CRM data migration is a challenging process. Companies need to be quite careful when migrating data from their legacy system to the new CRM platform. It must be ensured that no data is lost during the data migration procesYour mind right now: “Data migration is risky! What if I lose data?” , “Whatever I still need to move the CRM thus I will need to migrate my CRM data.”
So you’ve made a decision, a rather important, necessary one. You’ve finally decided to leave your legacy company software or your dusty, crusty, not-so-trusty CRM for a robust CRM system upgrade. Good for you and the business. But how will you migrate your years of customer and business data from this software database to the new one?
You’ll need to transfer your data via data mapping and some good practices. By following them you unlock great CRM business benefits like reduced time waste with clean accurate data, better functionality for departments, ROI with insights, increased productivity, and improved data security.
What Is CRM Data Migration?
It is the process in which you move CRM data from one system to another. It is a highly complex process that involves many challenges like loss or alteration of data in transit. Additionally, the data needs to be mapped accurately while considering the CRM structure to ensure it moves to the correct destination.
There is a lot of preparation, planning, and analysis required to complete this process.
Pre Migration Phase
Pre-migration you'll do market research for the CRM system that best fits your needs by exploring offerings, support, and feedback each one offers. Once that is done, you’ll work on
- Accessing the current data for types and functionality
- Reducing data by cleaning unused data together
- Map your data for accurate transfer in the new CRM system.
- Create a migration roadmap: KPIs, key players, expected challenges
- Create a backup of your migration data.
Migration Phase
In this phase, you will simply migrate your data from one place to another. Your CRM experts might choose any one of the following approaches to minimize your downtime.
- Big Bang- All at once
The data all at once is moved from the old system to the new one. There will be some limited downtime as the experts will be very specific in completing migration in given time.
- The trickle method
In this the new and old system work in parallel as the data transfer is taking place in stages. There is no downtime, and data transfer takes place side by side. It is a rather slow and gradual process but is great for large enterprises that can’t afford downtime.
Post CRM Data Migration Phase
In the post-migration phase, for a couple of days keep a close eye on your CRM to check for any data inconsistencies.
- Look for duplicate, missing, or overlooked information.
- Do a test migration with a small dataset to ensure everything lands in the right spot.
- Train your team on the new system.
- Test your data post-migration to ensure that it is migrated well.
CRM data Migration methods
Apart from the approaches there are methods for data migration such as
Manual migration
This is suitable for small datasets and simple migrations where you manually move data.
Automated migration
You can automatically migrate your data using tools or APIs that are efficient for larger datasets.
Third-party migration services
You can migrate data with the help of third-party CRM data migration tools that support data migration to run smoothly and securely with integrated data. Additionally, some experts can effectively handle complex migrations with their expertise.
Go for incremental migration as it is the smoothest, migrating the latest data first and then the historical data in stages.
CRM Data Migration Checklist
The following data migration checklist is a quick walkthrough of the steps involved to move CRM data. You can find other tips here.
- Ensure data is updated
- Cleanse your data
- Assess the quality of data and fix errors
- Confirm that your attachments also migrate like notes, demos, contracts, etc.
- Make sure your data is backedup completely and is accessible
- After migration cross check if the data is accurately transferred
- Arrange staff training for rapid new CRM system adoption
Data Migration Challenges And Solutions For Successful Implementation
The following can also be considered best practices to follow for a successful migration.
Downtime Management
While the migration is happening the entire company system will face a downtime. Plan in advance for how you will manage your business throughout this disruption.
Inaccurate data
Your team might be unaware of the problems that exist in your data, which can lead to missing, inaccurate, incorrect, or duplicated data. This leads to missed opportunities.
Loss of data
Ensure migration is successful by working with a small sample size of data or else you might end up losing access and data of your legacy system. This will cause disruption in workflows and delivery of work.
Migrating data all at once
Trying to migrate all data at once can be problematic and difficult to handle. Instead, consider systematic migration in the form of groups by understanding CRM structures and data entries.
Data backup
You don’t know where your data will land in the new CRM system and you definitely don’t want to lose any of your data. Keep your data backed up at all times.
Automation
You can add automation to speed up the process of data migration. This automatically moves data from one storage server to another. This saves time and not having such a system slows down and reduces errors.
Custom field configurations
Pay attention to custom fields in source CRM to integrate data appropriately. Additionally, you can add custom elements in new tools too.
Deciding Between SuiteCRM And Salesforce
When it comes to choosing a CRM system best for your business, Salesforce and SuiteCRM are the two most popular choices. You can choose between an open source or a cloud-based software.
SuiteCRM is open source platform that offers robust marketing, sales, customer service, and automation features. You can create custom workflows for your routine redundant tasks.It is known for its affordability and ability for robust business needs service.
Salesforce on the other hand is a highly user-freindly, scalable and extensive platform. It is widely used by businesses of all sizes for the wide range of integrations. It offers robusts clouds for sales, marketing, services, finances and much more. Now it it has AI features handling workflows and offering smart recommendations for next steps, generating emails and summaries.
This is just a general overview and you can study them in detail to learn more about there benefits to your business.
The trickiest part of all— customizations
You can partner with CRM experts to help you configure your settings accurately and customize your system to your business needs. We can help you create custom workflows, set automation, and integrate apps to smooth out your CRM journey.
To Conclude,
CRM data migration is not just about copy pasting customer data, from a spreadsheet or current CRM to a new CRM. It involves technical planning and analysis for accurate data transfer. There is a difference in CRM structure, data fields, customizations, overall working and data processing in CRM.
Additionally if not migrated or mapped properly, you might end up loosing your data in transfer. To make sure the data is precisely migrated, consider going for CRM expert services such as CRM migration project plan. These experts will not only take the most reliable approach given your data but the migration can be platform specific given each platform is different.
Partner with RT Dynamic, We are CRM experts and can migrate your data accurately. Contact us today!
