Trying to merge Excel data to existing ACT contacts... Not working: HELP!

[Ziegler]

I set my duplicate criteria to two fields I created.  Those two fields in essence would create a unique identifier.  In this case the fields were

Store # - a number assigned to a wholesale account

Dealer # - a number assigned to a Store's customer

I had that criterea macthed when trying to import BUT I was trying to Map/import a 3rd field to - "ID Status" using custom mapping. I'd like to eventually merge many more excel fields to many other ACT fields once I understand what is happening.

It seems the import wizard finds the matching records just fine.  It just won't merge data from a 3rd excel field to ID STATUS.  

Can anybody help?

Thanks,

Mark

[Roy_Laudenslager]

It depends. If the field being merged to is empty it shoud work however if the field already contains data no merge will take place or a duplicate record may be created. If you're using a import file to update fields in existing records you need to use a third party merge utility like OakMerge. I've used it and it works great.

[Ziegler]

Thanks for the quick response Roy!

The field being merged to is empty.  In my ACT database it has a drop down box attached to it, but during just a regular ole import when I'm NOT trying to merge data, everything seems to load fine...  It's a real head scratcher.  Seems like I'm missing something.

[Roy_Laudenslager]

The presence of the dropdown for the field could be the problem especially if the dropdown is set to only from dropdown. You could try disabling the dropdown and retry the import. The ACT! import is mainly for importing new records. I don't even try to do a merge to an empty field, I use OakMerge because it's more reliable.