Cognism
Zoho Contacts10 fieldsHow to import Cognism data into Zoho Contacts
Cognism exports prospect lists as CSV files from Prospector. This template maps the export to Zoho's standard contact fields: names, email, job title, company, and the person's mailing address. Cognism ships four phone columns; Mobile goes to Zoho's dedicated Mobile field and the main Phone field takes the first available work number from Direct, Office, or HQ. Phones are standardized, emails are lowercased, and country names are normalized. The company's registered office and HQ addresses are company-level data and belong on the Zoho Account record. Data Zoho has no standard contact field for, like Seniority and the company firmographics, is listed in the Columns we don't use section.
Field-by-field mapping
This is the complete column mapping from Cognism to Zoho Contacts. The left column is the header in your CSV export. The right column is the Zoho Contacts field it should map to.
| Cognism column | Zoho Contacts field | |
|---|---|---|
| First Name | First NameFirst_Name | |
| Last Name | Last Name*Last_Name | |
| Job Title | Title | |
| Email* TransformLowercased and trimmed | ||
| Mobile | Mobile Cognism's Mobile column, including Diamond-verified mobile numbers, lands on Zoho's dedicated Mobile field. TransformStandardized to international format (+1, +44, etc.) | |
| Direct → Office → HQ | Phone Zoho's Phone field takes the first available work number: Direct first, then Office, then HQ. Whichever is present wins; the rest are skipped. TransformStandardized to international format (+1, +44, etc.) | |
| Company Name | Account NameAccount_Name | |
| City | Mailing CityMailing_City Cognism's person-level City column maps to the Contact's Mailing City. The company's City and HQ City columns are not mapped here; they belong on the Zoho Account record. | |
| State | Mailing StateMailing_State Cognism's person-level State column maps to the Contact's Mailing State. The company's State columns are not mapped here. | |
| Country | Mailing CountryMailing_Country Cognism's person-level Country column maps to the Contact's Mailing Country. The company's Country columns are not mapped here. |
Required by Zoho Contacts.
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 Contacts.
- Seniority
Zoho Contacts have no native seniority field. The data is real and useful, Zoho just has no standard place for it.
If you need it. Create a custom picklist field on the Zoho Contact called Seniority, then map it by hand.
- Department
Zoho Contacts have no native department field.
If you need it. Create a custom field on the Zoho Contact called Department, then map it by hand.
- Industries
Zoho Contacts have no native Industry field. Industry is company-level data and belongs on the Zoho Account record.
If you need it. Run a Cognism to Zoho Accounts pass to land industry on the Account, or map it by hand to a custom Contact field.
- Technologies
Zoho Contacts have no native field for a company's tech stack.
If you need it. Map it by hand to a custom Contact field, or land it on the Account record in a separate pass.
- Email Quality
Zoho Contacts 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 Contact field if you want to filter on email quality in Zoho.
- Education
Zoho Contacts have no native education field.
If you need it. Map it by hand to a custom Contact field if you want it.
- List Name
Zoho Contacts have no native field for the source list a row came from.
If you need it. Map it by hand to a custom Contact field if you want to record which Cognism list a contact came from.
- Diamond Record
Zoho Contacts have no native field for Cognism's Diamond-verified flag.
If you need it. Map it by hand to a custom Contact field if you want to keep the flag.
- Profile ID
Zoho Contacts have no native field for an external ID on the standard layout. Zoho matches contacts on email.
If you need it. Map it by hand to a custom Contact 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 Contacts have no native field for an alternate company trading name. It belongs on the Account anyway.
If you need it. Map it by hand to a custom field if you want it.
- Lead Source
Lead Source is a field on the Zoho Lead, not the Contact. Every Cognism row carries the literal value 'Cognism'.
If you need it. If you want the source recorded on the Contact, add a custom Contact field and set it by hand.
- Personal Linkedin URL
Zoho Contacts have no native LinkedIn field on the standard layout.
If you need it. Create a custom URL field on the Zoho Contact 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. Zoho Contacts have no native fields for them, they belong on the Zoho Account record.
If you need it. Run a separate Cognism to Zoho Accounts pass to land these on the Account record.
- Company Address Line, Company City, Company Post Code/ZIP, Company County/State, Company Country
These are the company's registered office address. The Contact's Mailing 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 the Zoho Account record.
If you need it. Land the registered office address on the Zoho Account record in a separate pass. If you would rather use the company's office address on the Contact, 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 Contact's Mailing address fields are filled from the person-level columns. The HQ address belongs on the Zoho Account record.
If you need it. Land the HQ address on the Zoho Account record in a separate pass if you need it.
- SIC, ISIC, NAICS
Zoho Contacts have no native fields for industry classification codes. They are company-level data.
If you need it. Run a Cognism to Zoho Accounts pass, or map them by hand to custom fields.
- Hiring Title, URL, Location, and Date columns (1 through 5)
Zoho Contacts have no native fields for hiring-signal data. These columns capture roles the contact'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 Contact fields if you track hiring activity as a buying signal.
- Job Change - Previous Company, Previous Title, New Company, New Title, Date
Zoho Contacts 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 Contact fields if you track job changes.
- Location Move - From Country, From State, To Country, To State, Date
Zoho Contacts 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 Contact fields if you use them for territory planning.
Formatting and cleanup
Cognism exports rarely match the format Zoho Contacts expects. Fix these before you import.
- 1.Lowercases and trims email addresses
- 2.Standardizes phone numbers to international format (+1, +44, etc.)
- 3.Sends Mobile to Zoho's dedicated Mobile field and fills the main Phone field with the first available work number (Direct, then Office, then HQ)
- 4.Maps the person-level City, State, and Country to the Contact's Mailing address fields
- 5.Title-cases name fields, including Cognism's ALL-CAPS job titles
- 6.Normalizes country names to a standard form
- 7.Trims whitespace and removes blank rows
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 Contacts.
Cognism to Zoho Contacts 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 file to Operelio.
How does the template handle Cognism's four phone columns?
Cognism ships Mobile, Direct, Office, and HQ. Mobile goes to Zoho's dedicated Mobile field. The main Phone field takes the first available work number, checking Direct first, then Office, then HQ. Whichever is present wins. All numbers are standardized to international format before import.
Does this template handle Cognism's Diamond Data mobile numbers?
Yes. Diamond-verified mobile numbers come through in the Mobile column and land on Zoho's Mobile field, so the verified mobile sits where your reps expect to find it.
Why aren't Seniority, Department, and the other Cognism signals mapped?
Zoho Contacts have no standard fields for Seniority, Department, Technologies, Email Quality, and similar Cognism signals. The data is real and useful, Zoho just has no native place for it. Those columns are listed in the Columns we don't use section. If you want them in Zoho, create a custom field and map the column to it by hand.
Where do company-level fields like Industry, Revenue, and Website go?
In Zoho's data model, these live on the Account record, not the Contact. This template doesn't push them to the Contact. After the contacts import and Zoho matches them to Accounts, enrich those Accounts separately, or run a dedicated Cognism to Zoho Accounts pass.
Which address does the template use?
Zoho Contacts have one Mailing address block, and this template fills the City, State, and Country from Cognism's person-level City, State, and Country columns. 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 record, not the Contact.
Will this create duplicates if a contact already exists in Zoho?
Zoho deduplicates Contacts on Email by default. Rows whose email matches an existing contact will update that record. You can adjust the match field in Setup, Data Administration, Deduplication if your team uses a different convention.
