Cognism
Zoho Leads11 fieldsHow to import Cognism data into Zoho Leads
Cognism exports prospect lists as CSV files from Prospector. This template maps the export to Zoho's standard lead fields: names, email, job title, company, and the person's location. Cognism ships four phone columns; Zoho Leads have one Phone field, so Mobile, Direct, Office, and HQ are combined and the first available number wins, with Mobile, including Cognism's Diamond-verified mobiles, taking priority. Lead Source is set to Cognism and Lead Status to Not Contacted on every row. Zoho Leads have native City, State, and Country fields (not Mailing-prefixed, that's the Zoho Contact convention), so Cognism's person-level City, State, and Country map straight to them. The company's registered office and HQ addresses belong on a Zoho Account once the lead converts, so they are listed in the Columns we don't use section.
Field-by-field mapping
This is the complete column mapping from Cognism to Zoho Leads. The left column is the header in your CSV export. The right column is the Zoho Leads field it should map to.
| Cognism column | Zoho Leads field | |
|---|---|---|
| First Name | First NameFirst_Name | |
| Last Name | Last Name*Last_Name | |
| Job Title | Title | |
| Email* TransformLowercased and trimmed | ||
| Mobile → Direct → Office → HQ | Phone Zoho Leads have one Phone field. It takes the first available number: Mobile first, including Cognism's Diamond-verified mobiles, then Direct, then Office, then HQ. Whichever is present wins; the rest are skipped. TransformStandardized to international format (+1, +44, etc.) | |
| Company Name | Company* | |
| "Cognism" | Lead SourceLead_Source Set on every row. Change the value, or remove it, in the column mapper if your process records lead source differently. | |
| "Not Contacted" | Lead StatusLead_Status Set on every row. This is Zoho's standard new-lead status. If your org renamed its Lead Status picklist, change the value in the column mapper to match before you run the job. | |
| City | City Cognism's person-level City column maps to the Lead's native City field. The company's City and HQ City columns are not mapped here; they belong on the Zoho Account once the lead converts. | |
| State | State Cognism's person-level State column maps to the Lead's native State field. The company's State columns are not mapped here. | |
| Country | Country Cognism's person-level Country column maps to the Lead's native Country field. The company's Country columns are not mapped here. |
Required by Zoho Leads.
Columns we don't use
Your Cognism export includes 47 columns this template doesn't map. Each one below explains why, plus the workaround if you want the data in Zoho Leads.
- Seniority
Zoho Leads have no native seniority field. The data is real and useful, Zoho just has no standard place for it.
If you need it. Add a custom field on the Zoho Lead for Seniority, then map it by hand.
- Department
Zoho Leads have no native department field.
If you need it. Add a custom field on the Zoho Lead for Department, then map it by hand.
- Industries
The Zoho Leads schema in this template has no native Industry field.
If you need it. Add a custom field on the Zoho Lead for Industry, or convert the lead to a Contact and Account so industry lands on the Account.
- Technologies
Zoho Leads have no native field for a company's tech stack.
If you need it. Add a custom field on the Zoho Lead, or convert the lead so the data can land on the Account.
- Email Quality
Zoho Leads have no native field for an email confidence flag. The Verified Email or Likely Email signal is useful for filtering, Zoho just has no standard place for it.
If you need it. Map it by hand to a custom Lead field if you want to filter on email quality in Zoho.
- Education
Zoho Leads have no native education field.
If you need it. Map it by hand to a custom Lead field if you want it.
- List Name
Zoho Leads have no native field for the source list a row came from.
If you need it. Map it by hand to a custom Lead field if you want to record which Cognism list a lead came from.
- Diamond Record
Zoho Leads have no native field for Cognism's Diamond-verified flag.
If you need it. Map it by hand to a custom Lead field if you want to keep the flag.
- Profile ID
Zoho Leads have no native field for an external ID on the standard layout. Zoho matches leads on email.
If you need it. Map it by hand to a custom Lead field if you want Cognism's ID for re-import matching.
- sId
Cognism's internal composite ID has no downstream use in a CRM.
If you need it. None needed. This column is safe to ignore.
- Company Alias
Zoho Leads have no native field for an alternate company trading name. It is often the same as Company Name anyway.
If you need it. Map it by hand to a custom Lead field if you want it.
- Lead Source
The template already sets Lead Source to 'Cognism' on every row, so the per-row column has nothing to add. Every Cognism row carries the literal value 'Cognism' anyway.
If you need it. None needed. Change the Lead Source value in the column mapper if your process uses a different label.
- Personal Linkedin URL
Zoho Leads have no native LinkedIn field on the standard layout.
If you need it. Create a custom URL field on the Zoho Lead called LinkedIn, then map this column to it by hand.
- Website, Headcount, Financials, Company Type, Company Description, Company Founded Year, Company Linkedin URL
These are company-level data points. The Zoho Leads schema in this template has no native fields for them. They belong on a Zoho Account once the lead converts.
