CRM Migration
CRM migration is the process of moving your contacts, companies, deals, activities, and associated data from one CRM platform to another — while preserving data integrity, reconnecting integrations, and training the team on the new system before the old one is decommissioned.
Why it matters to a sales team
A botched migration creates problems that outlast the project: duplicate records, missing deal history, broken automations, disconnected integrations. Teams that rush the data phase — exporting raw data and importing it without audit and cleanup — end up spending the first six months post-migration fixing data quality instead of selling. Migration done right means the new CRM launches with cleaner data than the old one ever had.
How it works
Migration follows a defined sequence: export and audit source data, deduplicate and clean records, map fields from source to target schema, configure the new platform, run a test migration, validate data accuracy, run a final migration with a cutover plan, decommission the old system, and provide post-migration support. Data migration and configuration happen in parallel — you don't configure first and migrate later.
Real-world example
A SaaS company migrating from Salesforce to HubSpot discovers during the data audit that 31% of their contacts have no associated company — a Salesforce data quality gap that was invisible in reporting. Before migrating, they run an enrichment pass and fix the relationship mapping. The HubSpot instance launches with better data than Salesforce had after five years of use.
How long does a CRM migration take?
Simple migrations (small team, clean data, limited integrations) can be completed in 6–8 weeks. Complex migrations (large datasets, multiple integrations, custom objects, extensive automation) typically take 12–20 weeks. The most common cause of timeline slippage is underestimating the data cleanup phase — expect it to take 2–3x longer than initially scoped.
What data can be migrated between CRMs?
Standard objects — contacts, companies/accounts, deals/opportunities, activities, notes — migrate between most major platforms. Custom objects, complex field relationships, and some automation logic require manual reconstruction in the new platform. File attachments migrate with varying levels of fidelity. The data audit phase identifies exactly what can be automated vs. what requires manual handling before any migration begins.
Should we clean our data before or after migrating?
Before. Always. Migrating dirty data into a new system creates a worse problem than having dirty data in the old one — you lose the historical context that helps you understand why records look the way they do, and deduplication logic is harder to apply across a fresh import. The data audit phase of a professional migration is dedicated to exactly this work before anything moves.
What is CRM cutover and why does it matter?
Cutover is the planned moment when the team stops using the old CRM and starts using the new one. A clean cutover requires: all integrations reconnected and tested, all users trained and credentialed, a rollback plan if critical issues surface, and a communications plan so no deals fall through the cracks during the transition window. Most cutover failures result from attempting to run both systems in parallel for too long — creating data divergence and rep confusion.