Key considerations for CRM migration: Salesforce to Hubspot

Did you know a successful CRM migration can:

• Increase sales revenue by up to 45%
  
• Drive efficiencies, with users reporting up to 40% faster task completion
• Improve customer and account management, with a 39% uplift in cross-selling

CRM migrations can feel daunting. Years of historical and contextual data sit at the heart of your go-to-market teams and getting it right matters. We've been there and we want to share some practical guidance, along with common pitfalls to avoid.

1. Get clarity on the data you actually need

A migration is not just a copy-and-paste exercise, it’s an opportunity to simplify your data model and make it more usable for sales, marketing and reporting teams.

Things to consider:

• Purging invalid or outdated data
• Standardising and simplifying structures (e.g. normalising picklists, removing redundant or duplicate fields)

Did you know:

• Preliminary deduplication can eliminate 30–50% of database bloat
• Around 70% of CRM records become inaccurate or outdated within a year

2. Decide what not to migrate

Not all data needs to come with you. Bringing everything across can slow down your migration, clutter your new system and make reporting less effective.

Be intentional about:

• Historical closed deals
• Old activities (calls, emails, tasks)
• Legacy fields or unused objects

Best practice: migrate what your teams need to operate and report effectively, archive the rest externally.

3. Understand and plan your associations (Contact to Company relationships)

Associations define the relationships between objects in HubSpot.

For example:

• A Contact works at a Company
• A Deal is linked to a Company and a Contact

HubSpot includes a setting that automatically associates Contacts with Companies based on email domain. While useful in some cases, during a migration this can create confusion - especially if relationships already exist in your source CRM.

Best practice: Turn this setting off during migration to maintain control and accurately mirror your existing data model.

Top tips for building associations:

• Use the 18-character Salesforce ID
  HubSpot properties are not case-sensitive, so using the shorter ID can result in incorrect associations
  
  
• Stage your imports
  Import associations in a separate file to ensure:
1. Accurate relationships
2. No unintended duplication
3. Greater control over validation
• Follow a structured import order
1. Import Contacts, Companies and Deals
2. Then import a separate file to create associations
• Test with a small sample first
  Validate your approach before scaling

4. Define your pipeline and lifecycle strategy upfront

One of the most common mistakes is trying to replicate your Salesforce pipeline exactly as is. HubSpot handles pipelines, lifecycle stages and reporting differently - this is your opportunity to simplify.

Things to consider:

• Rationalising deal stages (fewer, clearer stages perform better)
• Aligning lifecycle stages across marketing and sales
• Defining clear entry and exit criteria for each stage

Why it matters:
Your pipeline structure directly impacts reporting accuracy, forecasting and user adoption.

5. Preserve and rebuild automations

Automations are technology-driven processes that handle repetitive tasks.

Your existing Automations are critical to business operations but they rarely translate directly between platforms. Rather than recreating everything as-is, use this as an opportunity to optimise and modernise your processes.

Before migrating:

• Document all active workflows
• Identify what is still relevant
• Prioritise what needs to be rebuilt in HubSpot

This typically includes:

• Lead routing
• Lifecycle stage updates
• Attribution
• Email triggers
• Internal notifications

6. Validate reporting before go-live

Reporting often breaks silently during migrations due to differences between platforms - particularly around attribution, lifecycle stages and deal tracking.

Before launch:

• Rebuild key reports and dashboards
• Compare outputs between systems
• Validate results with stakeholders

This ensures continuity and confidence in your data from day one.

7. Don't overlook permissions and access

Permissions models differ significantly between Salesforce and HubSpot. Without proper planning, you can either overexpose sensitive data or restrict users unnecessarily.

Define early:

• Who can view and edit what
• Team structures
• Access to pipelines, records and reports

8. Establish platform governance early

A successful HubSpot instance depends on strong governance from the outset. This ensures your system remains scalable and easy to manage as your organisation grows.

Good governance includes:

• Consistent naming conventions
• Clear structure across assets
• Documented processes

Example workflow naming convention:

Time/Period_Team_Object_Property/Function_Description.

Examples:

• Always-on: Ongoing_OP_Contact_Lead Status_Description
• Marketing nurture: 2026_Marketing_Contact_Email Nurture_XXXX

Example segment naming convention:

[TEAM][OBJECT][PURPOSE]_[DETAIL]

Example:

• MKT_Contacts_Webinar Attendees_AI Event 2026

When importing data:

• Use clear, structured file names
• Maintain version control
• Document mappings and transformations

Tip: define and share these standards before starting your migration.

9. Plan for user adoption early

Even a well-executed migration can fail without strong user adoption.

Set your teams up for success:

• Run role-based training sessions
• Provide simple, practical playbooks
• Align the system with how teams actually work

Involving end users early - especially in pipeline and workflow design - can significantly improve adoption.

10. Plan your cutover strategy

How you transition between systems is critical.

Options include:

• A full “big bang” go-live
• A phased rollout by team or function

Key considerations:

• Data freeze periods
• Final data sync (delta migration)
• Clear internal communication

Key things to take away

A Salesforce to HubSpot migration is more than a technical exercise; it’s an opportunity to reset, streamline and build a CRM that genuinely supports your teams.

Focus on:

• Clean, reliable data
• Clear structure and associations
• Strong governance
• Thoughtful, optimised automation
• User adoption and reporting integrity

This ensures your new HubSpot instance delivers long-term value, not just a short-term transition.

Migrating your CRM is a worthwhile investment, but it can be time-consuming and complex. If you’re ready to take it on, this guide is a strong starting point. If not, having the right expertise can make all the difference - we’re here to support a seamless, meaningful migration from Salesforce to HubSpot.