The Imports page within Aimbase can be gotten to by going to Administration > Imports > and then either View or View Imports. While similar, these pages are used to perform different actions. Throughout this article we will discuss all the different scenarios or use cases for these pages.

Overview

The Imports > View page within Aimbase gives you insight into the data that is flowing into Aimbase through the APIs and some manual imports. For example, within this sections you'll see data relating to leads that are being manually keyed in through the Create Lead function or through an API that's being utilized by a web provider. You can also see data relating to registration data being sent to Aimbase. If you are utilizing the manual import method for registration data or the FTP, you will still see your data appear on this screen because eventually it has to flow through an API in order to appear in Aimbase.

From this screen you can also see when records fail. This is perhaps the most important element of this page. From here you'll be able to detect if there is an issue with data making it in Aimbase successfully. Additionally, you can find details about why certain data was handles a certain way as it was being processed by Aimbase.

It is a good practice to check this page periodically, especially noting the number found in the Records in Error column to detect if there are any significant or even sporadic issues with data being sent to Aimbase.

Columns on the Grid

File Name - Indicates the name of the file that was uploaded to Aimbase. For the rows where no value appears in the column, it indicates that the data was submitted via an API or a user keyed in the data through Aimbase. Where you see a file name appear indicates the a user imported a CSV file containing lead data. The value that appears represents the name of the file uploaded by the user.

Import Type - Tells you the type of data that was loaded. The most common values here are:

• Service Lead - lead form data
• Service Prospect - prospect data
• Prospect Custom Activity - updates to activities found on the prospect. These are utilized for more complex data flows.
• Service Dealer - additions or changes to your dealer list within Aimbase
• Service Product - additions to the products list
• Service Registration - additions or updates to registration data

Receive Date - The date on which the data was sent to Aimbase to be processed.

Records - Represents the total number of records sent or uploaded for that day's Import Type.

Records Loaded - Indicates how many of the records sent successfully processed and were distributed as expected.

Records in Error - Represents the number of records that failed to process for one reason or another. The reason a record fails varies by the type of data it is. Some of the common reasons for failures are discussed in more detail below.

Leads Overview

When looking for more information about your lead data that appears within Aimbase, you'll want to locate the rows on this grid that say Service Lead within the Import Type column. You can also utilize the Import Type filter on the left of the screen to locate this specific data more easily. 

Common questions you'll want to use this page to answer are:

Why don't I see a lead I/a customer entered on the leads grid?

Why did this lead route to the dealer it did?

Why didn't this lead receive an autoresponder/nurture stream?

Why wasn't the dealer notified of this lead?

Why do my leads say the product is Uncategorized?

To begin answering any of these questions, first find the day on which the lead in question was submitted and click into it to begin learning more.

Troubleshooting Lead Questions

Errored Leads

When reviewing data found within the Imports section of Aimbase, one of the first things to note is the value in the Records in Error column. From the Imports > View grid click into the day that shows a value greater than 0 in the Records in Error column. The records that errored will be noted with a value of Error within the Staging Status Type column. If you click Expand from this view an additional column called Staging Status will be exposed that may provide more insight into why the lead failed. Otherwise, to keep learning more about why the lead errored, click into the row with the data about the lead.

On this page you'll see all of the data that was included with the lead that was either required by the API or indicates to Aimbase how to handle the lead. For this particular example, these details are less important. From here, click the Log link at the top of the page.

Here, you'll see some of the details about the lead on the left. On the right are all of the steps Aimbase took to process the lead data that was submitted. In this example, you'll see that the lead processors didn't get very far because early on in the process it detected that required data was missing.

Some other common reasons you may encounter while researching why a lead errored are:

• Required data missing - When this is the case, reach out to your web provider about including those values with data they are sending to Aimbase.
• Lead deduping - There is nothing to resolve when you encounter and error that says "Lead Dedupe Error". This is actually a correct response to duplicated data being sent to Aimbase. The lead processor looks at all data received within a 60-second period, and if it detects that multiple leads with identical information in all fields were provided, it only processes the first lead that was submitted.
• Lead type/source/category/campaign does not exist - This issue can be resolved a couple of different ways, and the right answer here is situational.
  • When implementing a new form or campaign that uses a totally new values, you can remedy this by creating the new value within Aimbase. To do this, you can follow the instructions for creating lead types, lead sources or categories or the instructions for creating lead campaigns.
  • If this type of error occurs for lead types, sources, categories or campaigns when a similar value already exists within Aimbase, reach out to your web provider to have them update the value they're using to match what exists within Aimbase. The lead campaign or lead source may be getting set by marketing agency via a tracking URL, so it may be something they need to update instead.

