’t go overboard creating custom fields for every scrap of data. Most sales teams never use half the fields in their CRM anyway. Stick with what matters.
Pro tip:
If your CRM supports field mapping templates (some do, some don’t), save your mapping for next time.
Step 3: Choose Your Export Method
Salesbolt gives you a few ways to get your enriched leads out. What works best depends on your CRM and your patience.
Option 1: Direct Integration (If Available)
Some CRMs—like Salesforce, HubSpot, or Pipedrive—have direct integrations with Salesbolt.
- Check the integrations section in Salesbolt. If your CRM’s listed, connect your account and follow the prompts.
- Set up sync preferences. Decide if you want one-way or two-way sync (one-way is safer unless you really trust both systems).
- Test with a few leads first. Don’t bulk export until you’ve seen how the data lands in your CRM.
What works:
Direct integrations are fast and usually avoid formatting headaches. Field mapping is often built-in.
What doesn’t:
These can be buggy, especially with custom CRM setups. Sometimes data gets duplicated or fields don’t match. Always sanity-check your first export.
Option 2: CSV Export and Import
If your CRM isn’t supported, or you prefer more control, exporting a CSV is the fallback.
- Export your leads from Salesbolt as a CSV file. Choose only the fields you need.
- Open the CSV in Excel or Google Sheets. Check for weird characters, missing data, or fields that don’t make sense.
- Import the CSV into your CRM. Follow your CRM’s import process—most have a wizard to guide you.
What works:
You can double-check everything before importing. Good for small batches or one-off exports.
What doesn’t:
It’s manual, and field mappings can be a pain. Large exports can time out or fail without clear error messages.
Pro tip:
Always keep a backup of your original CSV. If the import goes wrong, you’ll need it to troubleshoot.
Option 3: Zapier or Automation (Advanced)
If you’re tech-savvy or your process needs to run itself, consider using Zapier or another automation tool.
- Set up a Zap to move new Salesbolt leads to your CRM. Map fields carefully.
- Test with sample data. Automations can quietly fail for days before anyone notices—don’t “set and forget.”
- Monitor for errors. Build in alerts or checks so you know when things break.
Honest take:
Automations are great if you have a steady flow of leads and stable field mappings. But they break easily if someone changes a field name or adds new data types.
Step 4: Check and Clean Up in Your CRM
Now that your leads are in the CRM, don’t just walk away. This is where a little attention saves a lot of pain later.
- Spot-check a handful of records. Make sure fields landed where you expected, and nothing looks off.
- Deduplicate. Some CRMs will automatically merge duplicates, but most won’t. Run a dedupe tool or manually merge as needed.
- Fix formatting issues. Look for things like ALL CAPS NAMES or weird symbols in phone numbers. These can mess up email campaigns or reports.
Pro tip:
Set aside time for this review—don’t trust the import process blindly. The sooner you catch errors, the less cleanup you’ll have later.
Step 5: Get Feedback from Your Team
This gets skipped all the time, but it’s worth it.
- Ask your sales or marketing team if the new data is actually useful. Are the fields showing up where they work? Anything missing or confusing?
- Adjust your export process based on feedback. Maybe you exported too many fields, or not enough. It’s easier to fix now than after months of frustration.
Honest take:
A perfect export on paper isn’t always a perfect fit for your workflow. Real-world feedback beats assumptions every time.
Common Pitfalls (And How to Dodge Them)
- Exporting too much data. More isn’t better—just clutters your CRM and slows everyone down.
- Skipping field mapping. This leads to messy, unusable data.
- Ignoring duplicate records. Duplicates kill productivity.
- Trusting integrations blindly. Always test with a small batch first.
- Not keeping an original copy. If something goes wrong, you’ll want a backup.
Wrapping Up: Keep It Simple, Iterate Often
Exporting enriched lead data from Salesbolt to your CRM isn’t rocket science, but it’s rarely as smooth as the marketing materials claim. Stick to the basics: know what data you need, map your fields, test everything, and get feedback from real users. Don’t aim for perfect on the first try—just get a working process, then tweak as you go. Your future self (and your sales team) will thank you.