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How to migrate from Apollo to FirstSales

Bring your Apollo contact lists into FirstSales with a clean CSV import, then send and warm up from your own mailboxes.

Tutorials
Getting Started
min read
10 min
steps
7 · Intermediate

  1. Export your lists from Apollo

    In Apollo, open the saved list or search you want to move and use its export-to-CSV option to download the contacts. Apollo enforces its own export/credit limits, so export the lists you actually need rather than everything at once.

  2. Open the FirstSales contact importer

    Go to Contacts, choose an existing list or create a new one, and open Import. The wizard walks you through upload → map → import.

    Open the FirstSales contact importer

  3. Upload the CSV and map columns

    Drop your Apollo export — files up to 5 MB and 10,000 rows per import are supported. Apollo columns are field-rich and map well: email (required), firstName/lastName/fullName, title, phone, linkedinUrl, company.name/company.domain/company.industry, and tags (semicolon-separated). Set anything you don't need to Skip.

  4. Run the import and verify the counts

    Confirm the import. FirstSales reports how many rows were imported, duplicates, and skipped so you can see the full list landed before you move on.

  5. Connect the mailboxes you'll send from

    Go to Connectors → Add Connector and connect your sending domains — many Apollo users weren't sending from Apollo at all, so this may be a fresh connection rather than a reconnect. Google and Microsoft connect with one OAuth click; any other provider connects over SMTP / IMAP with host, port, and app password.

    Connect the mailboxes you'll send from

  6. Start warm-up before you send

    Open each connector's Warm Up tab and switch it on; leave auto-adjust on to ramp volume for you. See the Set up email warm-up tutorial for the full walkthrough.

    Start warm-up before you send

  7. Build your campaign

    Create a campaign and fill in the required pieces: name, goal, audience (your imported Apollo list), an email content source, a sender (your warmed connector), and an approval flow. Launch only once warm-up is healthy.

Pro tips

  • Warm up before you blast

    Apollo gave you data, not a warmed sender: a freshly-connected mailbox is cold to inbox providers. Warm for 2+ weeks before real sends.

  • Keep your domains: just re-authenticate

    Connect your sending domains and confirm SPF/DKIM/DMARC in the connector; your DNS records stay put, only the platform link is new.

  • Clean while you map

    Apollo exports are field-rich: map title, company.domain, linkedinUrl, and company.industry so personalization tokens have plenty to work with; Skip columns you won't use.

  • Import in batches under 10,000

    The importer caps at 10,000 rows / 5 MB per file. Split a large Apollo export into multiple CSVs rather than forcing one oversized file.

Frequently asked questions

Will warm-up reputation carry over?

Apollo isn't a warm-up tool, so there's nothing to carry — connect your mailbox and run FirstSales warm-up fresh for 2+ weeks before real sends.

Can I keep my existing sending domains?

Yes. Connect the same domains and verify SPF/DKIM/DMARC in the connector — DNS records stay; only the platform link is new.

Is there a live Apollo integration or one-click importer?

No — migration is a manual CSV export → CSV import. There's no live Apollo sync or enrichment connector.

How many contacts can I import at once?

Up to 10,000 rows and 5 MB per file. Split larger exports into multiple imports into the same list.

Which mailbox types can I connect?

Google and Microsoft via OAuth, or any other provider via SMTP / IMAP with host, port, and app password.

Do my Apollo sequences import automatically?

No — rebuild the sequence in the campaign builder. Paste your existing steps as the email content source and set audience + sender.

Will I double-contact people already in another tool?

Import only the contacts you intend to touch, and use list/tag segmentation. FirstSales de-dupes within an import but doesn't know your outside send history.

Getting Started

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Connect unlimited mailboxes and let AI agents find leads, write each email and follow up. Or send your own templates in manual mode. From $29/mo.

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Install with AI

Your coding agent sets up the FirstSales CLI and skills for you.

Prompt for Claude Code

I'm setting up FirstSales (https://firstsales.io), an AI outbound sales platform: campaigns, contacts, a reply inbox, deliverability and lead signals. Help me get my workspace sending real, good emails end to end, from Claude Code.

Read these first so you know how FirstSales works:
- Developer docs and API: https://developer.firstsales.io
- CLI: https://www.npmjs.com/package/@firstsales.io/cli
- Skills for coding agents: https://github.com/firstsalesio/firstsales-skills (read README.md and GUIDE.md)

Setup
1. Install the CLI: npm install -g @firstsales.io/cli
2. Install the FirstSales skills:
   claude plugin marketplace add firstsalesio/firstsales-skills
   claude plugin install firstsales@firstsales
3. Ask me if I already have a FirstSales account. If not, send me to https://app.firstsales.io to sign up.
4. Ask me to create an API key under Settings → API → API Keys, with only the scopes we need.
   Never ask me to paste the key into this chat. Tell me to run this in my own terminal, so the key stays hidden:
   read -rs FS_KEY && firstsales auth login --api-key "$FS_KEY"; unset FS_KEY
5. Run `firstsales whoami` and tell me which workspace and organisation we are connected to.

Then ask me about my business: what I sell, who I sell to (roles, company size, countries), my best customers, and what I use today for outbound (tools, lists, mailboxes). Walk me through:
1. Teaching FirstSales my business: website, offer, proof points and case studies in the knowledge base, so the AI writes like someone who knows the product.
2. Connecting my sending mailboxes and checking my sending domain: SPF, DKIM, DMARC and warm-up. If anything is unhealthy, tell me the exact DNS record to add.
3. Bringing in contacts: import my CSV or CRM export into a clean list, remove duplicates and bad emails, and block domains I must never email (customers, competitors, my own).
4. Building my first campaign: the right list, senders, steps and timing. Write the sequence with me, show me the drafts, and do not launch until I say yes.
5. Setting up Signals if it fits: find people engaging with LinkedIn posts about topics my buyers care about, and turn them into leads.
6. Inviting my team and giving each person the right access.

Once campaigns run, show me how to work the reply inbox from here: which replies need an answer, draft responses in my voice, and move good conversations into deals. If I use Cal.com, connect it so follow-ups can offer my booking link (not the first email).

Throughout, as you learn about my business, proactively suggest and help create:
- Reply templates for the questions and objections my prospects are likely to raise, based on my product, site and codebase if you can see them.
- Campaign ideas and segments worth testing, with the reason for each.

Safety rules:
- Show every change as a dry run (--dry-run) first and wait for my yes. Never send emails, launch campaigns or delete anything without my yes.
- Tell me before anything that spends credits, and how many.

Be opinionated. If the docs give a sensible default, just use it. Don't make me choose between five options.
Developer docs ↗npm: @firstsales.io/cli ↗GitHub: firstsales-skills ↗