Add Contacts: 3 Ways to Build Your Customer Database

Loading customer emails into the CRM is the first step before email marketing / customer management / automated follow-ups. Laifaxin gives you 3 ways to add contacts — pick one based on the shape of your data.

👉 Entry: Log in to Laifaxin → left sidebar Customer Management → Contacts → top-right New / Import Data / or Save from search results

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Pick your method

Method	When to use	Per-run cap
📦 Bulk Import (Excel/CSV/TXT)	You already have an email list (trade-show data / existing customers / partner-provided)	100,000 rows
✏️ Manual Entry	Single or a few precise customers (e.g. business cards, targeted follow-ups)	1 per run
🔍 Save from Search ⭐	Want to source new customers from the platform straight into your CRM (most efficient · pair with AI Lead Scoring to auto-filter the fit)	Unlimited

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1. Bulk Import · 100K rows per run

1-minute video quick start

Video blank? Open in a new window →

1. File prep · 4 key points

Item	Detail
📂 Supported formats	.xls / .xlsx / .csv / .txt (download template ↓)
📊 Data limits	Per run: 100,000 rows × 200 columns, file ≤ 10 MB
📧 Email column required	Exactly one column must be emails, one email per row, all in the same column
🛡️ Auto-dedup	The system auto-checks against your existing contacts — duplicate emails will not be re-imported

2. Steps

• ① Go to Customer Management → Contacts
• ② Click Import Data in the top-right
• ③ Pick the local file → the system auto-previews
• ④ Verify the preview → match fields → Start Import

3. Preview data · check 3 items

Item	How
📑 Worksheet (Excel)	If there are multiple sheets, select the right worksheet
🔖 Header row	First row is the header by default (excluded from import); can be adjusted
📧 Email column	At least one column must be recognized as email, otherwise import is blocked

4. Field matching · 3 core settings

① Import mode · pick 1 of 3

Mode	Email exists	Email doesn't exist	When to use
🆕 Add only	❌ Skip	✅ Add	Avoid overwriting existing data
🔄 Update only	✅ Update fields	❌ Skip	Refresh existing customer info with a new sheet
🔀 Update + Add	✅ Update fields	✅ Add	Full sync (most common)

② Linked tags · required

Tags are required

Without selecting tags you'll see "Please set contact tags". Tagging is what lets you send bulk emails by audience later — tags are the lifeline of your customer database.

"Remove original tags" option (shows only with "Update only" or "Update+Add"):

Checked	Behavior
✅ Checked	Updated contacts have their existing tags wiped, only this run's tags remain
❌ Unchecked (recommended)	Existing tags stay + this run's tags are added

Tag naming suggestion: follow product/industry - supply-chain role - language - country, e.g. promotional gifts - distributor - English - USA. See Tags and Views.

③ Field mapping · email column required

• Email column required: from your sheet columns, specify which column is the email
• One email per cell: each cell can only hold 1 email; multiple emails should be split into multiple rows
• Multiple email columns: only one column can be selected per run — import separately for each column

5. Done · view results

Click Start Import → wait until progress hits 100%.

Two places to check:

What	Where
📋 Newly imported contacts	Customer Management → Contacts list (filter by this run's tag)
📜 Import history	Contacts panel → Import History (all task records + failure reasons)

The Import History panel shows full records of each run (task status + failure reasons) for troubleshooting:

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Bulk import pitfalls to avoid

Pitfall	Error / Outcome	How to avoid
🔴 No tag selected	Prompts "Please set contact tags"	Always select or create tags in field matching
🔴 No email column specified	Prompts "Email field cannot be empty"	Field mapping must pick 1 column as email
🟡 Email already exists (import mode is "Add only")	🔴 Red prompt · skipped	Switch to "Update+Add", or confirm intent
🟡 Bad email format (extra spaces / special chars / Chinese)	🟡 Yellow prompt · skipped	Use Excel TRIM + remove special chars first
🟡 Single file > 10 MB / 100K rows	Rejected outright	Split into batches
🟡 Multiple emails in one cell	Recognition fails	Split into multiple rows, one email each

Read errors by color: 🔴 Red = contact already exists (import mode issue) / 🟡 Yellow = email format issue (data issue)

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2. Manual Entry · single precise add

For single or a few precise customers — like business cards or individually tracked accounts.

