CSV Import Auto Assign Groove Flow Owner by Lookup Column

The auto-assign Flow owner based on a user lookup column empowers teams to automatically assign Flow participants to their users at scale. Unlike the standard Assign To feature — which is good for assigning participants to one user at a time — this feature streamlines the process by enabling teams to mass-assign Flow participants in a few simple steps.  

This guide will quickly overview how the auto-assign owner feature works when importing Contacts/Leads into a Flow with a CSV file that contains a Salesforce User lookup column. It also covers some common errors and nuances that come up with this feature.

This feature builds on the CSV Import feature. Read more about CSV Import. 

Use Cases

1. Bulk assign leads/contacts to owners
   Quickly assign hundreds or thousands of contacts (up to 2000 per import) or leads to their correct owners in one import, using Salesforce User IDs and emails in the CSV.

2. Match campaign follow-up to CRM ownership
   Automatically assign leads in a campaign Flow to the correct account executive, ensuring outreach aligns with Salesforce record ownership.

3. Streamline territory or team changes
   Distribute or reassign contacts/leads to new owners after territory adjustments or team restructuring, based on up-to-date Salesforce owner info.

4. Combine user assignment with advanced import workflows
   Auto-assign owners and use merge fields or Direct Import features in a single CSV import for personalized, large-scale data operations.

Requirements for the Feature to Work

1. This feature is only available in Master Flows.

2. The user conducting the import must have the Add People to All Flows Flow Permissions enabled for their user role in Manage My Org.

3. When a User ID or email address is detected in the CSV file then we will take the first column that contains a user ID and use that to assign to others.

• A Salesforce User ID starts with the prefix 005. We support both 15-digit and 18-digit Salesforce User IDs.
• If there are multiple columns containing Salesforce User IDs, Groove will use the first column found and ignore the others.

4. If a user is listed in the CSV file’s Assign To column but is not a Groove user or is not shared on the Master Flow, the corresponding Contact/Lead will be blocked from being imported.

Steps for Using the Feature

1. Create a CSV that contains at a minimum:

   1. A column of Contact/Lead email addresses or Salesforce Contact/Lead IDs

   2. A column of 15-digit or 18-digit Salesforce User IDs

   3. Note: If there are multiple columns of Salesforce User IDs, make sure the column you want to use for the auto-assignment is the left-most column of Salesforce User IDs.

       

       

2. In a Master Flow in the Groove web app: Click the Add button, then click the People option from the dropdown menu

3. Click CSV Lookup at the top. 

4. Select the Choose File button, then select the CSV you want to use for the import.

5. Check the ‘Assign based on User Column’ checkbox, then press Search (see screenshot below)

6. See that the ‘Assign To’ column picks up on the Groove user in the CSV to whom a given Contact/Lead will be assigned in the Flow:

7. Use the checkboxes to the left of contact names to select the people you want to import into the Flow, then click the ‘Add # People’ button in the top-right corner.

8. When viewing these people from the Flow’s People tab in the future, the ‘Managed By’ column should contain the name of the assign-to user and the ‘Added By’ column should contain the name of the user who did the import.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the Assign To column with the Salesforce User IDs need to follow a specific naming convention for us to use it to auto-assign Flow participants?

No. The column can be named anything as long as it contains the Salesforce User IDs in it. How Groove works with this feature is that we’re scanning the second row of the column for any Salesforce User IDs. Whatever column we first detect Salesforce User IDs in, we then use for the auto-assignment.

Can you auto-assign people using a CSV that’s also used to load in Custom Flow Merge Fields?

Yes! The same CSV can be used to auto-assign the the Flow owners and to load in Custom Flow Merge Fields. The columns in the CSV just need to be accurately configured for both.

Can you auto-assign people using a CSV and use Direct Import at the same time?

Yes! You can auto-assign people using a CSV that you’re also using for Direct Import. To do so, just ensure that the ‘Assign Based on User Column’ checkbox is selected before you click the blue ‘Create Records’ button.