How to Migrate Your CRM to HubSpot

Your CRM system is one of the essential tools in your digital toolbelt. When you’ve decided to migrate to HubSpot, you want to do it right. There’s a lot to consider, and we break it down in some general, helpful advice here.

Do Your Homework on HubSpot

Our team loves HubSpot. It’s easy to use and scalable – and we generally recommend it! That said, you must determine if it’s the right fit for your organization. You should start by gathering a group of stakeholders, sales executives, and other employees who might use the platform. Ask them questions like:

  • What are your business or sales goals, and how can HubSpot over your current CRM achieve them?
  • How do your current processes translate to HubSpot?
  • Who’s going to need access to HubSpot?
  • How will your other systems interact with HubSpot?
  • How should different departments work together within HubSpot?

Once you have a good understanding of your goals, you can research the different tiers available. Each comes with unique features that align with your company size and annual revenue. They are free, starter, professional, and enterprise. You can find a list of features here.

Create Migration Guidelines

Choosing to move from your current CRM to a HubSpot is not a one-person job. As they say, it takes a village –, and a village needs a blueprint, or in this case, some guidelines for construction. Get your ducks in a row and:

  • Gather all your stakeholders like your project manager, CRM admin, IT members, marketing, and sales.
  • Determine your long-term and short-term goals so you can build processes to match them. Or, if you have them with your current CRM, figure out how it translates to HubSpot.
  • Assign specific roles based on your goals, such as who will be responsible for working together to determine what sales information needs to sync so you can get up and running quickly.
  • Figure out how your team handles data so that you can get things in place. Your CRM admin, marketing, and sales all may approach deal data differently.
  • Again, based on these guidelines, identify the actual objects you want to migrate to HubSpot and how your current system differs. Not every record will make the cut – nor should it have to.
  • Write out a basic timeline but remember, things can always change.

Clean Your Data

Clean data is happy data – and the kind you’ll need for a successful migration. Prepping your data involves:

  • Merging or deleting duplicate records
  • Establishing duplicate detection rules to prevent duplicates in the first place
    • HubSpot will de-duplicate and move data in certain ways, based on your CRM. Look for any knowledge-based articles that refer to your current platform.
  • Updating or eliminating invalid email addresses
  • Removing any obsolete, null, or void data

Select a Tool or Partner

When it’s almost time to migrate your data, you’ll want to be sure you have the right tool to get the job done. If you prefer, you can always reach out to a third-party to help with this step (and frankly, with all of them!) If not, here are some tools to consider:

  • CSV imports.
  • API endpoints.
  • Self-service solutions like Trujay.
  • HubSpot native tools (if you have Salesforce).

Map Your Data

Every system structures data differently. Salesforce has its method. Dynamics has another. And then there’s HubSpot. To successfully import data without error, you’ll need to figure out how to map your objects properly. Follow these tips:

  • Confirm how standard objects sync from your system to HubSpot. For example, HubSpot’s “Contacts” may be Dynamics “Leads” or “Contacts.” Salesforce “Activities” can translate to HubSpot “Tasks” or “Calls.”
  • Define and create any custom objects or properties.
  • Identify anything that’s missing and how to create it in HubSpot.
  • Test a small sample of data before you do a full migration or launch to ensure it mapped correctly.

Migrate Data and Other Functionality

When you’re ready, migrate! Recreate any data points you outlined in the previous steps, and test as you go along. If you need to, you can rebuild any CRM or sales templates, sales campaigns, workflows, or anything else you need to have a fully functioning CRM. Then, celebrate!

Press “Go”

Think you’re prepared to migrate your system now? If so, then hit the start button. But, if you’re a little hesitant, it’s understandable. Moving all your data and processes to HubSpot is scary and easier said than done. If you’re looking for further guidance on the migration process, feel free to reach out.

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