How to switch CRMs: 4 steps for painless migration

It’s hard to admit your current CRM isn’t cutting it anymore. Maybe it can’t keep up with your growing business, lacks a necessary feature or is not as good as the competition.

Deciding to switch CRM platforms comes with a lot of questions and considerations. Wondering where to start in making the move to the best CRM for your business needs?

In this article, we’ll discuss a four-step process to make your CRM switch as seamless as possible.

What to consider when switching CRMs

You must consider several issues when switching to a new customer relationship management (CRM) system, including:

• Features. What features does your team need in the new CRM to do their jobs well? For example, do you need something that offers marketing automations, customizable sales pipelines or project management functionality?

• Cost. Is your current solution cost-effective? If not, what price point works best for you?

• Reviews. Look at honest and trustworthy software reviews (i.e., not sponsored). Do users rate the new solution you’re considering highly?

• Learning curve. Is the platform an intuitive solution you can use without extensive training? Is it accessible on multiple devices?

• Integrations. Does the CRM provider connect with your existing tech stack? Does it have a Marketplace like Pipedrive’s, with apps that help your business grow?

Figuring out how to make the transition requires your company to invest money and time into training staff and updating processes. Small businesses, startups and any budget-conscious company should consider these costs as they search for the right CRM for their business needs.

Once you’ve made a decision, you need to make a plan for switching to the new system. Being prepared can make the process easier. Here are some tips for making each step run smoothly.

Step 1: Get team support immediately

If your sales team doesn’t support the switch, they’ll never use the new CRM solutions. Here are some tips for getting everyone on board before you commit to the change:

Share the benefits. Show people how the new tool will make their jobs easier so they feel less skittish about making the move. Invite them to a demo with the new CRM provider or create a list of new features they can access.

Address individual concerns. It’s fairly common for the majority of team members to be enthusiastic, with a few dissenting opinions. Consider meeting privately with the holdouts to discuss their concerns.

You might ask, “What do you like about our current CRM? What do you wish were different about the potential future one? Which features matter most to you and why?”

Give the team hands-on experience. People are usually resistant to change because they don’t like change, not because the current CRM is superior. Consider giving users a demo or a free trial account. Adoption will grow once you convince them that the transition is worth it in the long run.

Start with leadership. Reaching total buy-in is more likely when you can convert executives or managers into brand advocates. Once a couple of people use the product and rave about it, persuading four or five more users to get on board is much easier. After a certain number of people commit, there’s no going back.

Step 2: Decide the best way to transfer data

Data is your number one asset, so you must keep the information from your old system intact. Although importing your team’s data from one CRM vendor to another may sound intimidating, the following tips can simplify the process.

Decide what you want to track. Even if your current CRM system is up-to-date, it may have more fields than your new one or log fields you don’t use anymore. For example, your existing CRM may track how many product samples your reps send to individual customers, while the new one doesn’t.

Luckily, CRMs like Pipedrive let you add custom fields, so you can create the relevant fields before you switch.

Export the correct data. Are you going to bring over all of your data, or only records from the past year or two? Are there any values you’re logging right now that you don’t want to log in the new CRM system? Do you have multiple databases that you need to merge and export?

Consider data migration tools. Tools like Import2 let you easily move data from your current system into widely used CRMs like Pipedrive.

Get help as needed. Moving from legacy CRM software to a new and potentially more complex system may require more expertise than you have in-house. If your internal IT team lacks experience with data migration or you use complicated CRM workflows, consider hiring a specialist to facilitate the move and merge or export multiple databases.

Step 3: Impose a hard deadline

Once you’ve figured out how to transition, it’s time to choose when.

Setting a changeover date creates a sense of urgency that compels employees to prioritize tasks. Here are a few things to keep in mind:

Schedule onboarding and support sessions. Give employees tips and help them adjust to the new CRM rather than making them fend for themselves.

Have a point person on each team. Picking one staff member per department to share information and answer questions simplifies matters, so people don’t get conflicting information.

Keep people informed of the impending switch. Frequently remind employees about the change to prevent them from dragging their feet about moving from the old system and potentially losing all their data.

Step 4: Clean up your pipeline

Before migrating data, ask your sales reps to clean up their pipelines. You don’t need to take old records with you if you won’t use them.

Starting a new system with data that’s as clean as possible gives your team a clear vision of the sales pipeline and the information they need to provide a superior customer experience.

To ensure cleaning is efficient and effective, focus on what’s relevant. Ask your salespeople to:

• Reevaluate lead stages

• Eliminate bad opportunities

• Fix inaccurate close dates

• Declutter notes.

Remind your team that even if the cleaning process is time-consuming, quality always beats quantity and the new system will be worth it.

Final thoughts

Saying goodbye to your current CRM isn’t easy, even when your organization has clearly outgrown it. Reduce the friction of switching by getting full support from your sales team, figuring out all the details in advance, setting (and sticking to) a deadline and cleaning out your pipeline.