In this article:
How to Prepare your Google Sheets for Crossbeam
❗️Important
Crossbeam does not support XLSX files (Excel format) uploaded to Google Drive. If your file shows a green .XLSX label next to the file name, it will not be compatible with Crossbeam.
✍️ Note
To ensure your Google Sheet syncs correctly:
Give your Google Sheet a unique name
Ensure each column has a unique header
For example, do not use Website as a header for more than one column
Rows with identical values in the Company Name and the Company Website columns will be flagged as duplicates and skipped.
Required Columns
Company Name
Company URL
Optional Map Account Owner Data to Google Sheets
If you want Account Owner Data to be mapped in Crossbeam, you will need to add a column for Account Owner Email (Account Owner Name and Account Owner Phone are optional columns).
Once the data is active in Crossbeam:
Click the dropdown arrow next to the Google Sheets
Locate Map Account Owner adjacent to the file name and click on it
Input the fields and click Apply when complete.
❗️Important
Once you've mapped these required columns in Crossbeam, do not change them or your sync will return an error.
Google Authentication
To connect Google Sheets to Crossbeam, start by authenticating the connection.
We recommend connecting as a team and designating your Crossbeam account admin as the Google authenticator to ensure clear ownership and accountability.
Follow the steps below to authenticate!
Navigate to your Data Sources page by clicking on Data in the menu
Click on the Google Sheets tile.
Click Authenticate with Google.
Select which Google account you want to authenticate.
❗️Important
Only one user can authenticate this connection within a single organization, and the user must use an organizational Gmail, not a personal Gmail.
Any Google Sheet you wish to bring into Crossbeam must be shared with the user who authenticated the connection to your organization's Google Workspace.
Authentication should happen quickly! Once complete, you'll be ready to start syncing your sheets.
✍️Note
For special circumstances where you need assistance with your Google Authentication, please reach out to your IT team with the following instructions:
Log into admin.google.com with an account with sufficient privileges such as Super Admin
Click 'Security' on the left
Click 'API Controls'
Click 'Manage Third-Party App Access'
Click 'Configure New App'
Select 'Oauth App Name or Client ID'
Enter 'Crossbeam' and click Search
Hover over 'Crossbeam' in the search results and click 'Select'
Check the box 'Oauth Client ID' to select all client ID's
Check 'Trusted: Can access all Google services' (please note the scopes for this app are only Google Drive, this does not grant access to all of your Google services to Crossbeam)
Click 'Configure'
Syncing your Google Sheet
Now that your connection is authenticated, you can select sheets to upload!
Navigate back to the Data Sources page
Click Add next to your Google Sheets connection
Copy the unique URL of your Google Sheet and paste it into the Google Sheet URL field in Crossbeam.
Select a sheet that you want to use from the dropdown
Choose the data type to map: Companies or People
Click Next to start mapping your columns
Map the appropriate columns for Company Name (Required)
If your data type is Companies:
Select the Company Name Column from the drop-down options under Company Name
Select the Company Website Column from the drop-down options under Website
If your data type is People:
Select the Email Column from the drop-down options
Click Add Google Sheet to when done.
Nice job! Your Google Sheet is now synced and ready to use within Crossbeam for building Populations! Depending on how much data is included in your sheet, the initial sync may take a few moments to complete.
Managing your Google Sheets
Once your Google Sheets connection is in place, you can manage your sheets via the Data Sources Page. Click on the small arrow to display all of your uploaded sheets and their status.
Manually sync your data as needed by clicking on Sync Now.
To adjust your update frequency, open Settings by hovering over the three dots next to the connection.
Select how often you would like Crossbeam to check for new data from the Update Frequency drop down menu.
From the Settings menu, you can also delete the Google Sheets connection by clicking Remove Data Source and view Connection Details and/or Reauthorize the connection.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the typical/example upstream data sources that can create a Google Sheet for your Crossbeam data replication?
The best example is data from a CRM! Do we support your CRM? Do you not have permission to connect to your production CRM? Export your data, import it into a Google Sheet, and you're ready to go. Even better, set up an automated workflow (Zapier, Workato) to add any new accounts into a Google sheet to keep your CRM and Google Sheets in sync.
Will you be able to collaborate with partners using Google sheets?
Sure! Any columns that are outside of the columns you're collaborating with your partner on, will be pulled into Crossbeam and viewable in reports (and shareable) as "Account information".
How do you authenticate with Google Sheets from Crossbeam?
We authenticate with your Google account so we can view your sheets. Any sheet you want to include in Crossbeam must have a unique name and be shared with the person that authenticated Google in Crossbeam.