How to Export Contacts from Zoho

Managing your contact data effectively is crucial for any business. Whether you're backing up your data, migrating to a new system, or running an analysis, knowing how to export your contacts from Zoho CRM is a fundamental skill. At Add to CRM, we're experts in CRM data management, and we've created this guide to walk you through the entire process step-by-step. We'll also show you a modern way to build fresh, verified contact databases that keep your sales pipeline full.

Why Export Contacts from Zoho?

Exporting your contact list isn't just for leaving a platform. It's a routine task with many practical benefits. Common reasons to export your Zoho contacts include:

• Data Backups: Creating regular offline backups for peace of mind and disaster recovery.
• CRM Migration: Moving your valuable contact data to a new CRM system.
• In-Depth Analysis: Using tools like Excel or Google Sheets to analyze your contact data, identify trends, and create custom reports.
• Data Cleaning: Performing bulk updates or cleaning operations outside of the CRM.
• Team Handoffs: Sharing specific contact lists with team members or external partners without granting full CRM access.
• Compliance: Archiving data to comply with internal or external data retention policies.

Before You Export: Important Considerations

Before you click the export button, it's important to understand a few key details about the process.

Data Privacy and Compliance

Once you export contact data, you become responsible for its security. Be mindful of data privacy regulations like GDPR and CCPA. Ensure you handle the exported file containing personal information with care, storing it securely and restricting access to authorized personnel only.

What Data Gets Exported

Zoho gives you control over what data is included in your export. You can choose to export all contact fields or select specific ones. This includes standard fields like name, email, and phone number, as well as any custom fields you've created. Note that associated records, such as notes or activities, are typically not included in a contact export and may need to be exported separately.

Export Limitations

Zoho CRM has a few limitations to keep in mind:

• You can export a maximum of 3,000 records in a single batch.
• If you have more than 3,000 contacts, you'll need to export them in multiple batches using filters or custom views.
• The download link for your exported file will expire after 7 days.

Step-by-Step Export Process

Exporting contacts from Zoho is a straightforward process. Here’s how to do it.

Preparing for Export

For a smooth export, we recommend preparing your data first. Consider creating a "Custom View" in Zoho to filter the exact contacts you want to export. For example, you could create a view for "Contacts in California" or "Leads from Q4." This saves you from having to manually filter during the export process.

Exporting Contacts from Zoho

Follow these steps to export your contacts:

1. Log in to your Zoho CRM account.
2. Click the Setup icon (it looks like a gear or cog) in the top-right corner of the screen.
3. Navigate to the Data Administration section and select Export.
4. From the Select Export Module dropdown menu, choose Contacts.
5. Choose which records you want to export. You can select All Records (up to the 3,000-record limit), a pre-defined Custom View, or create a new filter on the spot.
6. Click the Export button.
7. Your export request will be added to a queue. You can monitor its status in the export history section. Once it's ready, the status will change to Completed.
8. Click the download link to save the zipped CSV file to your computer. Remember to do this within 7 days!

Export Format Options

Zoho exports contacts in CSV (Comma-Separated Values) format. This is a universal file type that can be easily opened and managed in any spreadsheet application, including Microsoft Excel, Google Sheets, and Apple Numbers.

Working with Exported Data

Once you have your file, the work isn't over. Here’s how to handle your exported data.

Understanding Your Export File

Your downloaded CSV file will contain all the contacts and fields you selected. Each row represents a single contact, and each column represents a data field (like "First Name" or "Email Address").

Data Cleaning and Validation

Open the file in a spreadsheet program to review the data. This is a good time to check for inconsistencies, formatting errors, or missing information. You may notice that some contact details, like phone numbers or email addresses, are outdated. Data decay is natural, as people change jobs and update their information.

Common Issues and Solutions

• Incorrect Characters: If special characters don't display correctly, you may need to adjust the character encoding settings when opening the CSV file.
• Missing Data: If data you expected is missing, double-check the fields and filters you selected during the export setup.
• File Too Large: If you need to export more than 3,000 contacts, break your export into smaller batches using custom views with specific criteria (e.g., by state, creation date, or owner).

