Adding Member Data

Members can be provided with access to the Sonder service individually using ‘Add a Member’ or in bulk using ‘Bulk Add Members’.

To add a single member select the ‘Add a Member’ option from the Manage Members dropdown menu in the Member area.

Enter member data 

First Name: This is used to create a member profile for your member within the Sonder platform. This field is mandatory.

Last Name: This is used to create a member profile for your member within the Sonder platform. This field is mandatory.

Email Address: This is used to create a member profile for your member within the Sonder platform. This field is mandatory and must be unique for each member.

The Portal will prevent an member being created if an existing member is using the same email address. This is to prevent duplicate members existing in the platform.

Division: This value (e.g. Finance, People & Culture) is free-text and is used as a reporting dimension to provide you with more granular insights.

Sub-Division: This value (e.g. Accounts, Talent, Legal, Operations) is free-text and is used as a reporting dimension to provide you with more granular insights.

Once member data has been successfully added, you can click ‘Add a Member’ to finalise this process which will create and activate a Sonder member profile for this member.

 

Bulk Add Members

To add multiple members through a file upload, select the ‘Bulk Add Members’ option from the Manage Members dropdown menu in the Members area.

 

1. Preparing your member data

Start by considering where your member data is located and the volume of new members you want to add as part of the process. There are two ways to prepare your data for upload:

Using the template: Click on the ‘Download CSV template’ link on screen to view and edit the CSV template that has been provided.

Using your own file: You may prefer to export your member data from another platform (i.e. HRIS System) into a file that you can use to upload into the Portal. In this instance, please ensure that the file to be uploaded is in CSV or XLSX format.

The following member fields/data can be uploaded to the Portal:

First Name: This is used to create a member profile for your member within the Sonder platform. This field is mandatory.

Last Name: This is used to create a member profile for your member within the Sonder platform. This field is mandatory.

Email Address: This is used to create a member profile for your member within the Sonder platform. This field is mandatory and must be unique for each member.

The Portal will prevent an member being created if an existing member is using the same email address. This is to prevent duplicate members existing in the platform.

Division: This value (e.g. Finance, People & Culture) is free-text and is used as a reporting dimension to provide you with more granular insights.

Sub-Division: This value (e.g. Accounts, Talent, Legal, Operations) is free-text and is used as a reporting dimension to provide you with more granular insights.

🤔 Checking Column Headers  To streamline the data upload process, we recommend reviewing the Column Headers in your file to ensure they align and match with each field shown above (e.g. First Name, Last Name, Email Address). You can also compare the columns in your file to the CSV template that we have provided.

 

2. Uploading your member data

Once you have your file ready to upload, you can simply drag and drop it into the designated area or click on ‘Upload file’ to locate and select the file from your computer. The upload process will take several seconds to complete and once finished will automatically transition you to the next step in the process.

 

3. Mapping your columns to fields in the Sonder Portal

This step is crucial to the data upload process, as it confirms alignment between the columns in your uploaded file with the fields that exist within the Portal.

For each ‘Column in Your File’ shown on the left, a corresponding selection should be made in the ‘Sonder Columns’ on the right. If you observe an incorrect mapping or manual input is required, you can select the correct field mapping by accessing the dropdown menu shown beside the destination fields.

In order to proceed, all mandatory fields (highlighted with *) are required to have mapping selected. Mapping additional fields (e.g. Division, Sub-division) is recommended where practical as it will result in more granular reporting and insights for your organisation later.

Once you are confident that the fields in your file are successfully mapped, you can click on the Continue button to proceed.

 

🤔 Using the Data Preview Panel Hovering over a field will reveal the data preview pane on the right hand side which can be used to view sample data and confirm columns and fields are mapped correctly.

 

4. Data validation and correction

This step of the process will allow you to review your data, make changes and correct errors (highlighted in red) prior to it being uploaded. Common errors to be resolved at this stage include:

Missing Mandatory Fields: All members require a First Name, Last Name and Email Address to be provided in order for their member profile to be created.

Invalid Email Address: All members require a valid email address and this value must be unique in order for the member profile to be created successfully.

Duplicate Email Addresses: All members require a unique email address to have a member profile created. If we identify members in your file that have the same email address, these records will be highlighted in the data table.

Hovering over error messages can be useful in determining the cause of a specific error (see below).
Changes to member records can be made directly in the data table which will automatically change colour when errors have been successfully resolved.

Once you have successfully resolved outstanding data errors in your file you can click on the Submit button to proceed.

🤔 Using the Data Preview Pane For larger files, the filters at the top of the page (e.g. Invalid) can be used to indicate the number of records with errors and also help filter the list to only highlight records that require attention.

5. Submitting your member data

The pre-submission dialog (presented each time you submit a file) indicates the total records in your file, the number of member records that contain errors, and the total number of valid records that will be submitted.

In the instance that your file contains more member records than the total number of available seats, then this will also be indicated in the pre-submission dialog.

Cancel: Selecting this option will close the dialog and allow you to return to the data grid to resolve outstanding errors.

Confirm: Selecting this option will allow you to submit your file to Sonder and create member profiles for new and valid member records you have provided. All member records that are discarded at this point will be retrievable at the end of the process.

The following screen will be presented when you click on the Confirm button to proceed:

The following screen will be presented when the submission process has been completed successfully: 

😩 What happens if I exceed my Available Seat Count? If the number of members in your file exceeds the available seat count, the file will continue to be processed as expected, however each additional member above the seat count will be flagged with an error and rejected. All member records that are discarded due to quota limitations can be reviewed and downloaded.  Please contact your Customer Success Manager to discuss increasing your Total Seat Count.

 

6. Retrieving your discarded member records

Once your file has been successfully submitted for processing, if there were any member records that were discarded as part of the process, then you will see the following dialog displayed:

Clicking on ‘Download & Finish’ will allow you to view and download a list of all discarded member records as a CSV file. The file will also contain further information about why each record was rejected, which can be used to rectify errors in the file and re-submit the member data again.

🙋 Downloading Discarded member Records Before navigating away or closing this dialog, we recommend always downloading the CSV extract of discarded member records. This is the only time that the list of discarded members will be available.

Common reasons on why member records are discarded include:

Invalid or Duplicate Records: member records with errors that were left unresolved earlier in the process will be discarded.

Quota Exceeded: If the number of members in your file exceeds the available seat count, then only a portion of the members in your file will be successfully uploaded. Each additional member above the seat count will be flagged with an error and discarded.

Please contact your Customer Success Manager to discuss increasing your Total Seat Count.

 

Access to the Sonder service

Once a member profile has been created for your member, they will have immediate access to the Sonder service. There are several ways that a member can access the Sonder service:

• Logging into the Sonder App: The member logs into the Sonder app with their email address, sets a password and completes the email verification process. Once this is complete they can then login, complete their profile and access the Sonder service.
  
  
• Welcome Email: The member is sent a welcome email with a link they can use to login, complete their profile and access the Sonder service.
  
  
• Member Email Address: If your company is configured to use Single Sign-On, then your member will be able to use their company email and password to login, complete their profile and access the Sonder service.