1. Steps

• ① Customer Management → Contacts → New in top-right
• ② Fill the form: Email (required) + Tags (recommended) + other fields
• ③ Click Create; or Save and Create Next for continuous entry

The form pops up; Email is required, fill other fields as needed:

2. "Email format error" — what now?

If you see "Email format error":

Cause	Check
🔍 Extra spaces	Check for leading/trailing spaces (most common)
🔤 Full-width symbols	The @ typed in a Chinese IME's full-width mode isn't recognized — switch to half-width and retype

3. Customize form field order

If you want custom fields (e.g. "Email Domain") on the "New Contact" form and want to adjust field order:

• ① Make sure the field exists (if not, create it under Customer Fields)
• ② On the New Contact panel, click the ⚙️ settings icon in the top-right → opens "Customize Display Fields and Order"
• ③ Check the fields you want shown
• ④ Drag the ⠿ icon to reorder → click Save

① Entry — gear icon on the top-right of the New Contact panel:

② Reorder — check + drag ⠿ in the modal:

③ Result — after saving, custom fields appear in your order on the New Contact form:

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3. Save from Search · recommended ⭐

The most efficient method — customers searched directly inside Laifaxin save into your CRM with one click, no need to export to Excel first.

1. Recommended path · pick from 4 search tools

Tool	When	One-click save
🌐 AI Database	Don't know who the customer is — AI inferral	✅ Select from result list → save
🔍 Company Domain Search	You have customer URLs	✅ Bulk select → save
🏢 Company Name Search	Only have a company name (customs data, etc.)	✅ Same
🔗 LinkedIn Search	B2B decision-makers	✅ Same

2. Save in 3 steps

• ① Select customers in the search tool's result list (select-all / by filter)
• ② Click Save Contacts at the top of the list → modal with settings (email type / count / tags)
• ③ Click Confirm Save → auto-populates Contacts + Companies lists

3. Pair with AI Lead Scoring · save only the fit (recommended)

Don't save every search hit blindly — first run 🤖 AI Lead Scoring to score each company 0–100, and save the fit (60+) into the CRM:

4. Save settings · 4 recommendations (in the modal)

Setting	Recommendation
📧 Email type	Check "Valid + Unknown" — 70%+ inquiries come from Unknown
🔢 Save count per company	3–5 (default is fine), adjust as you go
🏷️ Company + Contact tags	Follow product-role-language-country formula
🛡️ "Ignore new tags"	Always check — prevents over-marketing from stacked tags

📚 Full save flow (with modal screenshots): Company Domain Search · Key Step: Save Emails to CRM.

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FAQ

Q1 · Will importing 100K rows lag?

No. The system processes async in the background — your front-end stays responsive. Watch progress in Import History.

Q2 · Excel has multiple sheets — how do I import the right one?

The Preview Data step lets you pick the Sheet → confirm you've selected the worksheet with contact data.

Q3 · Can contact fields be customized?

Yes. Create custom fields in Customer Fields (e.g. "Lead Source" / "Industry Classification" / "Interest Level"). Available when adding / editing contacts.

Q4 · Does saving the same email multiple times get charged twice?

No. The system dedupes for life — each email is charged once, even if deleted and re-saved.

Q5 · Can I batch edit / delete tags?

Yes. In the contacts list, multi-select → batch operations → edit tags.

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Study tips

• ✅ Test with a small batch: Run 10–20 test records through bulk import first to learn each step before scaling to 100K
• ✅ Tags first: Plan your tag-naming formula before importing (product-role-language-country) — filtering / marketing relies on this
• ✅ Prefer save-from-search: When you don't have an existing customer list, Search + AI Scoring is 10× more efficient than "manually wrangle Excel then import"
• ✅ Clean regularly: Use Email Verification to strip out invalid emails — focus marketing resources where they matter
• ✅ Dirty data → clean in Excel first: Use TRIM() to remove spaces, strip special chars, reduce import failures

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Related features

Module	Use
📚 📋 Manage Contacts	View / edit / filter / batch operations
📚 🏷️ Tags and Views	Tag naming formula + custom views
📚 📤 Export Contacts	Export contacts to Excel
📚 📄 Customer Fields	Custom field management
📚 1️⃣ Customer Search	5 search tools + 2 add-ons
📚 🤖 AI Lead Scoring	Screen 10K fit customers in 1 hour

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📍 Entry: Log in to Laifaxin → Customer Management → Contacts 🆘 Stuck? Check the ❓ FAQ

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