Example · picklist values
Picklist values that don't match your CRM
Your file says "N.S.W.", "new south wales" and "Tassie". Your CRM's picklist says "New South Wales" and "Tasmania". Here is what each value needs before it can be imported, and which ones need nobody at all.
The files
Leads typed by different people in different places. States written five ways, lead sources in any case, and a status column where "hot", "HOT" and "warm lead" all appear.
| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | First name | Last name | Company | State | Industry | Lead source | Status |
| 2 | Lena | Fischer | Kestrel Ridge Hire | Qld | Equipment hire | Google ads | hot |
| 3 | Marcus | Bell | Saltbush Solar Co. | N.S.W. | Renewables | Warm | |
| 4 | Grace | Liu | Orchard Lane Catering | new south wales | Hospitality | Adwords | HOT |
| 5 | Sam | Nguyen | Tidewell Plumbing | VIC. | Construction - Trades | Referral (Customer) | cold |
| 6 | Mei | Tanaka | Harbourline Freight | Western Aus | Transport/Logistics | Trade show | Contacted |
| 7 | Ravi | Patel | Willowmere Dental Group | Tassie | Health | warm lead | |
| 8 | Jordan | Avery | Copperleaf Studio | ACT | Design & Creative | word of mouth | Not interested |
And from five countries, with states and provinces in one column and a German trade fair as a lead source:
| A | B | C | D | E | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | First name | Last name | Company | Country | State / region | Lead source |
| 2 | Marcus | Bell | Saltbush Solar Co. | Australia | N.S.W. | |
| 3 | Grace | Liu | Orchard Lane Catering | AU | new south wales | Adwords |
| 4 | Ravi | Patel | Willowmere Dental Group | Australia | Tassie | |
| 5 | Maria | García | Solera Tapas LLC | US | Calif. | Google Ads |
| 6 | Dana | Whitfield | Lakeside Rowing Club | USA | CA | linkedin.com |
| 7 | Priya | Shah | Maple Row Clinics | Canada | ON | Trade show |
| 8 | Anna-Lena | Schröder | Bergmann Werkzeuge GmbH | Deutschland | Bayern | Messe München |
| 9 | Hannah | Price | Fernhill Bakery Ltd | UK | Gtr Manchester | word of mouth |
Invalid picklist values: a failed import, or one that lets them in
A picklist is meant to hold a fixed set of options. Zoho CRM's import FAQ lists a drop-down value that has not been added in the CRM among the reasons an import fails. In our own test on 3 October 2026, it went the other way: Zoho's import took a Lead Source of "google", which the field has no option for, added all eight rows and kept "google" as typed. Reports and filters built on the field's options, such as "Google Ads", miss it.
With a standard import, the fix happens in the spreadsheet: find and replace, one spelling at a time, then hope nobody typed a new one. Source: Zoho's import FAQ, checked on 3 October 2026.
Matched for free
Sloose lists every distinct value of a picklist column next to the field's options. A value that differs from an option only in capitals, spacing, punctuation or accents is matched for free, without the AI.
Say your CRM's Lead Source picklist has the options Google Ads, LinkedIn, Referral, Trade Show, Word of Mouth. Across examples 05 and 05i,"LinkedIn" and "Google Ads" are already options, and these are matched for free:
- "Google ads" becomes "Google Ads"
- "Trade show" becomes "Trade Show"
- "word of mouth" becomes "Word of Mouth"
That leaves "google", "Adwords", "linkedin.com", "Referral (Customer)" and "Messe München". No spelling rule gets from "Adwords" to "Google Ads", or from a German trade fair to "Trade Show". Those need a decision.
Which values are free depends on how your picklist spells its options. If your State picklist uses full names, only "new south wales" is free out of example 05's states. If it uses abbreviations, "N.S.W.", "Qld" and "VIC." match "NSW", "QLD" and "VIC" for free, and "new south wales", "Western Aus" and "Tassie" are left over.
The values a rule can't match
For what is left, you pick the option yourself, or press Ask AI. The AI proposes an option for each value, and every option it names is checked against the field's real options before you see it, so it cannot propose a value your CRM would refuse.
Answers it is sure of can be used in one click. The rest come back as choices, best first. Nothing is used until you say so, and a value with no good match can be mapped to blank on purpose.
Example 05i's states, against a picklist with full names, show why this needs judgement:"N.S.W.", "Qld", "VIC.", "Western Aus", "Tassie", "ACT", "Calif.", "CA", "ON", "Bayern" and "Gtr Manchester". "CA" is California in a US row and could be Canada in another. Read the Country column beside it.
A picklist with thousands of options
Some picklists are long: a global list of states can hold several thousand options. Sloose shows the AI a short list of the options close to the values being asked about, and still accepts any real option in its answer, so a value the short list missed can still be matched.
Nothing untranslated reaches your CRM
A value that is not an option and has no translation stops the run at Validate, which names the field and the values. So a misspelled state is caught before the run, not as a failed row after it. If you map a value to blank on purpose, Validate tells you how many rows will import with that field empty.
Next month, the same values cost nothing
Translations are part of the import and of any template made from it. Next month's file starts with "N.S.W." already mapped to "New South Wales". Only values Sloose has not seen before can need a decision, and asking the AI about a handful of new ones is priced by how many there are.
Used here
Questions people ask
Why does my import fail on a picklist value?
Because the value in the file is not one of the options the field has. Zoho CRM's import FAQ lists it among the reasons an import fails: a column mapped to a drop-down field whose value has not been added in the CRM (Zoho's import FAQ). It does not always fail: in our own test, Zoho's import took "google" into a Lead Source field that has no such option and kept it as typed. Either way the fix is the same: change the value to an option the field has, or add the option to the field.
How do I convert state abbreviations to full names for an import?
In Sloose, Translate values lists every distinct value in the column next to the field's options. "new south wales" against "New South Wales" is matched for free. "NSW", "N.S.W." and "Tassie" need a decision: yours, or the AI's suggestion, which you accept or change. The answers are kept with the import and its template.
Does Sloose add missing options to my picklist?
No. Sloose maps each value to an option the field already has, or to blank if you choose. If a value needs a new option, add it in your CRM, then read the connection's fields again in Sloose.
Do I pay for every value each time?
No. The free pass costs nothing. Asking the AI uses credits, priced by how many values are asked about. Values already translated are kept in the import and its template, so next month only values Sloose has not seen before can need asking.
Bring the file with five spellings of one state
Start on the free plan. Matching values by spelling is free; asking the AI uses credits.