Onboarding guide: Preparing your enquiry data for Found
Last updated: May 19, 2026
Welcome to Found Pro! This guide will help you prepare your care home enquiry data for importing into the Found system. Follow these steps to ensure a smooth onboarding process.
Overview
This guide walks you through preparing your enquiry data for import into Found. An enquiry represents a case or opportunity for a prospective service user — typically captured from a phone call, website form, visit, or referral — and is the starting point of your sales pipeline.
If you're migrating from another CRM, spreadsheet, or paper-based process, this article explains what file format we accept, which fields are required and which are optional, what each field means, and the rules that link the fields together.
Once your file is ready, your Found onboarding contact will load it and share a results report so you can review what was imported.
File format
File type: CSV (comma-separated values) with a .csv extension
Encoding: UTF-8 is recommended so accented characters import correctly
Header row: the first row must contain the column headers exactly as named in this guide, in camelCase
Maximum file size: 100 MB per upload
One enquiry per row, with each row tied to a single location
Wrap any value that contains a comma, double quote, or newline in double quotes
Dates can be supplied as DD/MM/YYYY or YYYY-MM-DD. Values for enum fields are accepted in either sentence case (Residential dementia) or the underlying code (RESIDENTIAL_DEMENTIA).
Step 1: Prepare your locations and attribution sources first
Before sending your enquiry file, make sure the following are already set up in Found, because the enquiry import will only link to records that already exist:
All locations (care homes, home care branches, or retirement living schemes) that your enquiries belong to
All self-reported and digital attribution sources that you reference in the file
Send your Found onboarding contact a list of these ahead of time so they can be created in advance.
Step 2: Prepare your enquiry data
In the enquiry template CSV, include one row for every enquiry you want to migrate. Each row needs to identify the location, the date, and the person who made the enquiry.
Required fields
Field | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
locationName | Name of the location the enquiry belongs to. Must match the location set up in Found. | Sunny View |
enquiryDate | Date the enquiry was received (DD/MM/YYYY). Must be today or earlier. | 15/01/2024 |
contactFirstName | First name of the person making the enquiry. | Mary |
contactLastName | Last name of the person making the enquiry. | Jones |
In addition, every row must include at least one of contactEmail, contactMobile, or contactLandline so the enquirer can be followed up.
Optional fields
Leave a cell blank if you don't have the information. Do not enter placeholders such as N/A, unknown, null, or a dash — they will be imported literally.
Enquiry context
Field | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
enquiryStage | Stage of the enquiry in your pipeline. | Contact attempted, Contact successful, Visit booked, Visit complete, Assessment booked, Assessment complete, Contract sent, Pending, Reserved, Residency booked, Residency started, Care package booked, Care package started, Sale |
enquiryStatus | Current status of the enquiry. | Open, Closed lost, Closed won, Archived |
enquiryTemperature | How likely the enquiry is to convert. | Unknown, Cool, Warm, Hot |
inWaitingList | Whether the enquirer is on the waiting list. | true, false |
contactMethod | How the enquiry was first received. | Phone call, Email, Contact form, Live chat, Voicemail, Walk in, Viewing request, Assessment or consultation request, Information request, Shortlist referral, Offline, Other, Unknown |
attributionSource | Self-reported source the enquirer named. Must match a self-reported attribution source set up in Found. | Carehome.co.uk, Autumna, Homecare.co.uk, Lottie, Care Choices, Word of Mouth, Family or Friend Recommendation, Healthcare, Local Authority, Previous Customer, Open Day, Event (e.g. Coffee Morning), CQC, Magazine, Brochure or Leaflet |
digitalAttributionSource | Tracked digital source the enquiry came through. Must match a digital attribution source set up in Found. | Google, Microsoft Bing, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, Carehome.co.uk, Autumna, Homecare.co.uk, Care Choices, Lottie, Rightmove |
notes | Free-text notes carried over from your prior system. | Imported from prior system. |
Contact details
Field | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
contactTitle | Title of the contact. | Mr, Mrs, Miss, Ms, Other |
contactEmail | Email address of the contact. | |
contactMobile | Mobile phone number including country code. | +44 7700 900001 |
contactLandline | Landline phone number including country code. | +44 20 7946 0958 |
contactAddressLine1 | First line of the contact's address. | 123 Main Street |
contactAddressLine2 | Second line of the contact's address. | Flat 4B |
contactCity | Contact's city. | London |
contactPostcode | Contact's postcode. | SW1A 1AA |
Service user details
These describe the person who will receive care, who may differ from the contact making the enquiry.
