How to Import Survey Leads Into Your CRM From a CSV
2026-10-19
From survey answers to CRM records
You ran a lead survey at a booth, a talk or a webinar, and people told you what they want next. Earlier posts cover capturing conference leads, what to ask and the webinar version. This one covers the part after the event: turning those answers into clean CRM contacts, each with the next step the person asked for. It uses a CSV file, needs no code, and works with any CRM that imports CSV, including HubSpot, Salesforce and Pipedrive.
Download the CSV
CSV export is part of Pro, and the survey has to be on a signed-in account. If you created it before signing in, claim it with its admin link first. Then open the survey's dashboard and use Export CSV. You get one file with every response in it.
The file has one row per response. The first two columns are Response ID and Submitted At, followed by one column per question, headed with its number and text. For the survey from the conference guide, with invented answers, it looks like this:
| Response ID | Submitted At | Q3: What should we do next? | Q4: Your email address | Q5: Phone number (only if you asked for a call) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4f1c9a02-... | 2026-10-14T15:02:11.482Z | Call me to talk it through | Dana.Reyes@Example.com | '+1 312 555 0147 |
| b7e2d3c8-... | 2026-10-14T15:04:40.017Z | Email me the slides | sam.okafor@example.org | |
| 09aa61f5-... | 2026-10-14T15:09:05.930Z | Call me to talk it through | priya@example.co | (312) 555-0199 |
The other questions (role, timeline, best time to call) get columns too. A skipped optional question is an empty cell, and the Z on each timestamp means UTC.
Clean the file in a spreadsheet
A free-text answer is exactly what the person typed. Open the file in Excel, Google Sheets or Numbers, save a copy so you keep the original, and work through the copy in this order.
- Trim whitespace. People add spaces before and after an address without noticing, like the first email above. Most spreadsheets have a TRIM function; put it in a new column and paste the results back as values.
- Remove the leading apostrophe. Any answer that begins with =, +, - or @ is exported with an apostrophe in front, so
+1 312 555 0147becomes'+1 312 555 0147. It is there for safety: a spreadsheet treats a cell starting with one of those characters as a formula, and without the apostrophe a stranger could type a formula into your survey that runs when you open the file. Spreadsheets hide the apostrophe, but a CRM import keeps it. The reliable fix is to open the final CSV in a plain text editor and replace'+with+. - Normalize phone numbers. Pick one format and convert everything to it. An international format that starts with + and the country code, such as
+1 312 555 0199, works for teams calling across borders. Watch for a spreadsheet dropping the + or turning a long number into scientific notation; setting the phone column's format to plain text before you edit helps. - Normalize emails. Lowercase every address and fix obvious typos, such as
gmial.comor a missing @. If you cannot tell what someone meant, leave them out rather than guessing. - Remove blanks and obvious fakes. Drop rows with no way to reach the person, and answers like
test@test.comor a phone number of all zeros. - De-duplicate. Sort by email and look for anyone who answered twice. Keep the later row by Submitted At, because people who first asked for slides and later asked for a call have changed their minds, and the later answer is the one to act on.
Split the rows by what people asked for
Filter on the "What should we do next?" column and make one file per answer.
- Call me. These are your leads. They go into the CRM as leads or contacts assigned to sales.
- Email me the slides. Send the slides. Whether these people belong in your CRM at all depends on your company's rules, and they should not land on a marketing list because they wanted a deck.
- Nothing for now. Do not import them. They told you not to follow up.
Map the columns to CRM fields
Decide where each column goes before you start the import. Create any custom fields you need in your CRM first, so they appear in the mapping step.
| CSV column | CRM field |
|---|---|
| Q4: Your email address | |
| Q5: Phone number (only if you asked for a call) | Phone |
| Q2: When are you looking to make a change? | A custom "Timeline" field, or a note |
| Q3: What should we do next? | A custom "Requested follow-up" field, or a note |
| A column you add, filled with the event name | Lead source |
| Response ID | A custom "Survey response ID" field |
The Response ID identifies the response, not the person, since rifts.to stores no name or account with an answer. If more people respond after your first import, export again and remove every Response ID you already imported, so only new rows go in.
Some CRMs require a name or a company on a lead record. If yours does and your survey did not ask, add a "Your name and company" question to the next one.
Run a test import first
Most CRMs have an Import option for contacts or leads. You upload the CSV, match each column to a field, and choose what happens when a record with the same email already exists: update it, skip it, or create a new one. Follow your CRM's own import guide for the exact steps.
Start with three or four rows. Open each imported record and check that the phone number has no apostrophe, the custom fields and lead source are filled, and any existing contact was handled as intended. Then import the rest.
Check consent before you import
The "What should we do next?" answer sits in the same row as the contact details, so every record carries what the person agreed to. Import it with the contact so the salesperson can see it. Say in the survey what you will do with people's details, and do only that. Rules on marketing email, sales calls and text messages differ by country, with the EU's GDPR and US rules on calls and texts as two examples, so check with whoever owns compliance at your company before a list goes into a CRM.
When a CSV is no longer enough
A CSV suits a single event. If you run events often, or want leads in the CRM while the event is still going, Pro has two other ways to read the same responses. The MCP connector lets Claude build and check on the survey for you, and turn an attached export into a call list, with no code. The rifts.to API lets a script read responses and pass them to your CRM's own API.
Common questions
Can I export on the free plan?
No. On the free plan you can read every answer from the admin link, and collecting answers has no respondent limit. Downloading every response as a CSV is part of Pro.
Does the export include the respondent's name?
Only if your survey asked for it. A response carries its answers, a random id and the time it was submitted, and nothing else. See what anonymity actually means.
How do I avoid importing the same person twice?
De-duplicate by email in the spreadsheet, choose update or skip for existing records during the import, and keep the Response ID in the CRM so a later export can be filtered against it.
The list is only as long as the number of people who answered
A careful import cannot add people who never scanned the code.
- Ask out loud. Point at the QR code and say what it is for: "Scan this for the slides, or to book a call."
- Give one reason. People answer when they get something: the slides, a recording, a short call with an expert.
- Put the code where people have time. The last slide during Q&A, a sign at eye level at the booth, the webinar chat. Print the link under the code for anyone on a laptop. Sharing a survey covers both.
- Send it again. Put the link in the follow-up email the next morning. Getting responses to a post-event survey covers the timing.
