HubSpot is a great place to start. Many companies move to Salesforce when their sales process, service operations or reporting outgrow it. If you are considering the move, here is how to do it without losing data or momentum.
When the move makes sense
Teams usually start looking at Salesforce when they need one or more of:
- Complex sales processes: multiple pipelines, approvals, territories, partner deals or CPQ.
- Service operations: entitlements, SLAs, field service or a customer portal.
- Industry functionality: Health Cloud, Financial Services Cloud or Nonprofit Cloud.
- Scale and integration: many systems to connect, high data volumes, or strict security requirements.
If none of these apply yet, staying put may be the right call, and a good partner will tell you so.
What to migrate
| Data | Notes |
|---|---|
| Companies and contacts | Deduplicate first; decide on the account model |
| Deals | Map pipelines and stages to opportunity record types |
| Activities | Emails, calls, meetings, notes and tasks linked to records |
| Tickets | Map to cases with status and priority |
| Custom properties | Keep only those still used in reports or workflows |
| Files | Attachments linked to their parent records |
The five-step approach
- Audit. Export a full inventory of objects, properties, workflows, sequences and integrations. Mark each one keep, rebuild or retire.
- Map. Design the Salesforce data model, then map every field. Write transformation rules down, for example how lifecycle stages become lead status and opportunity stages.
- Rehearse. Run at least two full trial migrations into a sandbox. Reconcile record counts and spot-check records with the people who know the data.
- Rebuild automation. Recreate workflows and sequences properly in Flow and Sales Engagement instead of copying old workarounds.
- Cut over. Freeze changes in HubSpot, run a final delta load, smoke-test, and switch integrations and forms. Keep HubSpot read-only for a few weeks as a safety net.
Common pitfalls
- Migrating everything. Old, unused properties clutter the new system. Be ruthless.
- Forgetting forms and integrations. Website forms, chat tools and enrichment services must be repointed on cut-over day.
- Ignoring email history. Sales teams rely on it. Plan how activities and emails will be linked.
- Training too late. Train users in the sandbox during rehearsals, not after launch.
How long does it take?
For a small to mid-size sales team, three to eight weeks is typical, depending on data volume, the number of automations and the integrations involved.
Planning a move? Use our project planner for a quick timeline estimate, or talk to us about a fixed-scope migration sprint.