Alternative Export Methods

For more advanced needs, Zoho offers other ways to get data out of the system:

• API: Developers can use the Zoho CRM API to build custom integrations that programmatically export data on a schedule.
• Third-Party Integrations: Tools like Zapier can connect Zoho to thousands of other apps, allowing you to move data automatically without manual exports.

Building Fresh Contact Databases with LinkZoho

Exporting is great for managing the data you already have, but what about growing your business with new leads? Relying solely on your existing database means you could be working with outdated information. For active sales and prospecting, you need fresh, verified data.

This is where our Chrome extension, LinkZoho, comes in. It's designed to help you build new contact lists directly from LinkedIn, ensuring your data is accurate and up-to-date.

Why Fresh Data Beats Exported Data

There's a significant difference between an old, exported list and a fresh one:

• Outdated Information: Exported data is a snapshot in time. People change jobs, emails, and phone numbers, making your list less effective over time.
• Real-Time Accuracy: With LinkZoho, you find contact information in real-time from LinkedIn profiles, giving you a 96% accuracy rate on verified emails.
• Manual vs. Automated: Cleaning and verifying an exported list is a manual, time-consuming process. LinkZoho automates this by finding verified data and adding it to your CRM in one click.

How LinkZoho Complements Your Export Strategy

LinkZoho is a Chrome extension that finds verified contact information from LinkedIn profiles and adds them directly to Zoho. It works hand-in-hand with your data management strategy. Use Zoho's export feature for backups and large-scale analysis. Use LinkZoho to enrich your existing contacts and, more importantly, to add a steady stream of new, high-quality leads to your pipeline without the tedious manual data entry.

Best Practices for Contact Data Management

Follow these best practices to keep your contact data secure, organized, and valuable.

Regular Export Schedules

We recommend exporting your contacts on a regular schedule, such as monthly or quarterly, to ensure you always have a recent backup.

Data Security and Storage

Always store exported files in a secure, access-controlled environment. Encrypt sensitive files and delete them once they are no longer needed to minimize risk.

Keeping Data Current

Data is only valuable when it's current. Continuously update your CRM with fresh information. A tool like LinkZoho is perfect for this, as it allows your team to easily add verified contacts from LinkedIn as they prospect.

Common Export Use Cases

Here are a few practical scenarios where exporting your Zoho contacts is the right move.

CRM Migration

When moving to a new CRM, your first step is to export all your contacts from Zoho. You can then clean and format the data before importing it into the new system.

Data Analysis and Reporting

Import your CSV file into a business intelligence tool or spreadsheet to create custom charts and reports that go beyond Zoho's built-in dashboards.

Team Distribution

Need to assign a specific list of leads to a new sales rep? Export a filtered list and share it with them directly, without altering ownership in the CRM.

Compliance and Auditing

For audit purposes, you may need to provide a snapshot of your contact database at a specific point in time. A scheduled export is the perfect way to meet this requirement.

Building Your Next Contact Database

While managing existing data is important, building your next sales pipeline is what drives growth. Instead of relying on old lists, LinkZoho offers a modern, efficient way to build your contact database with fresh, verified leads.

Getting Started with LinkZoho

It only takes a few minutes to get started:

1. Install the LinkZoho extension from the Chrome Web Store.
2. Navigate to any prospect's profile on LinkedIn.
3. Click the button to find their verified email and phone number.
4. Click "Add to CRM" to instantly sync the new contact and their information to Zoho.

LinkZoho vs Traditional Data Sources

Compared to buying static contact lists or manually scraping websites, LinkZoho provides superior quality and efficiency. You get real-time, verified data directly within your prospecting workflow on LinkedIn, eliminating the need to switch tabs or copy and paste information. This saves your team hours of administrative work every week.

Conclusion

Exporting contacts from Zoho is a simple yet powerful feature for managing your data. By following the steps we've outlined, you can confidently back up, migrate, and analyze your contacts.

But effective data management is a two-part strategy: maintaining what you have and acquiring what you need. While exports help with the first part, a tool like LinkZoho is essential for the second. It empowers your team to build a fresh, accurate, and valuable contact database that fuels your sales efforts.

Ready to stop tedious data entry and start building a powerful contact database? Install LinkZoho for free today and see how much time you can save.