Are you considering migrating all your customer relationship management (CRM) data, but are feeling just a tad overwhelmed by the process of moving all the data you have (and on multiple platforms no less!) to a new system?
-You're not alone.
Data migration is the process of moving your valuable customer data from one CRM system to another, and it can range on the spectrum from "a tad daunting" to "scary as heck". That noted (and we hate to say this) it's often a necessary evil.
As you'll see in this article, there are all sorts of reasons to move your customer data from an old CRM to a new one. The important thing is that you get clear on your reasons for doing so. Having a solid "why" behind your data migration will help to shape your migration strategy, and will help to focus you and your team on the activities that will get you solid results.
This article will explore a range of topics including:
- Migrate to a New CRM with Confidence
- CRM Migration Projects 101: From Data Cleansing to Post-Migration Training
- Why Consider Moving CRM? Understanding the Benefits and Challenges
- Performing a CRM Data Migration: CRM Implementation Challenges
- Your CRM Data Migration Checklist: Don't Leave Home Without It!
- The Data Migration Process: Key Stages
- Want a Successful CRM Migration? Get Started With A CRM Like HubSpot Today
Migrate to a New CRM with Confidence
So, whether it's making sure all your systems talk to one another (and ideally in the same language!) streamlining your tech stack (and saving money), or consolidating all your customer interactions in one place, this comprehensive guide will walk you through the ins and outs of CRM data migration. You'll soon have your very own clear roadmap to ensure a successful move from your existing CRM platform(s) to a new one.
CRM Migration Projects 101: From Data Cleansing to Post-Migration Training
What the heck does "CRM data migration" mean in the first place? Well, "migration" refers to the process of transferring customer data from one CRM system to another. This can involve moving data between different software platforms, from on-premise solutions to cloud-based CRMs, or consolidating data from multiple sources into a single system. The migration process is crucial for businesses looking to upgrade their CRM capabilities, streamline operations, or adapt to changing business needs.
Why Consider Moving CRM? Understanding the Benefits and Challenges
Before diving into the migration process, we have to kick off by understanding why businesses like yours might choose to move their data from one platform to another. At AutomateNow, we think about it this way: you have 'push' reasons, and 'pull' reasons. Push reasons are usually based on a desire to move away from something (the uncharitable might call these "fear-based" reasons).
You're pushing back on outdated legacy technology, perhaps, or your current CRM may lack features or integrations necessary for your growing business. Your existing systems might not meet your data needs, and you definitely need to better serve your customers. Scalability issues might also be rearing their ugly heads. As your customer base expands, you may need a more robust system to handle increased data volumes.
Pull reasons, however, are attractive - they're 'pulling' you into the future. You're sick of data migration challenges, maybe, and you're looking for a cloud-based CRM to make life easier. Maybe you're looking for improved analytics functions, and want a new platform with advanced reporting and data analysis tools. Perhaps you want to offer your team a better user experience to help them do better work, more quickly. Having a more intuitive interface for your team can support them in looking after your customers: win-win.
You could also save huge amounts of money in licence fees for software you no longer need to be paying for! If you're using something like RingCentral to phone people, or Bird to send SMS messages, well, we've got a platform for that (spoiler alert: it's HubSpot). A system like HubSpot can save you heaps on your tech stack, just by consolidating everything in one place. It makes reporting a dream, too.
However, it's important to acknowledge that CRM migration comes with its own set of challenges! Potential data loss, system downtime, and user adoption issues can all crop up - and it's only by being aware of these challenges that you can better prepare for successful data migration.
Shark-Infested Custard: Figuring Out How To Migrate Your Data
When it comes to data migration, there are three core approaches that we suggest to help you navigate moving from one system to another without losing your mind (or your data).
The Many-to-One Approach
You've got Pipedrive handling sales, Mailchimp firing off emails, and a technicoloured set of spreadsheets trying to keep it all together. Sound familiar? Moving from different CRMs to one single platform unfortunately won't be a simple drag-and-drop operation. You'll be exporting, cleaning, and importing data, and with different platforms, it's likely that your information could have duplicates, different names and titles, and other confusing elements.
There isn't always an integration tool that can make this easy for you either - or if there is, it might work for Pipedrive, but not for Mailchimp. While it's not ideal, you can you steel yourself for some manual data entry and get things done in-house, taking a platform-by-platform approach. Depending on how old your legacy CRM systems are, it'll just take a lot of time and effort.
