📋 Summary

This training video explains how to prepare your contact data file for import into PhoneBurner®, with a focus on organizing and formatting the file in CSV format using Excel. The video walks users through key best practices, including splitting full names into separate fields and avoiding data overwriting when manipulating columns. It emphasizes the importance of clean, structured data to ensure proper call scripting and personalization during dial sessions and email automation.

Key points covered:

• Ensure the file is saved in CSV format (Comma Separated Values).

• Organize columns clearly (e.g., First Name, Last Name, Phone, Email, etc.).

• Use Excel’s Text to Columns feature to separate full names.

• Insert blank columns to protect adjacent data from being overwritten.

• Delete unnecessary columns after cleanup.

• Save the final file in a location you can easily access for import.

🏷️ Tags

PhoneBurner, data import, CSV file, Excel, contact cleanup, data formatting, CRM prep, first name split, lead import, contact list prep, contact upload, personalization

📝 Cleaned-Up Transcript

🎵 [Music Intro]

Hello there! Thank you for taking a moment to watch this video.

In this specific training, we're going to continue talking about getting your data prepared to be loaded into PhoneBurner®. It’s a simple process, and we’ll walk you through it step-by-step.

Step 1: Save Your File as a CSV

Make sure your file is saved as a CSV file (Comma Separated Values).
Most lead vendors already provide data in CSV format. If not:

• Open your file in Excel.

• Go to File > Save As.

• Choose CSV (Comma Delimited) as the format.

Step 2: Review and Structure Your Data

Here's an example of a file called Member Retention.
The spreadsheet includes:

• Full names (currently all in one column),

• Phone numbers,

• City, State, ZIP,

• Email addresses,

• Notes,

• Join date, and

• Total number of seats.

Step 3: Split First and Last Names (Optional but Recommended)

Having full names in one column can cause personalization issues (e.g., emails saying “Hi John Smith” instead of just “Hi John”).

Here’s how to split them:

• Insert two blank columns to the right of the full name column (to prevent overwriting adjacent data).

• Select the full name column.

• Go to Data > Text to Columns.

• Choose Delimited > Next > Delimiter: Space > Finish.

• Excel will split names based on spaces into multiple columns.

⚠️ If some entries include middle initials, you may see data split into three columns. You can manually clean this up if it’s a small dataset.

Step 4: Clean Up Columns

• Delete extra columns you don’t need (e.g., middle initials).

• Adjust column headers (e.g., rename to "First Name", "Last Name").

Step 5: Final Save

• Go to File > Save As.

• Ensure the file is saved as CSV (Comma Delimited).

• Pay attention to where you’re saving the file, so you can easily locate it when importing into PhoneBurner.

In this example, we’re saving the file as “Member Retention.csv” into the PhoneBurner Imports folder.

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And that’s it! Your file is now properly formatted and ready to be imported into PhoneBurner®.

Thanks for taking the time to watch this training—and let’s move on to the next step!

🎵 [Music Outro]