If you import contacts randomly, you get random results. Sort first — and your best leads get the attention they should have gotten from day one.
This article is about what happens before you upload anything to RealScout. It gives you a universal system for sorting any contact list into a working priority order — no formulas, no spreadsheet skills required. The system works whether your list has 50 contacts or 5,000.
The actual import steps are in Step 3: Add / Import Contacts.
The Tiered Structure
Before you create a single import file, divide your database into three groups. The size of your database does not matter.
Tier One — your active contacts. People you would recognize if they called you today. Recent leads, active buyers and sellers, past clients, homeowners you want to stay in touch with. These go into RealScout first, get the most complete setup (Listing Alerts, Home Value Alerts where applicable), and are the contacts most likely to engage with what RealScout sends them.
Tier Two — your warm database. Contacts you know but haven't spoken to recently. Sphere referrals, leads from a year or two ago, people who went quiet but never said no. Import these after Tier One is fully set up. Name and email is enough to get them in to start.
Tier Three — your cold archive. Leads that have gone dark, contacts with missing information, anyone you genuinely aren't sure about. We recommend agents skip this group entirely on the first import pass, save them for the last import grouping, or only bring in homeowners from it for Home Value Alerts. Do not let this group hold up your Tier One and Tier Two imports.
The gut check question:
"If this person called me today, would I know who they are?"
If yes — import first. If you have to think about it — second round. If you'd have no idea — last or skip altogether.
How to sort when you don't have date data
Not every CRM export includes a clean date, open, or active status field — and that is fine. Sort by whatever signal you have available.
Lead source. Referrals and past clients almost always belong in Tier One. Online leads from portals more than a year old typically belong in Tier Two or Tier Three.
How well you know them. If you remember the conversation, they belong in Tier One or Two. If you don't, save them for Tier Three or skip.
Whether they have a property address. A home address usually signals a homeowner — a strong candidate for a Home Value Alert and a Tier One contact.
Phone number present. If you have a phone number, a real conversation happened at some point. That is a Tier Two or higher signal.
Add a column to your spreadsheet called Tier and type Tier One, Tier Two, or Tier Three next to each contact. For most agents with a list under a few hundred, this takes less than 20 minutes.
How to sort when you do have date data
If your CRM export includes a date column — date added, last contacted, lead creation date — you can use it to assign tiers based on recency rather than doing it manually. The logic is straightforward: contacts from the last 12 months become Tier One, contacts from 1–3 years ago become Tier Two, and anything older becomes Tier Three.
You don't need any special tools for a smaller list — you can sort by date and assign tiers by eye.
A note on batch sizes
RealScout's contact import accepts up to 990 contacts per file. If your list is under 990 contacts total, you can import everything in one go — just use separate files for each tier. If any single tier exceeds 990 contacts, you'll want to split that tier into multiple files before uploading. Splitting them clearly (Tier1_Batch1, Tier1_Batch2) keeps the process trackable.
Quick reference
Tier | Who belongs here | Import order | Setup priority |
Tier One | Active leads, recent contacts, past clients, homeowners | First | Full setup — Listing Alerts, Home Value Alerts where applicable |
Tier Two | Warm sphere, older leads, referrals not yet followed up | Second | Name + email to start, alerts configured later |
Tier Three | Cold leads, incomplete data, unsure | Last — or skip | Homeowners only for Home Value Alerts, or skip entirely |
Do I have to sort every contact before I import?
No — but the outcome is different when you do. Agents who import their full database at once without sorting tend to configure alerts indiscriminately, which hurts deliverability for the contacts who would have engaged. Even a rough sort makes a real difference.
What if my tiers each have fewer than 990 contacts?
Then you do not need to split. Each tier is already one file. The 990-per-file limit only applies when a single tier exceeds that count.
What if I don't have date data and can't tell which tier a contact belongs in?
Use the gut check: "If this person called me today, would I know who they are?" That one question sorts faster and more accurately than any formula when your data is incomplete.
Can I import all three tiers back-to-back on the same day?
You can, but the purpose of tiering is to configure alerts for your Tier One contacts first — before Tier Two and Tier Three are in the system. Import Tier One, set up their alerts, then return for the rest. RealScout's Email Deliverability System performs better when your earliest traffic comes from contacts most likely to open and click.
Will importing the same contact twice create a duplicate?
No. RealScout matches on email address. If a contact already exists in your account, a second import with the same email updates their record rather than creating a second entry.
Related Articles