Managing Customers

You can manually add individual leads to your contacts one at a time.(→ What is a lead?)

• The [+] button at the bottom left of the Contacts screen → [Import leads]

• Only a phone number or an email address is required for the addition.

• If the contact already exists in your list, it won’t be added again.

• Since the contacts are manually added by a manager, they are considered verified (qualified) information.

You can update multiple customers' information at once by uploading a CSV file. (Bulk Customer Import)

• Click the [+] button at the bottom left of the Contacts screen → [CSV File]

• At this stage, choose whether to import member customer information or lead customer information (→ Difference between members and leads).

• Importing both members and leads together in a single batch is not supported. You must select either members or leads.

① Import Members

• Click on 'Download Template (Member)' to download the Excel-based template, fill in the details, and convert it to a CSV file.

• When you upload the file, ChannelTalk identifies existing customers by their 'member ID'.

  • If an existing customer has the same 'member ID', their information will be updated.

  • If there is no existing customer, a new customer will be created.

    

• Select whether to identify customers by their 'email' or 'mobile number'.

• Click on 'Download Template (Email or Mobile Number)' to download the Excel-based template, fill in the details, and convert it to a CSV file.

  

• Upload the CSV file and select whether to identify customer information by email or mobile number.

  • If an existing customer has the same email or mobile number, their information will be updated.

  • If there are multiple existing customers, the information of the most recently accessed customer will be updated.

  • If there are no existing customers, a new customer will be created.

    

• After uploading the CSV file, map the columns in your file to the ChannelTalk customer profiles.

• The columns for identification are located in the first column. The following columns show the fields that can be edited by the manager.

• Subscription Opt-Out Fields (unsubscribeEmail, unsubscribeTexting)

  • When updating an existing customer's information, the subscription opt-out status in the uploaded CSV is applied as follows:

    1. If there is no subscription opt-out value in the CSV: The customer's existing status is maintained. (This works regardless of the import settings.)

    2. If there is a subscription opt-out value in the CSV: The customer's existing status is overwritten with the value from the CSV.

  • When registering a new user, you must specify whether all subscription opt-out fields are TRUE or FALSE. For example, when importing email leads, both the email opt-out and text opt-out values must be filled in.

  • When updating existing user information, you can leave the subscription opt-out column empty in the uploaded file.

• If the number of uploaded rows exceeds 30, only the first 30 rows will be displayed on the screen. (All columns are shown.)

  If there are columns you don't want to work with, you can select 'Do not import'.

• A single customer profile should be used for only one uploaded item.

• If an unexpected error occurs, we will notify you as shown above. You can then choose to either proceed or check the file and re-upload it.

• If the customer profile you want isn't there, you can create one directly from the customer profile search bar.

• If the uploaded file contains empty cells, you can select how to handle the existing data.

  • Maintain Existing Data

    Empty cells are ignored, and the existing customer information is kept as is.

  • Clear Existing Data (Excluding Opt-out Fields)

    Empty cells will overwrite the corresponding values with 'none'. However, for opt-out fields, the existing value will be maintained even if the cell is empty.

• You can create a 'Customer Import Tag' that can be used to filter customers when sending marketing messages or managing customer contacts.

• The uploaded CSV filename is automatically entered as the 'Customer Import Tag', and you can edit it yourself.

  

Once the import is complete, you(requested team member) and the owner will be notified via a message from the chatbot.

You can also check the results by clicking [Customer Import Log] at the bottom of the [Customer Contacts] section.

① Download Failed Items

• If there are any items that failed to import, you can download a separate Excel file to edit them, convert the file to a CSV, and re-upload it.

• Description of Each Item:

  • Created: The number of newly created customers.

  • Updated: The number of customers matched with existing customers. Even if they were only matched and the existing customer's information was not actually changed, it is recognized as an update.

  • Failed: The number of rows from the file that failed to import.

• The number of imported, created, and updated customers is counted as a single person even if the same customer appears multiple times in the file.

  In other words, the numbers are displayed based on the actual number of customers with duplicate rows removed. (Effective from May 22, 2025)

• A maximum of 30 rows are shown as a preview on the screen.

Notes:

• The failure log can be downloaded for 30 days.

• The row number of the row (rowNumber) with a problem is noted in column 1.

• The Channel Talk profile key for the column with a problem (errorColumns) is provided in column 2.

• The reason for the failure (errorReasons) is provided in column 3.

• The Channel Talk customer profile key mapped to the row is provided in column 4.

• Only the failed rows are provided.

② Manager Activity Log

• You can check the details of one-time customer imports by going to [Activity Log] → [Bulk Customer Import].

• If you're using the Enterprise plan and security package, you can also check the bulk customer import details in [Activity Log] → [Edit customer info].

③ Using the Customer Import Results

You can send marketing messages using the 'Customer Import Tag'.

How to Convert an Excel File to a CSV File

① Window OS (MS Office Excel)

1. Open the file you want to convert.

2. Go to [File] → click [Save As].

3. From [File type], select 'CSV (Comma delimited)'.

4. Go to [Tools] → [Web Options] → [Encoding], and select 'Unicode UTF-8' before saving.

② Mac OS (Numbers)

1. Open the file you want to convert.

2. Click [File] → [Export To] → [CSV].

3. When saving, select 'Unicode UTF-8' for [Text Encoding] and save.

③ Google Spreadsheets

1. Open the spreadsheet you want to convert from Google Drive.

2. From the top menu, click [File] > [Download] > [Comma Separated Values (.csv)].

3. The CSV file will be downloaded automatically.

Supported Formats for Each Customer Profile Data Type

• string

  • All formats except the ones below. This refers to most general text.