If you need it. Convert the lead to a Contact and Account in Zoho, then enrich the Account, or run a separate Cognism to Zoho Accounts pass.
- Company Address Line, Company City, Company Post Code/ZIP, Company County/State, Company Country
These are the company's registered office address. The Lead's address fields are filled from the person-level City, State, and Country columns instead, since those describe where the contact actually is. The company's registered office belongs on a Zoho Account once the lead converts.
If you need it. Convert the lead to a Contact and Account, then land the company address on the Account record. If you would rather use the company's office address on the Lead, swap the mappings by hand in the column mapper.
- Company HQ Address Line, Company HQ City, Company HQ Post Code/ZIP, Company HQ County/State, Company HQ Country
These are the company's HQ address, a second company-level address. The Lead's address fields are filled from the person-level columns. The HQ address belongs on the Zoho Account once the lead converts.
If you need it. Convert the lead and land the HQ address on the Zoho Account record.
- SIC, ISIC, NAICS
Zoho Leads have no native fields for industry classification codes. They are company-level data.
If you need it. Convert the lead so the codes can land on the Account, or map them by hand to custom Lead fields.
- Hiring Title, URL, Location, and Date columns (1 through 5)
Zoho Leads have no native fields for hiring-signal data. These columns capture roles the lead's company is hiring for, a real buying signal, but Zoho has no standard place for them.
If you need it. Map them by hand to custom Lead fields if you track hiring activity as a buying signal.
- Job Change - Previous Company, Previous Title, New Company, New Title, Date
Zoho Leads have no native fields for job-change data. A recent job change is a useful champion signal, Zoho just has no standard place for it.
If you need it. Map them by hand to custom Lead fields if you track job changes.
- Location Move - From Country, From State, To Country, To State, Date
Zoho Leads have no native fields for location-move data. The signal is useful for territory planning, Zoho just has no standard place for it.
If you need it. Map them by hand to custom Lead fields if you use them for territory planning.
Formatting and cleanup
Cognism exports rarely match the format Zoho Leads expects. Fix these before you import.
- 1.Lowercases and trims email addresses
- 2.Standardizes phone numbers to international format (+1, +44, etc.)
- 3.Fills the single Phone field with the first available number, checking Mobile, then Direct, then Office, then HQ
- 4.Maps the person-level City, State, and Country to the Lead's native address fields
- 5.Sets Lead Source to Cognism and Lead Status to Not Contacted on every row
- 6.Title-cases name fields, including Cognism's ALL-CAPS job titles
- 7.Marks Last_Name and Company as required so the import wizard flags blanks before upload
Or skip the manual work
Operelio runs this cleanup and mapping for you. Upload your Cognism export and download a clean, import-ready file for Zoho Leads.
Cognism to Zoho Leads FAQ
How do I export from Cognism?
In Cognism Prospector, build your search, save the contacts to a list, then click Download CSV from the list view. Upload that CSV to Operelio.
Should I use the Leads template or the Contacts template?
Use this Leads template for cold prospecting lists you want to work before they convert. Use the Cognism to Zoho Contacts template when you want the people to land directly as Contacts with an Account link. Zoho Leads and Contacts are different objects with different fields, so the two templates map the export differently.
How does the template handle Cognism's four phone columns?
Cognism ships Mobile, Direct, Office, and HQ. Zoho Leads have one Phone field, so the template fills it with the first available number, checking Mobile first, then Direct, then Office, then HQ. Cognism's Diamond-verified mobiles come through in the Mobile column, so they win when present. All numbers are standardized to international format before import.
Why does the template set Lead Source and Lead Status?
A freshly sourced Cognism list is a new lead from Cognism, so the template sets Lead Source to Cognism and Lead Status to Not Contacted on every row. Not Contacted is Zoho's standard new-lead status. If your org renamed its Lead Status picklist, change the value in the column mapper to match before you run the job.
Zoho requires Last_Name and Company. What if they're blank?
Cognism reliably populates both fields, but the import will reject any row with a blank Last_Name or Company. Spot-check your CSV before upload, or fill blank cells with a placeholder like 'Unknown' and update in Zoho after import.
Why aren't the company firmographics mapped?
Zoho Leads have no native Industry field, and most other firmographic columns (Headcount, Financials, Company Type, Founded Year, Company LinkedIn URL) don't have native Lead fields either. The company firmographics belong on a Zoho Account once the lead converts. The Columns we don't use section explains the workaround for each one.
Which address does the template use?
Zoho Leads have native City, State, and Country fields (not Mailing-prefixed; that's the Zoho Contact convention). This template fills them from Cognism's person-level City, State, and Country columns, since those describe where the contact actually is. Cognism also ships two company-level addresses (the registered office and the HQ); both are listed in the Columns we don't use section because they belong on the Zoho Account once the lead converts.
Will this create duplicate leads in Zoho?
Zoho uses Email as the unique-value field on leads by default, so rows with matching emails update the existing record rather than creating a duplicate. You can change the match field in Setup, Data Administration, Deduplication if your team uses a different convention.
