When you upload a batch search list to be searched, does the batch search service make it easy for you or, do you deal with spreadsheet hassles like re-formatting your list and deleting data columns so your file fits their required template?
I wrote an article called Understanding Batch Search Data Quality. In that post, I wrote about the factors determining data quality, one of them is the data format. This applies to both the format of the search results you get back and the format of the list you upload. The format has got to be clean on both sides of the search for the data quality to be the best it can be.
My Batch Search List
I don’t know about you, but my customer list has lots of columns of data. I don’t want to re-format my spreadsheet and risk messing up my data. The format of my list is clean and helps me make sure my data is good.
The best batch search services don’t require you to re-format your list. Their software can search your list without you deleting columns. It’s so common for batch services to require a spreadsheet template that maybe you didn’t know there was another option. But there is.
A Better Batch Search Format
At BellesLink we believe we’ve created the best batch search for small businesses. When you upload a batch search list to BellesLink you don’t have to re-format your spreadsheet. You can use your list as is and avoid the risk of messing up your data by deleting a bunch of columns. We make the formatting on both sides of the search clean and easy to use, so you can get the highest quality data in your search results.
When we first launched our batch search tool years ago, we had a simple batch search list uploader. You would choose a spreadsheet file on your computer and upload it. It was the same simple system nearly all batch search services use today.
What was a simple process for some, was not simple for everyone. Like other batch search tools, BellesLink required customers to put their list into a spreadsheet template with specific columns, in a specific order.
Using that template was difficult for customers who were not comfortable re-formatting spreadsheets. It was a big hassle for them and often they made mistakes which caused low hit rates and poor search results.
It wasn’t our customers’ fault. They were business people and entrepreneurs, not spreadsheet experts. The problem was our application. The problem was our batch search list uploader.
So, we made a better batch uploader, one that’s easy for everyone to use. Our batch search list uploader eliminates the need to re-format spreadsheets and delete columns, it eliminates the easy mistakes, and most of all eliminates the template, which is the source of the problems in the first place.
Nearly all other batch search services still require customers to use a spreadsheet template. We want our batch search tool to be the best for small businesses. Allowing customers to upload their own spreadsheet format is one way we’re delivering data quality and making BellesLink the best batch search.
Automatically Eliminating Spreadsheet Hassles
Uploading your list to our batch search tool is very easy. It doesn’t matter how many columns your file has, as long as it has at least a name and address column.
Our batch search process requires separate columns for first name, last name, address, city, state, and zip code. If your list has only a full name and/or a full address column, our tool can separate those for you. You don’t have to learn any complicated spreadsheet formulas to split the names and you certainly don’t have to waste time separating data manually.
After you upload your list, you will choose which columns should be used for each of the required search fields. It doesn’t matter how many other columns your file has. BellesLink will only use the columns you choose. Any other columns will be ignored.
So you can easily match-up your search results to your original file, BellesLink automatically adds a record ID to each row of your search results. If you already have an ID column in your file, BellesLink can use your data instead, which is best if you plan to merge your search results with your original list. Of course, BellesLink can automatically do that merge for you when you export your results.
Upload a Batch Search List in BellesLink
Let’s walk through the process to upload a batch search list.
Upload your file.
- Choose a .CSV spreadsheet file from your computer or drag it into the window. If you have a promo code, enter it first.
Choose the columns to be searched.
- Name format: if you have a full name column that needs to be separated into first name and last name, click the “No” radio button and we will separate that column for you. Otherwise, chose the name columns you want to use.
- Address format: choose the columns to be searched or choose to separate a full address column.
- User record id: If you have a record ID in your data, choose the column and we will include that data with your search results so you can match everything up in your CRM or another system.
Upload and Download Format Counts
As I said at the beginning of this post the format of your batch has got to be clean on both sides of the search for the data quality to be the best it can be. Services that require you to re-format your list are not focusing on the whole data quality picture. They are only focused on the data they give back to you. But, as you’ve seen, that’s not everything that affects the quality of your batch search results.
I speak from my own experience when I tell you that many, many customer errors happen when you have to start deleting columns from your list, saving a separate search file, and then somehow getting all the search results merged back into your original list. If you’re a spreadsheet guru who can manipulate data with ease, congratulations. For the rest of us, it’s not so easy.
But, it doesn’t have to be hard. You don’t have to deal with the spreadsheet hassles of re-formatting your list and deleting data columns so your file fits a template. The best batch search services, like BellesLink, eliminate those templates, eliminate those hassles, and help you get the highest quality search results, from start to finish.
Check out BellesLink and see how easy and how good the best batch search can be.