The Spreadsheet Approach
Your current CRM is about as useful as a screen door on a submarine, and HubSpot's siren song is too sweet to resist. I get it. But before you jump ship, know this: you're in for a data-cleaning marathon. Export everything you can get your hands on into spreadsheets. Then roll up your sleeves and start scrubbing. It's tedious, it's time-consuming, but it's necessary. Once your data's squeaky clean, you can start the import process. That being said, you want to be absolutely certain of what your CRM will and won't let you export.
Not all CRMs are created equal when it comes to letting you access your own data (the irony!). You might find yourself with names and email addresses, but you could wind up missing out on crucial information like call logs or email content - which is really where the beating heart of your customer relationship management activity lies.
The Custom Approach
For those looking for a more tailored approach, custom CRM migration is an option. It's pricier and takes longer, but you'll get better data precision. Just remember, the complexity (and cost!) can vary depending on your source CRM. Think of this approach as the Rolls-Royce of data transitions - smoother, more precise, but with a price tag to match. Yes, this approach can take a lot longer, and it will definitely cost more, but you'll get a level of data precision that'll make your IT team weep with joy. Just remember, the complexity can vary wildly depending on your current setup. It's best to do a thorough audit of what you've got, and to make sure your budget will stretch to cover the expertise needed.
As you can see, transferring data isn't quite as simple as exporting all your legacy data from your existing CRM system, transferring data to a new CRM, and skipping off into the sunset. Moving to a new CRM is an involved and laborious process - and having a little migration support can make a world of difference.
Whichever approach you're taking, we always recommend creating a strategy to determine what data needs to be moved, what smooth migration looks like, how long data transfer channels can stay open for between your old and new CRM systems, and more.
Consider taking the following steps, from thrashing out your business goals for this project, to data migration tool selection:
- Assess your current CRM system and identify areas for improvement.
- Define clear goals for the migration and what you hope to achieve with the new CRM.
- Create a detailed inventory of your existing data, including field mappings and data structures.
- Clean and organise your data to ensure only relevant and accurate information is transferred.
- Develop a comprehensive migration plan and timeline.
Performing a CRM Data Migration: CRM Implementation Challenges
It's always the unforeseen challenges that hit hardest when you're in the process of migrating your CRM, so we've listed some of the sneaky hurdles that might prove an obstacle to seamless migration.
What Data Do You Even Need?
While it might seem like you need all the details under the sun, making sure you have enough strategic data insights to figure out what you don't need can save you a world of frustration and time. If you're a B2B company, focused on the sales space, yes, it's likely you'll need your customers' company data. But if you're B2C, selling fuzzy jumpers to Tracey from Basingstoke, you probably don't need to know that she works in the local animal shelter to nurture her effectively as a customer.
Understanding what to move will help you either transfer or delete data fields in your old CRM, or create fields in the new CRM that need to be inputted. You can do this on a spreadsheet (and sometimes with an AI-assist!) but nothing replaces good old-fashioned common sense when it comes to clarifying what info you want to migrate.
All-Access Pass?
One of the sneakiest things about CRM platforms is that, depending on their download policies, they might not let you export your data into a spreadsheet. Sure, you could copy and paste activity entries into a spreadsheet, but multiply that by 1000s and suddenly, sticking with an old and outdated system seems sort of appealing. Some CRMs don't give you a lot of clarity on what you are and aren't allowed to download and export, so check this thoroughly before you begin.
Data Cleansing: Making Sure Your Data is Squeaky-Clean
Now, we're all agreed that you need to be smart about moving the right data into the new system, but you don't want to do that without cleaning it up first. Even with the best record-keeping in the world, your source data might accidentally contain errors, duplicates, missing fields, and more. When you're getting ready to transition to a new CRM, you've got to make sure that all this 'dirty data' gets cleaned up before you import it into a new system.
People, People, People
Sometimes, the challenge comes from inside the business with changing scope and goalposts. If you have CRM users across different departments, then it stands to reason that one department can’t make the call on your CRM migration project. Everyone involved in the migration process will need to be really clear on their terms.
Ideally, you want to get all the stakeholders involved in the migration in the one room, to thrash out what you need the migration to accomplish, clarify the data being transferred, understand challenges with data accessibility, and to set metrics that you can use to test the project and ensure the migration was successful at the end of the day.
Oh! And don't overlook the importance of user training and adoption. Even the most sophisticated CRM system won't deliver value if your team doesn't know how to use it effectively.
From One CRM to Another: Choosing the Right Future-Fit Platform
Data transformation doesn't happen overnight. Selecting the appropriate CRM software is crucial for a successful migration. Consider factors such as:
- Scalability and flexibility to meet your future business needs
- Integration capabilities with your existing tools and workflows
- User-friendliness and adoption potential among your team
- Cost-effectiveness and return on investment
Your CRM Data Migration Checklist: Don't Leave Home Without It!
