3 easy ways to download LinkedIn contacts and build your own CRM system

You probably spend a lot of time building your network and business relationships on LinkedIn. 

But at some point, you’ll want to start keeping a closer eye on your interactions with these connections to build a stronger relationship with them. LinkedIn alone isn’t sufficient as a CRM. 

This is where a good CRM system like folk comes in handy. There are a few ways you can export your LinkedIn contacts into folk so you can start keeping notes on each contact and more. It even comes with a Chrome extension which allows you to save new contacts directly from the webpage you’re on. 

In this blog, we unpack how you can import your LinkedIn contacts into your CRM.

Why you should export your LinkedIn contacts

While it’s great to have access to all your business connections on LinkedIn, it can be hard to keep track of important details such as the last time you spoke to someone, and when you said you would follow up.

As you level up your LinkedIn game, a random Post-It won’t cut it anymore. Keeping your contacts in one centralized place where you can import contact data from any web page is game-changing. That’s where folk comes in handy. 

folk is a CRM that's user-friendly and quick to set up, letting you import all your contacts in no time, while our mail merge system allows your go-to-market and sales team to maximise their mailing list. You’ll also be able to leave notes on last interactions, build pipelines, and more.

Ready to get started? We’ll walk you through exactly how to export your LinkedIn contacts to folk. 

Option 1: Export your LinkedIn contacts in a CSV 

If you have a huge network and want to save time by bulk exporting all your LinkedIn contacts in one go, this option is for you.

To export your LinkedIn contacts, simply follow these steps:

1. Click on the ‘Me’ drop-down menu
2. Click on Settings & Privacy 
3. Select ‘Data Privacy’ 
4. Under the ‘How LinkedIn uses your data section’ click on ‘Get a copy of your data’
5. Check ‘Want something in particular?’ and select the data files you’re interested in - in this case, CSV. 
6. Select “Connections” and click ‘Request an archive’ 
7. Enter your password and click ‘Done’
8. You’ll receive an email with a link to download the list of your LinkedIn contacts. The wait time will depend on the size of your network. 

Once you have your CSV file, importing your LinkedIn contacts into folk is easy.

1. Create a new group
2. Choose to import a CSV file
3. Match columns to the correct fields with our CSV importer.

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And voilà, you’re done! 

Option 2: Save important contact data from any webpage

If you’re looking for a tool that allows you to save someone’s contact details from any website, you’ll love our Chrome extension, folkX.

With folkX, you can import data directly from any profile, whether it’s on LinkedIn, X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, Sales Navigator, Google Mail and more.

To download folkX:

1. Follow this link to the Chrome web store 
2. Click ‘Add to Chrome’ on the top right 
3. You’ll get a pop-up prompting you to allow permissions to the extension
4. Click ‘Add extension’ and you’re all set.  

Once you’ve downloaded the folkX Chrome extension:

1. Activate the extension in your browser – it will appear on the right side of your screen.
2. folkX automatically detects contact profiles on webpages, and they will appear in the extension, where you can add them straight to the group of your choice in folk with a click.
3. You can also create a new group to add the contact to, directly in the extension by clicking on the group name, typing in the search bar the new group name, then clicking "Create".

Option 3: Export your custom search results directly 

If you often do specific searches on LinkedIn for groups of contacts, such as for investors or new talent, and you want to export all the search results, this option is for you. 

Our Chrome extension, folkX, allows you to import search data directly into your folk CRM and create actionable contacts.

Let’s say, for example, you’re looking for investors for your next round on LinkedIn. 

1. Activate the folkX Chrome extension
2. Run your search on LinkedIn
3. The folkX extension will detect the entire list of contacts from this search
4. Select (or create) the group in folk you would like to add this list of contacts to and select ‘Add all to group’

Conclusion

On its own, LinkedIn is a powerful platform where you can build long-term business relationships. The only thing it’s missing is a CRM. 

With folk as part of your tech stack and the three different ways you can export your LinkedIn contacts and search results, your LinkedIn game will instantly level up. 

Try folk today, free.