Effective CRM Data Migrations: Your Guide to Asking the Right Questions

In today's fast-paced tech environment, the reality of a diverse (and growing) tech stack makes data migrations inevitable.

And while a CRM migration can feel overwhelming at first, it doesn’t have to be stressful or frustrating if you start with the right plan. 

A smooth CRM migration comes down to four things: knowing what you’re moving, deciding what you don’t need, understanding what’s connected to your data, and cleaning your database before anything gets imported.

If you’re planning a data migration, here are the key questions to ask before you begin.

Updated Jan. 26, 2026

1. What type of data are you migrating?

A data migration looks very different if you’re only moving one object (like contacts) versus migrating multiple objects and their relationships.

Most companies have the following core objects:

• contacts

• companies/accounts

• deals/opportunities

• products

• activities

...and many also have custom objects.

Before you do anything else, take inventory of what lives in your CRM today — both the objects themselves and the properties attached to them. The easiest way to plan this is with a data mapping sheet, where you document:

• each object

• each property

• property type

• associations between objects

Building this sheet upfront makes it much easier to identify what needs to be created in the new CRM before you start importing data.

2. Do I actually need to bring all of this data over?

Data is powerful and you have likely done quite a lot of work to build up your database. That said, not all data is needed.

Do you really need to know everyone's favorite color? Maybe in some cases, but most likely not.

Think of a data migration as spring cleaning: review what you have and bring over only what you truly need. And as you decide what stays behind, document those “not migrating” properties directly in your data mapping sheet so you keep a clear record of what changed and why.

3. What is integrated with my data?

Before you export anything, zoom out and ask:

• Is my CRM connected to other tools in my tech stack?

• Is there automation that triggers based on specific property values?

• Are any key workflows dependent on fields that might change in the new system?

This matters because if you have integrations, you need a plan to move (or rebuild) them, and to understand the downstream impact of doing so. And if you have automation in your old CRM, you’ll need to recreate it in the new CRM and/or your marketing tool so your processes continue to run smoothly after the migration.

4. How clean is my data?

This is one of the most important parts of any data migration.

To successfully market and sell to people in your database, you must have accurate information. Moving to a new system won’t automatically generate more leads.

Cleaning up ahead of time makes the migration smoother and reduces errors during import. Focus on:

• removing duplicates

• confirming contacts have valid email addresses

• ensuring companies have domain names

• consolidating redundant properties

Some of this will need to be manual, but scripts and formatting rules can also help you clean faster and more consistently.

Data migration best practices to keep in mind:

Once you’ve worked through the questions above and decided to move forward with a data migration, there are a few practical best practices to keep in mind before you jump in.

Back up your data!

If anything goes wrong, you don't want to be in a situation where all your data is a mess and you cannot undo what has been done. 

Test with a data sample.

You never know what will happen until you start the import. It will be quicker and safer to begin with a small sample of data to ensure everything is working as expected. This is when you'll uncover any discrepancies that you did not expect, and you can go back to the larger file to make changes before loading again. 

There will be errors.

It's impossible to do an import of data without some sort of error. This doesn't mean the errors are catastrophic and cannot be resolved. You may find out that a couple of records did not upload for a specific reason — for example, the number format may not match what the new CRM is expecting.  When you uncover errors, review them, adjust your file(s), and reimport those records.  

Plan downtime.

Nothing is worse than being in the middle of a task and suddenly everything changes without your knowledge. Always communicate migration timelines and include a block of time where nobody is actively working in the old or new CRM. By building in downtime, you can ensure that anything that changes is only due to your imports.

Quick migration readiness checklist

Before you run the migration, make sure you can confidently check these off:

• Inventory objects + properties

• Complete a data mapping sheet (including associations)

• Decide what you’re not migrating

• Document integrations + automation dependencies

• Clean duplicates + invalid records

• Back up exports

• Test with a small sample import

• Schedule downtime + communicate timelines

Before You Hit Import