Clients
How to import your client list into Nabu and why client data enables retention analytics and per-client profitability.
Why clients matter in Nabu
Clients are the people your business exists to serve. Tracking them in Nabu unlocks a whole category of insights beyond basic revenue:
- Client-level profitability — which clients generate the most profit, not just the most revenue
- Retention analytics — which clients are at risk of leaving, which are overdue for their next visit
- Visit history — a full record of every service a client has received
- Lifetime value — how much a client has spent over their entire relationship with your clinic
The more complete your client data, the more accurate these reports become.
What client information does Nabu store?
| Field | Used for |
|---|---|
| First and last name | Identification, display in reports |
| Email address | Matching across sales records; client communications |
| Phone number | Backup identifier; optional |
| External ID | The ID from your booking software — used to match records during import |
First visit and last visit are derived from Sales & Visit History. They are shown read-only after visit or invoice activity exists; they are not editable client profile fields.
Nabu does not store payment information, medical records, or any HIPAA-regulated data.
How to get clients into Nabu
Option 1: Sync or import client profiles first
If you're using the Zenoti API, clients can be synced from Zenoti guest profiles. Review the Clients section and confirm the records before importing Sales & Visit History.
If you're using CSV, import the Clients template before Sales & Visit History so visits, memberships, packages, gift cards, credits, and payments can attach to the right profile.
Option 2: Add client-attached records
The Clients section also has templates for records that belong under a client profile:
- Client Memberships
- Client Packages
- Client Gift Cards & Credits
Use these only when you know balances or enrollments outside Sales & Visit History. Gift cards can be associated with a purchaser or known client, but they are transferable; the redeeming client does not have to be the original purchaser.
Option 3: Manual CSV import
If you want to import a standalone client list (for example, to populate the retention dashboard before importing sales history), download the Clients template and fill it in.
Template columns:
| Column | Description |
|---|---|
first_name | Client's first name |
last_name | Client's last name |
email | Email address (used for matching) |
phone | Phone number |
archived | "yes" if the client is inactive or archived in the source system |
notes | Optional internal setup note |
external_client_id | The ID from your booking software |
Legacy files with first or last visit columns are accepted with warnings, but those values are ignored because visit dates come from Sales & Visit History.
Option 4: Add manually
In Setup → Clients, you can add clients one at a time. This is rarely necessary — most clinics have hundreds or thousands of clients, and manual entry doesn't scale. Use the CSV import instead.
How Nabu matches clients across records
When a sales record comes in (via API or CSV import), Nabu needs to figure out which client it belongs to. It matches using, in order:
- External ID — if the sale includes the client's ID from your booking software and that ID matches a client in Nabu
- Email address — if the client_email in the sale matches a client's email in Nabu
- Name — if neither ID nor email matches, Nabu tries to match by full name
If none of these match, Nabu creates a new client record based on the information in the sale.
Tip: If you're seeing duplicate client records, it's usually because the same person had a different email address in different sales records. You can merge duplicates in the Clients section.
Client privacy and data security
Nabu stores client data securely and does not share it with third parties. Client email addresses are used internally for matching and analytics — they are never used for marketing purposes without your explicit action (such as a campaign you manually create).
Confirming this section
Once you've imported or verified your client list, mark the section as reviewed. If you're using the API connection and clients are syncing automatically, you can confirm this section right away.