Inventory sources and relationships
List contacts, companies, opportunities, activities and files. Document the identifier linking each entity and the owner of the original source. Include custom fields and archived records that must be retained. Contact count alone does not describe migration difficulty: relationships and quality matter as much as volume.
Agree transformation rules
Define how to handle duplicates, empty fields, dates, former owners and retired stages. Record decisions in a mapping table. Do not silently discard records that do not fit; isolate them for review. Retain a controlled source copy and begin with a representative sample.
Rehearse and reconcile
Import the sample into a suitable environment and verify totals, relationships and complete journeys. Check that an opportunity retains its company, owner and history. Record differences and repeat after correcting rules. An importer finishing without errors does not prove that the data has retained its meaning.
Define cutover and recovery
Agree when source editing stops, how late changes are captured and who authorises the operational switch. Prepare a workable rollback and observation period. Tell users which system is authoritative at each point so two independent versions of the sales record do not evolve in parallel.
Key takeaways
- Validate relationships and meaning as well as record counts.