Salesforce to HubSpot migration checklist

A Salesforce to HubSpot migration means choosing what data to bring, matching each field to a place in HubSpot, cleaning it and testing it. Then you move it and rebuild your automations. Planning and cleanup take most of the time, and the import itself is the easy part.

Companies usually move for one of a few reasons. Salesforce has become hard to change without an admin, reps don't use it, or the company wants sales and marketing in one system. Those are good reasons. But a rushed move carries old problems into the new system. This checklist is how we avoid that.

We followed these steps with a custom power systems manufacturer that ran sales on Salesforce, spreadsheets and manual steps. After the move, its sales process was tied to its ERP and Salesforce was retired.

Start with a full list of what's in Salesforce before you decide anything. Write down every object, field, record type, automation, report and integration, plus how many records each object holds. You can't plan a move without knowing what you're moving.

Look hard for the things people forget. That includes custom objects, add-on apps from the AppExchange, flows, validation rules and email templates. Attachments, files and links to other tools count too. Each one needs a decision.

• Standard objects: leads, contacts, accounts, opportunities, cases, tasks, events.
• Custom objects and their relationships.
• Fields on each object, with how often each is filled in.
• Flows, process rules, workflow rules and validation rules.
• Reports and dashboards people actually use.
• Integrations, including ERP, marketing tools and phone systems.

Bring what people use and what you're required to keep. Leave behind empty fields, unused reports and records untouched for years. A migration is the best chance you'll get to clear out clutter.

Check how often each field is filled in. A field that's empty on most records is a good one to drop. Ask each team which reports they rely on, and rebuild only those. For very old records, think about saving them in a spreadsheet or data warehouse instead of importing them.

Most standard Salesforce objects have a direct match in HubSpot. Accounts become companies, opportunities become deals, cases become tickets, and tasks and events become activities. The biggest difference is how leads and contacts work.

Salesforce keeps leads and contacts as separate records. HubSpot uses one contact record with a lifecycle stage, like lead, marketing qualified lead, opportunity or customer. When you move, both Salesforce leads and contacts become HubSpot contacts. You set each one's lifecycle stage based on where it was.

Next, write a field map. It's a table of every Salesforce field you're keeping and the HubSpot field it goes to. Note the field type and any changes to the values. Drop-down values often need cleaning. Salesforce custom objects can move to HubSpot custom objects, which need an Enterprise plan. Sometimes they fit standard records with a few extra fields instead.

Clean your data before you import it. Merge duplicate accounts and contacts, fix broken links between contacts and accounts, make values like states and industries consistent, and fill in missing owners. Cleaning in a spreadsheet is far easier than cleaning inside a live CRM.

Set rules for the future at the same time. Decide what counts as a duplicate in HubSpot, which fields are required, and who's allowed to create new fields. Those rules keep HubSpot from getting as messy as Salesforce was.

Yes, always run a test migration first. Move a sample of records into a HubSpot sandbox or test account, and have the people who use that data check it. You'll catch mapping mistakes, missing values and broken links while they're cheap to fix.

Check a few things closely. Make sure contacts are tied to the right companies. Check that deals kept their amounts, stages and close dates. See that notes, emails and attachments came across and that owners are right. Fix the field map and run the test again until it's clean.

Salesforce automations don't transfer, so you rebuild the ones you still need as HubSpot workflows. Start from what each automation is supposed to do, rather than how it was built. Many old automations turn out to be unnecessary.

List each automation with what triggers it and what it does, in plain English. Mark which ones still matter. Rebuild those in HubSpot and test them on sample records before turning them on. This is also the time to set up lead routing, deal stage tasks and alerts.

On switchover day, freeze changes in Salesforce, run the final move, check the results and switch everyone to HubSpot. Pick a quiet day for it. Keep Salesforce open in read-only mode for a while in case someone needs to look something up.

Right after the move, reconnect your other tools to HubSpot, like web forms, phone systems and the ERP. Our guide on connecting HubSpot to your ERP covers that part.

Train each team on its own work, using its own data, before cutover. Show reps how to do the five things they do every day. Have managers run their pipeline meetings from HubSpot starting the first week.

Record the training sessions for new hires. Use is how you know the move worked. If the numbers in the Monday meeting come from HubSpot, people are using HubSpot. If they come from a spreadsheet, the spreadsheet has won.

A migration went well if, in the first month, record counts match the plan, leadership reports roughly match the old numbers, and reps log their work in HubSpot. If any of those slip, fix it before you turn Salesforce off for good.

Compare a handful of accounts side by side in both systems. Look at contacts, open deals, recent activity and attachments. Ask a few reps whether anything they rely on is missing. Gaps found in week two are easy to fill. The same gaps found in month six are much harder, because people have built workarounds.

Once the numbers hold, set a date to cancel your Salesforce licenses, and export a final archive for your records. If the move is part of a bigger cleanup, a Friction Point Analysis can show where else work gets stuck.