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Accessing the import settings page

You can access the Import Settings page in two ways:
  • When creating a new import, you are automatically taken to this page.
  • If you are revisiting an existing import, click on Edit import from the top right corner of the import detail view.

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Section 1: Import source (top block)

The first block at the top of the page will vary depending on how you chose to import your contacts:
  • Webhook imports: Displays a unique Webhook URL and shows a sample payload of how contact data should be structured in JSON format.
  • App imports: Displays setup instructions specific to the connected app (e.g. Zapier).
  • CSV file imports: Displays the uploaded CSV files, with an option to add more.
No matter the source, the remaining configuration sections on the page are consistent. Info: There are separate helpdesk articles available for each of the three import types—Webhook, App, and CSV—which explain their specific setup processes in detail.

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Section 2: Naming your import

Every import should have a clear and descriptive name. This helps identify imports later when running campaigns, nurturing flows, or audits. Click into the Name field and update it with a recognizable title, such as “Inbound Webhook – Q3 Leads” or “CSV Import – June Newsletter.”

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Section 3: Qualification questions

Qualification questions allow you to define specific criteria that contacts or companies must meet before they are officially imported into FirstQuadrant. This is a critical filtering mechanism to ensure only relevant, high-quality records are added to your workspace. When you upload a list or connect a source (CSV, webhook, or app), the contacts are staged but not yet fully imported. Qualification questions act as a gating layer: FirstQuadrant evaluates each staged contact against your specified criteria, and only those who pass all questions are included in the final import. These questions are always binary (yes/no) and can target either the company or the contact. They are especially useful for narrowing your target audience to fit your ICP (ideal customer profile). For example:
  • Company-level questions might ask: Is the company a B2B SaaS?, Is the company SOC 2 compliant?, or Does the company have over 50 employees?
  • Contact-level questions might ask: Is this a senior-level decision maker?, or Is the contact based in Europe?
To create qualification questions:
  • Click Add question to open the builder.
  • Choose whether the question applies to a contact or a company.
  • Write your yes/no question.
  • Choose the source of the answer:
    • Perplexity (default): Uses external AI search to look up the answer.
    • Internal data: Pulls from FirstQuadrant’s enrichment data (best used when importing known records).
  • Decide whether a yes or no qualifies the record.
You can also in the advanced section:
  • Choose to qualify records with unknown answers (enabled by default).
  • Provide additional context or explanation for the question using the description field.
All contacts must pass every qualification question you set. If a contact fails even one, they will not be imported. Tip: You can combine multiple unrelated questions for more refined control over your imports.

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Section 4: Qualifying rules

Qualifying rules are additional system-level checks applied after a contact has passed all qualification questions. These rules serve as automated filters that help ensure the validity and integrity of your imported data before final import. You can enable or disable the following rule-based filters:
  • Company website is up: This rule checks whether the company’s domain is live and reachable. If the domain is down or does not resolve, the contact will be disqualified. This helps filter out inactive or defunct companies.
  • Email address is verified: Uses FirstQuadrant’s built-in email verification service to determine whether the email is likely deliverable. If the email fails verification, the contact is disqualified. This reduces the chances of bouncebacks in outbound campaigns.
  • Professional email is available: Ensures that contacts use work-related email domains (e.g. [email protected]) and filters out personal domains like Gmail, Yahoo, and Outlook. This is especially useful if you’re focused on B2B outreach.
  • Exclude existing contacts (enabled by default): If turned on, FirstQuadrant checks whether a contact already exists in your workspace. If yes, they will not be added to this import. If this option is turned off, existing contacts will still be included in the current import group. This is useful when you’re importing to segment for a specific campaign or initiative. Note that contacts are never duplicated even if they belong to multiple imports.
Note: These rules are only evaluated after contacts have passed the qualification questions. If a contact is disqualified by a qualification question, these rules are not applied at all.

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Section 5: Run AI reasoning

Once contacts pass all qualification checks and rules, you can control whether FirstQuadrant runs AI reasoning on the imported contacts by toggling the “Run AI reasoning” option:
  • When enabled: FirstQuadrant will automatically run AI reasoning on each imported contact, analyzing their profile, company, and context to generate personalized insights, suggested actions, and outreach strategies. This comprehensive AI reasoning consumes 3 credits per contact.
  • When disabled: Contacts are imported without AI reasoning. They will be added to your workspace but won’t have AI-generated insights, personalized messaging, or suggested next steps until something triggers the reasoning.
Important credit considerations:
  • Running AI reasoning consumes 3 credits per contact from your workspace allowance
  • For large imports (e.g., 1,000+ contacts), consider your available credit balance
  • You can always run AI reasoning later on-demand if you choose to import without reasoning

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Guidelines for configuration

Enable “Run AI reasoning” if:
  • You need immediate AI insights and personalized messaging for these contacts
  • You’re planning to engage with these contacts soon or they have a conversation history you want to continue
  • You have sufficient credits for the import size
  • You want the AI to analyze and prioritize these contacts
Disable “Run AI reasoning” if:
  • You’re importing contacts to add to a campaign
  • These are cold leads you’ll nurture over time
  • You prefer to manually select which contacts to process later
  • You’re importing for data storage rather than immediate engagement

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Section 6: Notes (optional)

When importing contacts, you can optionally attach a note that provides additional context for FirstQuadrant’s AI to evaluate during its reasoning process. Here’s how it works:
  • A note is added automatically to the end of the conversation history for each contact in the import.
  • When “Run AI reasoning” is enabled, that note becomes part of what the AI reviews when determining the contact’s status, urgency, and suggested actions.
  • These notes can include:
    • Descriptive context about how or why the contact was imported (e.g. “Imported via Zapier from lead gen form”)
    • Internal instructions for FirstQuadrant (e.g. “Follow up in 2 weeks with product demo link”)
    • Relationship info or meeting history (e.g. “Met at Web Summit 2024”)
Important: Notes are not just informational. When AI reasoning is enabled, FirstQuadrant uses them as active signals when evaluating next best actions. Even subtle instructions like “warm intro” or “follow-up post-trial” can significantly shape the suggested outreach strategy. Note: If you’ve disabled “Run AI reasoning” during import, these notes will still be attached to the contacts but won’t be analyzed by the AI until you manually trigger reasoning later. For full flexibility, see the separate help article on Using Notes in FirstQuadrant, including how to customize note behavior using fine-tuning settings.

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Section 7: Scheduling the import

You can choose when and how the contacts should be imported:
  • Import all rows immediately: All qualified contacts are imported at once.
  • Import on a recurring schedule: Specify a number of contacts to import periodically (e.g. 100 contacts per month).
Use case:
  • When importing from a large prospecting list (e.g. 100,000 contacts).
  • To conserve credits and stagger outreach.
  • To defer engagement or stagger workload.