According to Salesforce, users who switched from HubSpot for their Customer Relationship Management (CRM) needs saw a 31% increase in sales revenue and a 33% increase in productivity.
However, if your business is considering a HubSpot to Salesforce migration, there are some potential pitfalls you should know about and avoid.
A quick recap of HubSpot vs. Salesforce: Why migrate?
First things first: Should you make the switch from HubSpot to Salesforce?
Both platforms have their pros and cons. That said, HubSpot is generally more affordable and user-friendly, while Salesforce is a more complex, powerful solution. As such, businesses looking to move from HubSpot to Salesforce have usually outgrown their original platform and are looking for an upgrade.
Some of the reasons you may want to transition after implementing HubSpot include a need for:
More advanced functions
More scalability
More flexibility
More automation and custom reporting
More integration possibilities
Pre-migration considerations
Whatever your reason for migrating, it’s important to do it right. Ahead of your migration, we recommend:
Interviewing stakeholders – It’s worth talking to your teams about their CRM requirements before the switch happens so that no must-haves are missed.
Assessing your data – From accounts and opportunities to leads and contacts, determine which data you’ll be transferring.
Creating a backup – In case something goes wrong during your migration, it’s vital to have a complete backup of your HubSpot CRM data.
6 common mistakes and how to solve them
Once you’ve completed your pre-migration measures, it’s time to execute the migration. To ensure everything goes as planned, keep these six common mistakes in mind.
1. Not thinking through system architecture
One of the main reasons to switch to Salesforce is the platform’s potential for custom architecture. With Salesforce, you can design system architecture that’s unique to your business and the data you track.
If you’re not thinking through system architecture before and during your migration, you’re missing out on harnessing the full power of Salesforce.
However, mapping out system architecture is no simple feat. To avoid errors and streamline the process, we suggest working with Revenue Operations (RevOps) experts.
2. Not cleaning data
A system migration is the best chance you’ll ever have to review and clean your data. Unfortunately, too many businesses neglect this opportunity to start with a clean slate.
Avoid being one of them and take advantage of the migration to:
Remove duplicates and unused items
Fill in missing data points
Rectify mismatched values
Confirm active contacts
3. Ignoring integration considerations
Don’t forget that your workflow involves more than just your CRM. It also includes every third-party system you’ve integrated. Too often, businesses forget about systems like marketing automation when moving from HubSpot to Salesforce.
To ensure a smooth transition, consider how the migration will impact each integration. That way, you can make sure your data flow remains seamless.
4. Neglecting future data validation
One of the most crucial steps of a migration is ensuring your existing data is clean from the start. But it’s equally important to keep your data clean moving forward.
The easiest way to do this is to set up outright requirements and conditional requirements (validation rules) in Salesforce.
A validation rule is a condition that prevents users from saving or updating a record. For example, you could create a rule that requires email addresses to be in a valid format so that your sales reps never fail to acquire a lead’s email again.
5. Disregarding user feedback
As with any change, there’s going to be growing pains as employees get used to your new CRM. However, you can use those growing pains to streamline your CRM implementation.
Take note of any feedback that comes in and act on it. Be sure to collect comments from every department and position to really see the full picture.
Depending on your organizational structure, you may want to gather employee feedback through:
Surveys
User group meetings
One-on-one interviews
Support channels
6. Insufficient training
Finally, it’s essential to schedule sufficient training for all users on the new platform—before, during, and after the migration.
From the moment you commit to using Salesforce, start training your teams on the software. Try to include various types of training, including live sessions and resources, since users will have different learning needs.
In fact, training may be another area worth bringing in experts since the quality of instruction can make or break your transition.
Need help with your migration?
Plenty of issues can come up during a HubSpot to Salesforce migration. But at Skydog Ops, we help keep those issues from materializing. And we don’t just oversee the migration—we stick around after the transition to support with training, iterating, and more.
Schedule a call with us to find out how we can make your migration from HubSpot to Salesforce as smooth and stress-free as possible.