Field | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
serviceUserTitle | Title of the service user. | Mr, Mrs, Miss, Ms, Other |
serviceUserFirstName | First name of the service user. | John |
serviceUserMiddleName | Middle name of the service user. | William |
serviceUserLastName | Last name of the service user. | Jones |
serviceUserDateOfBirth | Date of birth (DD/MM/YYYY). Must be strictly in the past. | 20/05/1940 |
serviceUserGender | Gender of the service user. | Male, Female, Non-binary, Transgender male, Transgender female, Other |
relationshipToServiceUser | Relationship of the contact to the service user. | Themselves, Service user, Spouse, Partner, Parent, Grandparent, Child, Grandchild, Sibling, Other family, Friend, Neighbour, Professional relationship |
Care needs
The values accepted for careType and careDuration depend on the type of location the enquiry is linked to.
Field | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
careType | Type of care required. Leave blank for retirement living locations. | Care home: Residential, Residential dementia, Nursing, Nursing dementia. Home care: Hourly care, Live-in care, Overnight sleeping, Overnight waking |
careDuration | How long the care is needed for. Leave blank for retirement living locations. | Care home: Respite, Permanent, Day. Home care: Respite, Ongoing |
fundingType | How the care will be funded. | Private, Local authority, Local authority + top up, NHS, Other, Not known |
moveInStartDate | When the service user is hoping to start. | ASAP, One to two weeks, Two to four weeks, One to three months, Three to six months, Six plus months |
retirementPurchaseType | Retirement living only. | Rent, Buy |
retirementFundingType | Retirement living only. | Cash, Local authority, Mortgage, Sale of an existing house, Not known |
Rules to keep in mind
enquiryDate must be today or earlier. serviceUserDateOfBirth must be strictly in the past.
locationName must match a location that already exists in Found (matched case-insensitively).
Care home, home care, and retirement living locations each accept a different set of care fields. A row that mixes incompatible care fields with the location type will be rejected.
attributionSource and digitalAttributionSource must match existing source names in Found.
If the same number is supplied for both contactMobile and contactLandline, the landline value is ignored to avoid duplication.
When the file is loaded, Found checks for an existing contact by email, mobile, and landline. If a match is found, the new enquiry is attached to that contact rather than creating a duplicate.
An address is only recorded on a new contact when both contactCity and contactPostcode are provided.
Frequently asked questions
Q: Do my locations need to exist in Found before I send the enquiry file? A: Yes. Enquiries are linked to existing locations by locationName. Set up your locations first, then prepare the enquiry file using the exact location names.
Q: What format should dates be in? A: DD/MM/YYYY (for example 15/01/2024) is the recommended format for both enquiryDate and serviceUserDateOfBirth. YYYY-MM-DD is also accepted.
Q: Can I import future enquiry dates? A: No. enquiryDate must be today or earlier. serviceUserDateOfBirth must be strictly in the past.
Q: What if I only have a phone number for the contact and no email? A: That's fine. You must provide at least one of contactEmail, contactMobile, or contactLandline — any one of them is enough.
Q: What happens if a contact already exists in Found? A: Found matches on the email, mobile, and landline you supply. If an existing contact matches, the new enquiry is attached to that contact rather than creating a duplicate.
Q: Do I need to fill in service user details? A: No. Service user fields are optional. Provide them when you have them — they help with reporting and follow-up.
Q: What value should I use when I don't know the funding type? A: Use Not known. Don't leave free text or N/A.
Q: My attribution source isn't on the list. What should I do? A: There is no fixed list of attribution sources — they are configured per workspace. Send Found your list of sources before the import so they can be set up. Each must be marked as either self-reportable or digital, matching the column you put it in.
Q: Can the same phone number be used for mobile and landline? A: You can put the same value in both, but Found will only store it once to avoid duplication.
Q: What file size can I upload? A: Up to 100 MB per CSV file.
Q: Can I include enquiries for multiple locations in one file? A: Yes. Each row carries its own locationName, so a single file can cover any mix of locations in your workspace.
Q: What happens if a row has an invalid value? A: Rows that fail validation are reported back with the reason — for example an unknown value for an enum field, a future date, or a missing required field. Valid rows from the same file are still imported.
Q: Do I need to provide an enquiryStage and enquiryStatus for each row? A: No, both are optional. If left blank, Found applies its defaults. Provide them when you want to preserve the pipeline state from your previous system.
Q: Will notes from my old system be preserved? A: Yes. Anything in the notes column is imported as free-text notes on the enquiry.
Q: Can I re-run the import if I find a mistake? A: Speak to your Found onboarding contact before re-running. Re-importing the same rows can create duplicate enquiries — corrections are usually handled by editing in Found or by sending a corrections-only file.