Okay, you've decided to proceed with data migration, you've tidied up your data, and you've got coffee coming out of your ears. You're primed, and you're ready - and you've got a well-structured checklist to help keep your migration on track:
- Data backup and security measures
- User access and permission settings
- Data mapping between old and new systems
- Testing protocols for data accuracy and functionality
- Training plans for staff on the new CRM platform
The Data Migration Process: Key Stages
Understanding the migration process is crucial for a successful implementation! The process begins with thorough planning and strategy development (people, platforms, and export potential). This initial stage sets the foundation for your entire project. Next comes data assessment and cleansing, where you evaluate and prepare your existing data for transfer. Following this, you'll map data fields between your old and new systems, ensuring that information will be correctly placed in your new CRM.
Before the actual migration make sure to make time for test migration and validation to spot and resolve any issues. Once everything is in order, you can get started with the actual transference of data - but the process doesn't end there. Post-migration review and optimisation are crucial final stages that ensure your new system is functioning as you want them to, and is meeting your business needs.
Ensuring Data Quality During Migration: Data Structures and Formats
Just in case we’ve not been clear: maintaining data quality is absolutely essential during a CRM migration. You’re already aware of this from our data hygiene section, but we also strongly recommend creating and communicating clear data governance policies. These guidelines will help maintain data integrity throughout the process and beyond. Regular audits throughout the process can help you stay on top of data quality issues and address them quickly, so you don’t have a bigger mess on your hands later.
The Role of Migration Tools in CRM Data Transfer
Migration tools can significantly streamline the transfer process, making it more efficient and less prone to errors.
Why choose a specific tool?
Well, they can automate data extraction and loading, reducing the need for time-consuming manual processes (hooray!). Some tools can also assist with mapping fields between different CRM structures, ensuring your data ends up in the right place (double hooray!). Additionally, these tools are also capable of identifying and resolving data inconsistencies, which can be particularly useful when consolidating data from multiple sources.
But our fave thing that these tools often provide is progress tracking and reporting - being able to see the status of the migration in real-time makes life so much easier, and helps you troubleshoot any problems as they pop up.
Data Security During CRM Migration: Keep it Secret, Keep it Safe!
Data security should be a top priority during any migration process. Best practices include encrypting data during both transfer and storage to protect sensitive information from outside and unauthorised access. Putting strict access controls into place is also crucial, so only authorised staff can access data while it’s in “transit”.
We also massively recommend that you conduct security audits before and after migration. These audits can help identify potential vulnerabilities and ensure they're addressed as quickly as possible. And, as a last note, make sure that your migration process complies with all relevant data protection regulations, so you stay compliant, and your customers’s data stays protected.
Measuring the Success of Your CRM Data Migration
Evaluating the success of your migration is crucial! Not only does it show all your stakeholders and senior leaders that the migration was a success, but it also helps you to take action and encourage user adoption, and check whether all your information made it to the new system intact. Is your data accurate? Is it complete? Do people know how to use the system?
High adoption rates mean that your team finds the new system helpful and easy to use. You also want to get a read on customer satisfaction and engagement levels, because successful CRM migration should ultimately lead to better customer experiences.
Post-Migration Steps
Please don’t throw things at us, but the work doesn't end once the migration is complete. As you've probably gathering, going from an old CRM system to a new one is more than just importing data from a spreadsheet and calling it good.
Post-migration activities are crucial for ensuring long-term success, and it’s best to start by conducting a thorough review of the migrated data to catch any last little problems or issues. Fix any data discrepancies ASAP, to prevent them from causing problems further down the line.
As with any new system, baking in ongoing training and support for users is essential. We also recommend that you seek out and take action on user feedback and evolving business needs, and optimise your new CRM over time. This helps you maximise the value of your investment over time.
Want a Successful CRM Migration? Get Started With A CRM Like HubSpot Today
To wrap up, here are the most important points to remember for a successful CRM data migration:
- Thoroughly plan and prepare for the migration process
- Prioritise data, its quality, and cleansing before and during migration
- Choose the right CRM platform that aligns with your business needs
- Use appropriate tools to streamline the process
- Maintain strong data security measures throughout the migration
- Involve key stakeholders and provide comprehensive user training
- Continuously monitor and optimise the new CRM system post-migration
- Be prepared to address challenges and adapt your strategy as needed
- Measure the success of your migration using relevant metrics
- View the migration as an opportunity to improve your overall customer relationship management strategy
And if all of this feels just a bit too much like hard work, get in touch! We offer consultancy, guidance, support, training and custom development for businesses around the world to get their CRMs set up for success.
