How to Upload Reservations from CSV
You can upload a CSV format excel file containing data about your guide users, whether they are guest reservation details, event attendees details, or information for any other type of person who is using your guide. With these details you can schedule messages to your guide users and automatically send them unique, trackable guide links.
You can upload guide user information to schedule messages and send unique trackable guide links to your guide users using Touch Stay's messaging tool, Memo. Guide user information can be guest reservation details, event attendee contact information or wedding guest details for example.
Table of contents:
How to get set up
For each guide user you add, Touch Stay will create an invitation. This invitation is used to send them Memo email or text messages. In order to create the invitations, your CSV file must contain all of the fields listed below:
- Reservation ID
- External Property ID (this is the ID field used in your booking system to identify each property uniquely. If your booking system doesn’t have a separate property ID, or you are generating the CSV through another process, then you can use your property name as the External Property ID)
- Guest Name
- Guest Email and/or Guest Phone
- Arrival Date
- Departure Date
(If you do not have a reservation ID, you can add a fake number just so this field is not left blank. This could be a unique event attendee ID number or any other numeric code you are using to track guide users)
Set-up steps
1. Set up your Memo templates to create your guide user messaging flow
Before you upload your CSV file, set up your Memo email or text messages using our templates (or create your own). See this article for step by step instructions. Once the CSV file has been uploaded, invitations for each guide user will be automatically created and messages will be sent based on your sending schedule.
2. Add your Import ID
Each guide needs an import ID to ensure the CSV file upload is matched to the right guide. This Import ID can be the ID field used by your booking system (External Property ID) or can you add your own ID number.
Go to Guides > select a guide > scroll to the bottom of the page > click 'Edit' and type the Import ID for this guide into the CSV Import ID box. Click 'Save'.
If you have a large number of properties then send an email to support@touchstay.com so we can import these External Property IDs to your account in bulk.
Importing and processing your CSV file:
1. Upload your CSV file
Go to Memo > Invitations and click the grey Uploads button at the top right:
Click 'Choose file' and select the CSV file from your device. Note that your CSV can contain a maximum of 100 lines, if you have more reservations to import then you will need to upload them in batches.
2. Field mapping
On the next screen you must map the mandatory Touch Stay fields to the correct columns in your CSV file. Note that your selections will save and automatically populate the next time you upload a CSV with the same structure.
You must also select the date format used in your CSV file. When ready, click Submit.
3. Data validation
You will then be presented with a table of your data fields ready for import. The next step is for Touch Stay to validate this data to ensure invitations can be created successfully. If you need to adjust your field mappings then click 'Back'. If everything looks correct, click 'Validate'.
4. Correct any errors
Any data validation errors will be presented in a table and must be either corrected, or the reservation record deleted, before the CSV file can be imported and processed to generate invitations. If your file has no errors then you will move directly to the final import screen in step 5.
If you do have errors, click on the warning icons to see the detailed error message, you can either correct the data by updating the field directly in the table or click the line number to highlight a record for deletion. See the section below titled “Common Errors and How to Resolve Them” for further details on common error messages.
Once you are ready to re-validate and/or remove the records selected for deletion click 'Update'. Once all errors have been corrected or deleted you will be taken to the final Import screen.
Step 5. Import
Once your CSV file passes validation checks you will be presented with a final table of your data. Click 'Import' and Touch Stay will process the CSV file and automatically trigger your Memo messages based on the schedule you have set. To see the invitations created from the upload, go to Memo > Invitations.
The guide view count for each reservation can also be seen in this table. Use the 3 dots menu for each Invitation to check the status of individual messages.
Common errors and how to resolve them
External Property ID: Cannot find a Touch Stay property/guide with this ID . The unique identifier in your booking system cannot be matched to a Touch Stay property. This is most likely to occur on recently added properties which haven’t had their booking system ID entered into Touch Stay yet. Check that the CSV Import ID found at the bottom of the relevant “Guide Details” tab matches the ID in your CSV.
Reservation ID: An invitation with this ID already exists. This Reservation ID has already been imported into Touch Stay and used to generate an invitation. This will likely mean this record is a duplicate, and can be deleted from the current import. If this duplicate Reservation ID has updated data, such as a date change, you must manually update the invitation record from the “Invite & Share” tab for that guide.
How do I add the External Property ID for new properties/guides?
The external property ID can be updated from the CSV Import ID section of each “Guide Details” tab. The ID entered here must exactly match the ID used by your booking system to uniquely identify the property in that system.
Can I delete an invitation once it’s been created?
Yes, you can delete invitations from the invitations table on the “Invite & Share” tab. Deleting invitations will also delete the unique Touch Stay guidebook link so even if a guest has accessed the link already it will no longer work and they will not have access to your guidebook.
How do I update an invitation that has previously been created?
Invitations can be edited from the invitations table in the “Invite & Share” tab. Use the Edit option in the 3 dots menu for the invitation you want to change. Only future scheduled messages can be changed, those already sent out will be hidden. Note that you can’t change the email address on an invitation, if you need to send it to a different email you must create a new invitation.
Does the importer support multi-languages?
If you have used our full multi-language functionality (NOT Google Translate) then you can generate invitations in any of your active languages. Your CSV must include a field to determine the language each invitation should be sent in. You must use the 2-letter international ISO 639-1 code for the language in this field e.g. English = en, French = fr. This field must then be mapped to the language field when field mapping (Step 2 above). If you don’t include a language field, then English will be used as the default.
Please be sure to have message templates saved in all the languages you wish to send invitations in.