Salesforce Lead Import Cleanup

A lead file from a trade show or a purchased list rarely matches what the import expects. This example cleans a fictional lead file and shows the checks a rule-based tool cannot make for you.

ℹ️ A worked example you can check. The before and after tables below were produced by the free tool on this site from a fictional sample file. Open the same file yourself and you will get the same result.

What Usually Goes Wrong

• Names typed in ALL CAPITALS on a badge scanner
• Phone numbers with and without country codes
• The same lead scanned twice at the booth
• A row with no company name
• Lead Source written as Trade Show, tradeshow and Tradeshow 2026

The Sample File, Before

7 rows of fictional data with the problems above. Every person and company is invented.

Open This File in the Workspace Download the CSV

Salesforce Lead Import Cleanup sample before cleaning
First Name	Last Name	Company	Title	Email	Phone	Lead Source	Status
KENJI	WATANABE	Solvane Example Corp	IT Director	kenji.watanabe@solvane-example.com	(408) 555-0171	Trade Show	Open
MARISOL	ECHEVERRIA	Tindall Example Inc	Procurement Lead	Marisol.Echeverria@Tindall-Example.com	408-555-0172	tradeshow	Open
KENJI	WATANABE	Solvane Example Corp	IT Director	kenji.watanabe@solvane-example.com	(408) 555-0171	Trade Show	Open
Adaeze	Okonkwo		Operations Manager	adaeze@okonkwo-example.ng	+234 1 555 0173	Tradeshow 2026	Open
PIERRE	DELACROIX	Vauban Example SAS	CTO	pierre.delacroix@vauban-example.fr	+33 1 55 55 01 74	Trade Show	Open
lena	voss	Hartmann Example GmbH	Buyer	lena.voss@hartmann-example.de	0049 30 555 0175	Trade Show	Open
Samir	Qureshi	Qureshi Example Ltd	Founder	samir@qureshi-example	4085550176	Trade Show	Open

How to Clean It

1. Save the lead file as CSV and keep an untouched copy.
2. Run it with duplicates, lowercase emails, email flags, phones and name capitalization.
3. Check required fields by hand. In this file one lead has no Company. The tool does not know which fields your org requires.
4. Make Lead Source and Status match values that exist in your org.
5. Remove or map the email_check column, then import.

Prefer the command line or an AI agent? The same result comes from smartdata-clean clean salesforce-leads.csv --dedupe-rows --lower-emails --flag-emails --phones --names. See tools for agents.

The Result

7 rows in, 1 removed, 6 out. The double scan is removed, names and phones are consistent, and one malformed email is flagged. The lead with no company is still there, unflagged: whether a blank is a problem depends on your org's required fields, which the tool cannot see.

Salesforce Lead Import Cleanup sample after cleaning
First Name	Last Name	Company	Title	Email	Phone	Lead Source	Status	email_check
Kenji	Watanabe	Solvane Example Corp	IT Director	kenji.watanabe@solvane-example.com	+14085550171	Trade Show	Open	ok
Marisol	Echeverria	Tindall Example Inc	Procurement Lead	marisol.echeverria@tindall-example.com	+14085550172	tradeshow	Open	ok
Adaeze	Okonkwo		Operations Manager	adaeze@okonkwo-example.ng	+23415550173	Tradeshow 2026	Open	ok
Pierre	Delacroix	Vauban Example SAS	CTO	pierre.delacroix@vauban-example.fr	+33155550174	Trade Show	Open	ok
Lena	Voss	Hartmann Example GmbH	Buyer	lena.voss@hartmann-example.de	+49305550175	Trade Show	Open	ok
Samir	Qureshi	Qureshi Example Ltd	Founder	samir@qureshi-example	+14085550176	Trade Show	Open	invalid format

What the tool left for you

The tool listed these 2 items for a person to check:

• Invalid email format: 1 (rows 8)
• This list contains international numbers. 4 ten-digit number(s) with no country code were read as US/Canada (+1) (rows 2, 3, 4, 8). Check that those rows are US or Canadian numbers.

Checked, not just claimed

The original file, the cleaned file and the change log were run through the separate verifier. Result: PASS.

✓ Removed rows with a valid, verified reason: 1 of 1
✓ Rows: 7 in, 1 removed with a logged reason, 6 out
✓ Cells compared: 48; changed: 15; every change matched to the log: yes
✓ Log entries: 19; not matching the files: 0

The verifier confirms that the change log explains every difference between the two files. It does not judge whether each cleaning choice suits your situation; that part is yours.

The cleaning report

Report text for the sample file

SMARTDATAAI — CLEANING REPORT
Source: salesforce-leads.csv (fictional practice data)

SUMMARY
Rows in (excluding header): 7
Rows out: 6
Rows removed: 1
  Exact duplicates: 1
Cells changed: 18
  Emails normalized: 1
  Phones standardized to +E.164: 7
  Names re-cased: 10
Columns added: email_check

COLUMNS DETECTED
Email: Email
Phone: Phone
Date: none
Name: First Name, Last Name

NEEDS REVIEW
- Invalid email format: 1 (rows 8)
- This list contains international numbers. 4 ten-digit number(s) with no country code were read as US/Canada (+1) (rows 2, 3, 4, 8). Check that those rows are US or Canadian numbers.

SAMPLE OF CHANGES (first 15 of 18)
Row 2 · Phone: "(408) 555-0171" → "+14085550171"  [phone]
Row 2 · First Name: "KENJI" → "Kenji"  [name case]
Row 2 · Last Name: "WATANABE" → "Watanabe"  [name case]
Row 3 · Email: "Marisol.Echeverria@Tindall-Example.com" → "marisol.echeverria@tindall-example.com"  [email]
Row 3 · Phone: "408-555-0172" → "+14085550172"  [phone]
Row 3 · First Name: "MARISOL" → "Marisol"  [name case]
Row 3 · Last Name: "ECHEVERRIA" → "Echeverria"  [name case]
Row 4 · Phone: "(408) 555-0171" → "+14085550171"  [phone]
Row 4 · First Name: "KENJI" → "Kenji"  [name case]
Row 4 · Last Name: "WATANABE" → "Watanabe"  [name case]
Row 5 · Phone: "+234 1 555 0173" → "+23415550173"  [phone]
Row 6 · Phone: "+33 1 55 55 01 74" → "+33155550174"  [phone]
Row 6 · First Name: "PIERRE" → "Pierre"  [name case]
Row 6 · Last Name: "DELACROIX" → "Delacroix"  [name case]
Row 7 · Phone: "0049 30 555 0175" → "+49305550175"  [phone]

Values the tool cannot settle are left as they were and listed above. Where the day/month order of a date was worked out from other dates in the same column, that is listed above too.
Row numbers refer to the original file (header = row 1). Email checks cover format only; they do not confirm that a mailbox exists.

Where a Tool Stops and a Person Starts

Checking required fields and picklist values against your org, assigning owners, and de-duplicating against existing leads and contacts are setup-specific. That is the CRM Import Prep service.

See Service Levels From $19 How We Check Our Work

Salesforce is a trademark of its owner. SmartDataAI is not affiliated with Salesforce. Required fields and picklists vary by org; confirm yours before importing.