TrashCanBossPro Blog — Trash Can Cleaning Software

Importing Your Customer List Into Trash Can Cleaning Software With a CSV

Nobody wants to retype three hundred customers. A CSV import moves your list from a spreadsheet into the software in one go. The import itself takes minutes. The work is in getting the spreadsheet ready, and that is what this guide is about.

The Heart of the Switch

In Switching to Trash Can Cleaning Software Without Losing a Customer, step three was "import, don't retype." This article zooms in on that step. TrashCanBossPro supports CSV import of an existing customer list, and a little preparation makes the difference between a clean import and a week of fixing records.

What a CSV Is

A CSV is a plain spreadsheet file: rows and columns, no formatting. Any spreadsheet program can save one. If your list lives in another program, look for an "export" or "download" option that produces a CSV. If it lives on paper, the spreadsheet is the first step anyway.

Step 1: One Row per Customer, One Column per Thing

Homemade lists drift into creative layouts. Before you import, get it into a simple shape:

• One row per customer
• One column per piece of information: first name, last name, phone, email, street, city, state or province, postal code
• No merged cells, color coding or notes typed into the wrong column
• A single header row at the top

If a customer has two addresses, note it so you can add the second address under the same client after the import instead of creating a second client.

Step 2: Clean Up

This is the step that pays off most:

• Remove cancelled customers. Or keep them in a separate file. There is no reason to import people you no longer serve.
• Find duplicates. Sort by phone number and by address. Two rows for the same person will become two clients, which splits their history and billing.
• Fix addresses. Full street, city and postal code. Addresses matter for the map, routes and navigation.
• Standardize phone numbers. Reminders and texts depend on them.

Step 3: Keep Your Bin Cleaning Details Handy

Your spreadsheet probably also has can counts, trash day and plan in some form. Even if they don't all come over in the import, keep those columns clean. You'll use them right after to fill in each address:

• Trash, recycling and yard waste can counts
• Trash day
• Plan: weekly, every other week or monthly
• Last cleaning date
• Can location notes and gate codes

Step 4: Import and Spot-Check

Run the import. Then pick ten customers at random and compare each one with the original spreadsheet. Name spelled right? Address complete? Phone number there? If ten random records are right, the rest almost certainly are. If not, fix the spreadsheet and import again before you build anything on top of it.

Step 5: Add the Bin Cleaning Details

With clients in, go through the addresses and set the cans, trash day, can location notes and plan on each one. Add tags like Monthly, Every-Other-Week, HOA and Commercial as you go. For more on how to structure clients, addresses and tags, see Clients, Addresses and Tags: Organizing a Bin Cleaning Customer List.

Working street by street helps, since neighbors usually share a trash day.

Step 6: Check the Map

Once plans are set, open the Waiting List. Every active customer should appear as a pin in the right place, colored not due yet, due now or overdue. A pin in the wrong town means an address problem. A sea of overdue pins means the last-cleaning information needs another look.

What Doesn't Come Over

Card numbers can't be moved by spreadsheet, and you shouldn't try. Ask customers to add their card in the customer app instead. A short text from the office explaining the change does the job.

Keep the Original File

Before you import anything, save a copy of the original spreadsheet somewhere safe and leave it alone. If something looks wrong after the import, you want to compare against what you started with, not a version you edited three times along the way. Keep a second working copy for the cleanup. Name the files clearly, with the date, so nobody imports the wrong one. It sounds fussy, but it turns a confusing mistake into a two-minute fix, and it gives you a record of exactly what your list looked like on the day you switched.

The Takeaway

One row per customer, clean up duplicates and addresses, import, spot-check, then add cans, trash day and plans. Done right, a CSV import gets you from spreadsheet to running routes in a day. For the full picture of the system, visit the trash can cleaning software page.