Importing Tradeshow Leads into HubSpot

Overview

Whoever has the lead file from a show follows three steps: run it through Claude, review it, and import it into HubSpot. Once the import finishes, you're done. HubSpot assigns the contacts and creates leads automatically.

1. Run the file through Claude. Claude puts the show's spreadsheet into our standard template, checks the tags against HubSpot, and flags rows to review.
2. Review the file. Confirm the show and tag, and handle the flagged rows.
3. Import into HubSpot. One file, with columns that already match HubSpot.
   
   

Step 1 – Run the show file through Claude

Attach the spreadsheet the show sent you to a Claude (Cowork) task and ask Claude to process it, for example: "Process these leads from ChannelPro Dallas for HubSpot." The show-leads-import skill does the rest.

*If the skill has any issues, reach out to Mike Silva to fix it.

What Claude does:

• Maps the columns from whatever the file has (6 or 30 columns, any header names) into Slide's import template.
• Cleans the data: fixes all caps and all-lowercase names, standardizes phone numbers, spells out states and countries (FL becomes Florida, US becomes United States), removes credentials from names ("Meek, CISSP" becomes "Meek"), clears stray characters and combines duplicates.
• Checks the tags against HubSpot. It pulls the current list of shows and tags each run. A show name or tag that doesn't match a HubSpot option is corrected, for example "Channel Pro Dallas 2026" becomes "ChannelPro Live Dallas 2026" and "attendee" becomes "Attended". If two shows could match, Claude asks you.
• Checks every email in HubSpot to find existing contacts, customers, and name mismatches.

What you get back:

• One import file with one tab and these columns: First Name, Last Name, Email, Job Title, Company Name, Phone Number, Mobile Phone Number, Country/Region, Street Address, City, State/Region, Postal Code, Recent Tradeshow Tag, Recent Tradeshow, Recent Tradeshow Notes.
• A review summary in the chat listing what changed and which rows to check.

Claude only reads from HubSpot. Nothing is imported until you do Step 3.

Step 2 – Review the file

Before importing, check the review summary. Flagged rows are still in the import file, so decide on each one: fix it, remove it, or leave it.

• Recent Tradeshow is the right show. If Claude changed the name, confirm the match.
• Recent Tradeshow Tag is right (Attended, Registration, Scanned, Boardroom or Dinner).
• Personal emails (gmail, outlook, yahoo, ISP addresses). HubSpot can't link these to a company. Find a work email if you can, or flag them to the contact's owner after import.
• Likely email typos, such as an address whose domain is almost the same as their colleagues'. Fix them before importing.
• No email. HubSpot can't match these contacts. Find an email or remove the row.

Step 3 – Import into HubSpot (see video at bottom for greater detail)

Import the reviewed file as contacts, and choose to create new contacts and update existing ones, matched on email. Existing contacts get the new show tags rather than a duplicate record.

Only the three tradeshow columns may overwrite existing data. On the mapping screen, click Don't overwrite for every column except Recent Tradeshow Tag, Recent Tradeshow and Recent Tradeshow Notes. Existing contacts keep their current name, title, phone and address, and only their show fields update. New contacts get every field.

That's it. Once the import finishes, HubSpot takes over. There's nothing else to do.

Troubleshooting

HubSpot rejected the Recent Tradeshow value. The show isn't an option yet. Ask a HubSpot admin to add it, then re-import.

*Any issues, reach out to Mike Silva

Video Walkthrough of Import Process