Restaging Leads

When a lead errors due to an expected value not matching what was sent, you can still recover that lead and have Aimbase try to process it again. To do this, navigate to Administration > Imports > View Lead. On this screen you will only see records relating to lead data. 

To begin, locate the row with the record(s) that failed. Click into it, and find the lead that you'd like to recover. Click into the specific lead you'd like to recover. Here, you'll see a screen very similar to the one you looked at to determine what caused the lead to fail. This time, under the Lead Staging Details you'll see there is an option to Edit. Click Edit.

Locate the field that caused the lead to error, and either enter data into that field that will resolve the issue or select a relevant value from the dropdown if one appears. Click Save. Once you've saved, it may take up to 5 minutes for the lead to reprocess and for the Staging Status Type to change to Complete.

Lead Routing

Lead routing rules with Aimbase can seem like they have endless combinations of capabilities and scenarios that can play out. When there is a question about how/why a lead routed to the dealer that it did, the Imports View section of Aimbase is one area of Aimbase that can be utilized to help answer the question. To begin, locate the row on the grid that represents the day the lead was created. From there, locate the lead in question, and click the row on which the lead appears.

There are 3 key places to look within the imports details for a particular lead. 

1. DealerIds - If a lead is sent to Aimbase with a DealerId number in place, Aimbase knows to skip its normal lead routing process and skip to assigning the lead to this dealer. If you are using lead re-routing, these types of leads will not be re-routed to a second dealer. If a specific dealer is indicated for a lead, re-routing rules are ignored and the dealer keeps the lead unless reassigned manually by an Aimbase user.

2. Dealer Number - To locate this, scroll to the bottom of the details page for the import record. If there is a value present here, Aimbase knows to skip its normal lead routing process and skip to assigning the lead to this dealer. If you are using lead re-routing, these types of leads will not be re-routed to a second dealer. If a specific dealer is indicated for a lead, re-routing rules are ignored and the dealer keeps the lead unless reassigned manually by an Aimbase user. 

3. Log - From the detail page for the import record click Log. 

This page will provide more specific explanation as to why the lead was assigned to the dealer that it was. Within the Staging Lead Log read through the list of actions until you find the one that mentions the dealer. 

Lead Email Communications

When lead data is sent into Aimbase it has the capability of dictating to Aimbase whether or not email communications to either the dealer or the prospect the lead is for should be sent. There are three specific fields within the details that determine this. Within the details of the lead import record, locate the fields called SendLead, SendAutoresponder, and SendNurture. If any of these fields have a value of N or No, then that is an indication to Aimbase that the notification (whether to the consumer or the dealer) should not be sent.

SendLead - Indicates whether the dealer should be sent an email notification to the lead. If this is no and the dealer has a CRM integration setup, the lead will also not be sent to the dealer's CRM.

SendAutoresponder - Indicates whether the prospect should receive an autoresponse email for their lead.

SendNurture - Indicates whether or not any existing nurture streams the lead qualifies for should be sent.

You can also find more information about each of these fields within the Log section for the lead import record. Here you'll find more information about if something was queued to send or if it wasn't for one reason or another.

Uncategorized Products

From time-to-time you may see that a product on a lead is listed as Uncategorized. In some cases this could be totally normal based on how data is structured for your version of Aimbase. For scenarios where an Uncategorized product is abnormal, use this process to help determine why the lead appears as it does.

1. Navigate to Administration > Imports > View. 

2. Locate the Lead Service records for the day on which the lead in question came in.

3. Click into that day's row, and locate the row on the next page that represents the lead. Click into the detail.

4. Scroll down to the bottom of the lead import record page. Here, you may find product information that was included with the lead. This may lead you to believe that the product for the lead should have been the Alphatone. However, if you click into the Log, you'll so an explanation of why, when the lead processed, Uncategorized was listed as the product.

Because the 2018 Alphatone does not exist as an active product within Aimbase, the product for the lead ends up being Uncategorized.

5. To resolve this issue for future leads, one of two things must happen. Either contact your web provider to ensure they are passing correct product information into Aimbase that aligns with your product codes/model years, or navigate to the products section of Aimbase and create any new products necessary to align to incoming leads. You can read more about editing products here.