Replacement
Part of CRM maintenance and replacement
Planning a CRM switch with record relationships intact
Map account, contact, opportunity and history links before a CRM switch, then reconcile IDs and relationships before cutover.
Plan a CRM switch around the links between customer records. Define which account, contact, opportunity and history relationships must survive. Retain source identifiers. Check that users can follow the intended links after import.
Map the relationships
Choose representative customer cases before preparing files: an account with two contacts and two separate opportunities, a person connected to more than one customer unit if the process allows it, and a deal with relevant history.
For each source record type, define its destination type and what every link means. Record a gap when the destination cannot represent a required relationship directly.
| Link to preserve | Rule to define | Result to inspect |
|---|---|---|
| Contact to account | Which customer unit is intended, and is one link primary? | The person appears under the correct customer. |
| Opportunity to account | Which unit owns this purchase decision? | Account and opportunity show the intended link. |
| Contact to opportunity | Who participated in this particular deal? | The person appears on the right opportunity. |
| Activity or file to work item | Where should the history be found? | A colleague can retrieve it from the work item or agreed archive. |
Relationship types, labels and import routes vary by product and edition. Before accepting a workaround, decide how an unsupported link will be represented.
Preserve IDs and resolve uncertain matches
Keep an unchanged source snapshot and an old-ID-to-new-ID map for each record type being moved.
Use names and email addresses as clues, not silent tie-breakers when several records could match.
State whether each input creates, updates or links a record. Give uncertain matches a reviewer.
Import order depends on the destination route. Where association rows require destination IDs, create or identify both linked records first, then load the links.
Confirm which identifiers each route accepts before choosing an import sequence.
Check the exact route; do not assume one file design works everywhere.
Key CRM Migration Metrics to Track
- Records imported
- Total count of accounts, contacts, opportunities
- Uncertain matches flagged
- Number requiring manual review before import
- History items moved
- Notes, calls, emails, attachments transferred
- Relationships preserved
- Confirmed correct links between records post-import
Collect history separately
List notes, calls, emails, attachments, owners and custom values separately from account and deal rows.
Decide which material must move and which may remain in an authorised legacy archive under the organisation's retention rules.
Keep a reference that lets a colleague find history left behind.
HubSpot's standard record export includes current property values and associations, with a default selection based on the chosen view; contact activities have separate export routes. Pipedrive says linked activities, notes and files require separate exports.
Check who can export the intended population and whether external files need another route.
CRM Data Export Options for History
- HubSpotExports current property values and associations by default; contact activities require separate export routes.
- PipedriveLinked activities, notes, and files must be exported separately from main records.
Reconcile links before cutover
For each representative case, write the expected records and links, then import through a safe route available to the organisation.
Compare source and destination IDs, key values and associations.
Count records and relationships separately: one contact linked to two opportunities should remain one person if that is the intended model.
Inspect links in both directions with ordinary user access. From an account, find its opportunities and relevant people. From an opportunity, find its customer, participants and needed history.
Include a missing value, an ambiguous match and a user with limited access. Assign each mismatch, correct it and repeat the affected case.
Set the point when staff stop updating the old CRM. Decide how transition changes will be reconciled and which failed relationship or inaccessible open item delays cutover.
