How to import and organize contacts in Prosp for seamless outreach

If you’re running outreach campaigns, you know the pain of wrestling with messy spreadsheets, duplicate contacts, or CRMs that promise the world but deliver a headache. This guide is for anyone who wants a practical, no-nonsense way to get their contacts into Prosp, whip them into shape, and actually set up outreach that works—without getting lost in features you’ll never use.

Let’s cut through the noise. Here’s how to import and organize your contacts in Prosp so you can focus on reaching out, not untangling data.

Step 1: Get Your Contacts Ready (Don’t Skip This)

Before you even touch Prosp, do yourself a favor: make sure your contact list isn’t a dumpster fire. Importing junk just creates more work later.

What you need: - A spreadsheet (CSV, XLSX, or Google Sheets) with columns like Name, Email, Company, etc. - Clear, consistent headings. “First Name” and “first_name” are not the same. - No merged cells, weird formatting, or random notes in the margins.

Pro Tip:
If you’re pulling contacts from multiple sources (LinkedIn, your inbox, old CRMs), combine them into one file and use the “Remove Duplicates” feature in your spreadsheet tool. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than nothing.

What matters

  • Unique identifiers: Email is usually your best bet. If you don’t have emails, you’ll have a bad time with any outreach tool.
  • Key info only: Don’t bother with home addresses or birthdays unless you actually plan to use them.
  • Standardize formats: If some phone numbers have dashes and others don’t, clean them up (find/replace is your friend).

What to ignore

  • Fancy custom fields you might use one day. You can always add these later if you need them.

Step 2: Importing Contacts into Prosp

With your list cleaned up, you’re ready to bring it into Prosp. This part’s straightforward, but there are a couple of pitfalls to watch for.

How to import

  1. Log in to Prosp and head to the “Contacts” section.
  2. Click “Import” (usually top right—if not, look for a + icon).
  3. Choose your file type. CSV is the safest bet, but Prosp also usually supports XLSX and Google Sheets.
  4. Map your fields. Prosp will try to guess which columns go where (e.g., “First Name” to “First Name”). Double-check these—Prosp’s guesses are only as good as your column names.
  5. Review for duplicates. Prosp should flag obvious duplicates based on email or another unique field. Decide whether to skip, merge, or overwrite.
  6. Import. Hit the button and let it run.

Honest take

  • If your file is big (think 10,000+ rows), uploads can stall or time out. Break your file into chunks if needed.
  • If Prosp chokes on your file, open it in a plain text editor—hidden formatting is often the culprit.
  • Don’t expect perfect deduplication. Even the best tools miss subtle duplicates (“John Smith” vs. “Jon Smith” at the same email).

Step 3: Organize with Tags, Lists, and Fields

Dumping everyone into one big pile won’t help you later. Take a few minutes to organize, or you’ll regret it when it’s time to actually send outreach.

Tags vs. Lists vs. Custom Fields

  • Tags: Quick labels like “VIP,” “2024 Leads,” or “Conference.” Use these for flexible grouping. You can add more anytime.
  • Lists: Static groups—good for campaigns or segments you want to keep separate.
  • Custom Fields: For info you need to mail-merge or filter (e.g. “Industry,” “Seniority,” “Last Contacted”).

Which to use?
Tags are best for broad strokes. Lists are for “these people belong together.” Custom fields are for anything you’ll search or merge on.

How to set up

  1. After import, select a batch of contacts.
  2. Add tags in bulk (e.g., everyone from the same event).
  3. Create lists for different kinds of outreach (e.g., “Newsletter,” “Demo Requests”).
  4. Edit custom fields—either in Prosp directly or by re-importing with updated columns.

Pro Tip:
Don’t overthink your system at the start. You can always adjust tags and lists as you go. The goal is simplicity—complex setups just lead to confusion later.

Step 4: Clean Up Duplicates and Errors

No import is perfect. Take a quick pass to fix obvious problems before launching your first campaign.

What to check

  • Duplicates: Use Prosp’s built-in dedupe tools, but also search for near-matches (“Bob” and “Robert” at the same company).
  • Missing key info: Filter for contacts missing email or other must-have fields. Either fill in or delete.
  • Bad data: Obvious typos, broken emails (e.g., “gmal.com”), or people you shouldn’t be contacting.

What’s not worth your time

  • Chasing down every little detail. Outreach tools work best with a “good enough” contact list. You’ll never get 100% clean data, and that’s fine.

Step 5: Set Up for Outreach, Not Just Storage

You’re not building a museum—you want to do something with these contacts. Now’s the time to set up your lists and segments with outreach in mind.

Best practices

  • Segment by intent: Who’s ready for a sales call? Who should get the newsletter? Use tags or lists for this.
  • Keep it actionable: If you’ll never email someone, don’t keep them.
  • Prepare merge fields: If you want to personalize outreach (“Hi [First Name]”), make sure the fields are there and populated.

Honest take

  • Don’t try to automate everything from day one. Start with a single campaign or segment, get it working, then expand.
  • Resist the urge to create a zillion micro-segments. It’s tempting, but you’ll end up ignoring half of them.

Step 6: Maintain Your Contact List (Without Losing Your Mind)

Importing once is easy. Keeping things organized over time—less so. Here’s how to avoid ending up back at square one.

Simple habits

  • Regularly dedupe: Run a duplicate check every month (or before a big import).
  • Archive or delete: If a contact bounces or unsubscribes, get them out of your active lists.
  • Stick to your naming conventions: Decide now if it’s “Webinar2024” or “Webinar_2024” and be consistent.

What to ignore

  • Overly complex folder structures. The more hoops you make yourself jump through, the more likely you’ll just stop maintaining your list.

A Few Real-World Tips

  • Export regularly. Back up your contacts every so often. Accidents (and bad imports) happen.
  • Don’t trust imports blindly. Spot-check a handful of contacts after every import—better to catch a big screw-up early.
  • Ask for feedback. If you’re working with a team, get input before locking in a system. What makes sense to you might be confusing to someone else.

Keep It Simple (And Actually Use Your Contacts)

Importing and organizing contacts in Prosp isn’t rocket science, but it pays to keep things tidy from the start. Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good—get your contacts in, tag them in a way that makes sense to you, and start reaching out. You can always refine your setup down the line. The trick is to keep your system simple enough that you’ll actually stick with it.

Now, go send some emails. You’ve earned it.