By migrating your customer data into your CRM, you’ll gain a more organised, systematic and centralised database, encompassing a detailed record of every customer. With instant access to each record, you’ll be able to offer a more efficient and personalised service that’ll benefit you, your employees and your customers. To learn more about all the benefits of using Customer Relationship Management, check out our recent blog looking at ‘the pros and cons of CRM integration’.

It’s a job that’s perfect for tomorrow… until tomorrow comes. We know you’re extremely busy, and migrating all your data to another CRM is complicated and time consuming, right? It doesn’t have to be. Read on…

So let’s take you through the process, step by step.

5 steps to migrating your data

STEP ONE – Choose a CRM

No two CRMs are the same – different systems have different benefits, and are better for different businesses and needs. That’s why it’s so important to take the time to really research and compare in order to find the system that best suits your requirements. Choosing the right CRM is crucial. Prices, features and personalisation are all key elements to consider when choosing your CRM. One way of doing this could be to demo a number of systems, or ask to try their interface before committing to buying. Many platforms offer free trials for up to 14 days in order to get a feel for how their software works. Some of the common names you’ll see in this area include:

• Microsoft Dynamics 365
• Salesforce
• Sugar CRM
• Zoho
• Pipedrive
• Hubspot

Take some time to check out the demos of these systems, and take a look at review sites such as G2 and Capterra to read user opinions on each of these systems.

STEP TWO – Cleanse and dedupe

You need to go through and cleanse your data – there’s no point migrating out of date, duplicate invalid records into your brand new system.

STEP THREE – Update movers  

By implementing the next step, you’ll enhance the quality of your database and start your CRM dataset on the right foot.

STEP FOUR – Standardise and validate

By standardising and verifying all your customer records, you’ll ensure there are no incorrect records in your database, keeping it clean and up-to-date from the outset.

STEP FIVE – Gain business insights on accounts in CRM 

After cleaning and validating all data in CRM, there could be an opportunity to enrich that data with other business information such as credit rating, industry sector information and other background information.

Data Cleansing Tools

Our award-winning data cleaning solution has the power to regularly eliminate, modify and enrich all rotten records in bulk, saving your business time, money and reputation.

1. Data cleanse

With regular data cleansing tools, you’ll dedupe duplicate records, suppress individuals who have deceased, and capture new residential or business location or individuals who have moved.

2. Data enhance

With our award-winning enhancement tools, you’ll be able to instantly standardise addresses, verify prospects and validate contact data in bulk, ensuring your database is complete, consistent and correct.

3. Data enrich

With data enrichment tools, you’ll instantly generate data, gaining an insight into your customer’s demographic, financial state, as well as whether they’re registered against the TPS and MPS.

For more info on data cleansing, check out our blog on ‘what is data cleansing and why do you need it’.