• phone number (mobile number, landline number)

  • The phone number format must include the country code.

  • Example:

    • Format applicable only to profile.mobileNumber:

      • +821020203030

      • +82 010-2020-3030

    • Format applicable only to landlineNumber:

      • +8225556666

• number

  • Please enter only integers or decimals. Do not use commas (,) for thousand separators.

  • Examples: 1, 1.01

• date, datetime

• Notes and Precautions

  • After entering a date or datetime in Excel or Google Sheets, you can directly specify the format in [Match Date and Time Format].

  • Please avoid formats like YYYY.MM.DD, YYYY/MM/DD. Even if they appear to be entered correctly, the filters may not work properly when mapping to customer profiles in Channel Talk.

  • After entering a date or datetime, you can use the following formula to convert it to epoch millisecond (a numeric format):

    • Example: To convert cell B2 to a YYYY-MM-DD format, use the following formula: =(B2-DATE(1970,1,1))*86400000

    • To check if the conversion result is correct, you can review it on epochconverter.com.

• Boolean

  • For a True or False case, which is not case-sensitive, enter it as follows:

  • True: "true", "yes", "y", "1"

  • False: "false", "no", "n", "0"

• list

  • Use this when entering multiple text strings.

  • Enclose the text strings in double quotes and separate them with commas inside brackets.

  • Example: ["string1", "string2"]

• list of number

  • Use this when entering a list of numbers.

  • Enclose the numbers in brackets and separate them with commas.

  • Example: [1,2]

• tag

  • Enter this in a list format and use / to separate the levels.

  • Example: ["basic/level1", "advanced/level2"]

  • Note: The / can be used for up to 2 levels. It can only appear in the middle, not at the beginning or end. You cannot use ., ,, $, \, or a blank space.

Per-Customer-Profile Data Type Limits (Data Size/Character Count)

For stable data management, the maximum storage size for each data type varies. Please refer to the table below to help with your data uploads.

I accidentally uploaded a CSV file. Can I undo a customer import?

Once a customer import is completed, it cannot be reverted to its previous state. Please be extremely careful, as customer import actions are irreversible.

Can multiple team members perform bulk customer imports at the same time within a single channel?

Only one upload process can be executed at a time. A new bulk customer import can only be performed after the existing process has finished. Simultaneous requests are not possible.

Are there any limitations on the number of customer import tags (user.userImportTag)?

Each customer is limited to a maximum of 30 tags. If all 30 are used, the oldest registered tag is deleted, and a new one is added.

I want to delete the customers I imported via bulk customer import(CSV file upload)

You can search for them in Contacts using the 'Customer Import Tag' (user.userImportTag) and then use the bulk action to delete them all at once.

For more information, please check the 'FAQs' section at the bottom of this page.

For websites using supported builders, the customer profile data provided by the builder can be saved in Channel Talk.

• Cafe24, Shopify: You can also import customer data for users who registered before installation.

• Other Builders: We’re preparing a feature to enable bulk imports.

• Use the Follow-up on Responses feature to collect customer information (→ Learn more)

• Use the Form feature to gather customer data (→ Learn more)

• Use OpenAPI to import and save customer information one by one (→ Learn more)

The method for deleting customers depends on your website’s setup. Please confirm your site’s setup before proceeding with customer deletion.

• When a customer leaves your website, use OpenAPI to notify Channel Talk, and their data will be automatically removed from the database (→ Learn more).

• If you already have information about customers who have left, you can delete their profiles via an API call.

• Cafe24, MakeShop, Shopby, Imweb

  • When a customer deletes their account on the website, their information is automatically removed from Channel Talk.

  • For Cafe24, customer deletion data has been provided to Channel Talk since July 2021. For customers who left before that date, you’ll need to manually delete their profiles in ChannelTalk.

  • For Imweb, customer deletion data has been provided to Channel Talk since September 2025. For customers who left before that date, you’ll need to manually delete their profiles in ChannelTalk.

• Shopify: Customers cannot delete their accounts directly. Instead, they must request deletion from the store, and the admin can either [disable] or [delete] their account.

  • Disable: This deactivates the customer but does not delete them.

  • Delete: The customer’s profile is permanently removed, and Channel Talk automatically deletes their data.

• Other Builders: Use the site’s admin panel to view deleted customers, find their ID or contact details, and search for their profile in Channel Talk to delete it.

To delete a customer:

1. In Contacts, click the profile of the customer you want to delete. Click View Customer Profile.

   

2. Click the […] button below the customer’s profile picture.

   

3. Select Delete to remove the customer.

   

4. You can also select multiple customers from the list and delete them all at once.

   

You can block and manage customers who send persistent spam or use inappropriate language during chats.

• Once blocked, these customers will no longer appear in your contact list. You can only find them under [Blocked Customer Management] located at the bottom left of the contact page.

• From the Blocked Customer Management list, you can also unblock customers at any time.

  

1. Go to [Contacts].

2. Open the [Customer Profile] of the person you wish to block.

3. Click the […] button to block the customer.

• Blocked customers won’t see the Channel Talk button when they visit your site or service.

• Blocked customers won’t be included in MU counts.

• You won’t be able to chat with, or send marketing messages to, blocked customers.

  • If there is an active chat, messages will no longer be delivered to the blocked customer.

  • Outbound calls to blocked customers won’t go through.

  • Incoming calls from blocked customers will be marked as missed and won’t connect.

  • Blocked customers will be removed from marketing message target lists.

• To unblock a customer, go to Blocked Customer Management and select the option to unblock.