HubSpot migration that keeps your history and leaves the junk behind
Planning to migrate to HubSpot? I'm a CRM migration consultant based in Wollongong, and I move businesses into HubSpot from Insightly, Mailchimp, Zoho, other CRMs, spreadsheets and old Access databases. Contacts, companies, deals, notes, emails, files and products come across linked to each other, with their dates intact. The duplicates and dead records don't. On site in the Illawarra, remote anywhere in Australia.
Most CRM migrations go wrong in the spreadsheet, not the software
HubSpot's import tool is fine. The trouble is what goes into it. Import everything and you've paid to move your mess somewhere more expensive.
The damage shows up a month later. Reps can't find last year's notes. Half the contacts aren't linked to a company. Someone emails people who unsubscribed in Mailchimp years ago. By then the old system is off, and fixing it costs more than doing it properly.
- Duplicates imported as they are, so every customer exists two or three times.
- Contacts no longer linked to their company or their deals.
- Years of notes dumped into one giant text field instead of the timeline.
- Deal owners and stages mapped wrong, so the pipeline report is fiction on day one.
- Unsubscribes and bounces left behind. That's a Spam Act problem as well as an embarrassing one.
Migrate to HubSpot from almost anything
Same method whatever you're leaving. What changes is how the data comes out.
Insightly to HubSpot
Contacts, organisations, opportunities, notes, tasks and custom fields. Insightly projects become deals, tickets or a custom object, decided up front. I've configured and migrated Insightly, so I know where it hides things.
Mailchimp to HubSpot
Audiences, tags, merge fields and, most importantly, unsubscribe and bounce status. Tags become properties or lists you can actually segment on.
Other email platforms
Marketing automation and email tools that also run your website forms. Contacts, segments, custom fields and form history. Forms are rebuilt in HubSpot and swapped on your website, so no enquiry falls into the gap.
Zoho and other CRMs
I work from the old system's exports or API with the same method. I'm a HubSpot specialist, not a Zoho one, so if getting the data out needs that platform's admin, I'll tell you early.
Spreadsheets and Outlook
Several spreadsheets and an Outlook contacts folder, merged, deduplicated and standardised into one set of records.
Access and legacy databases
Old Access databases with customers, products and pricing. Products land in the HubSpot product library, ready for quotes and line items.
What comes across to HubSpot, and what stays behind
A migration is the cheapest clean-up you'll ever get. This is the moment to decide what deserves a place in the new system.
What moves
- Contacts and companies, linked to each other
- Deals with stages, amounts, owners, close dates and line items
- Notes, calls and tasks on the timeline with their original dates
- Emails, where the old system stored them
- Files and attachments, on the right record
- Custom fields worth keeping, mapped to clean HubSpot properties
- Products, SKUs and price lists
- Marketing consent, unsubscribes and bounces
- Owners and teams
What gets left behind
- Duplicates. Merged before import, keeping the best data from each.
- Dead records: bounced, gone, or untouched for years. You approve the rules.
- Fields nobody uses. If it's empty on almost every record, it isn't coming.
- Old automations. They don't export. I rebuild the ones worth keeping as HubSpot workflows.
- Open-by-open email logs from Mailchimp. These usually come across as summary properties, like last engaged date.
Keeping your history
History is the part sloppy migrations lose first. Notes, calls and emails come across as timeline activity with their original dates, on the right contact, company and deal, using the HubSpot API where the import tool can't. Anything that can't move cleanly is archived as a file on the record, and the old system stays read-only for a fallback period.
How a HubSpot migration runs
Audit
Record counts, fields, duplicates, completeness and what's actually used. You get a short written view of what's worth moving.
Map
Every old field gets a destination, a transformation or a polite goodbye. You sign off the map before anything moves.
Clean
Duplicates merged, names and phone numbers standardised, states and countries consistent, dead records parked. Cleaned in the export, so HubSpot starts clean.
Test import
A sample, then a full test run. Your team checks customers they know well. We fix and rerun until it's boring.
Cut-over
A short freeze, a final import of anything that changed, forms and integrations switched, and the old system set to read-only.
Train
Role-based training on the new portal using your own records, plus a written map of where every old field ended up.
HubSpot migration pricing
A fixed quote once I've seen your data. All prices AUD. No GST is added. HubSpot licences are paid to HubSpot directly.
HubSpot migration
- Audit and field map you sign off
- Contacts, companies, deals, notes and products
- Clean-up and deduplication on the way in
- Test import before go-live
- Cut-over plan and team training
Migration plus setup
- New portal designed around how you sell
- Pipelines, properties, workflows and reports
- One fixed quote for setup and migration
- For businesses new to HubSpot
Health check
- Already migrated and it went badly?
- Find what broke in the move
- Ranked fix list and walkthrough
- Fee credited if you go ahead within 30 days
Price depends on the number of sources, record volume, how much history you want and how many integrations need reconnecting. Typical timeline: 2 to 4 weeks for one source, 4 to 8 for several.
What a migration looks like in practice
Typical scenarios, not client stories. The numbers are illustrative.
Insightly to HubSpot for a project business
A building services company has 8,000 contacts and five years of opportunities and projects in Insightly. Opportunities become deals with stages mapped. Projects become a custom object (or tickets on a lower tier) linked to the company and deal, so sales can see delivery history. Notes keep their original dates.
Mailchimp plus a sales spreadsheet
Marketing lives in a Mailchimp audience of 6,000, sales in a shared spreadsheet. Same people, spelt differently. The migration merges them into one contact each, carries every unsubscribe across and turns tags into properties.
An email tool with live website forms
A separate email platform runs email and forms on a WordPress site. The risk isn't the data, it's the forms. HubSpot forms are built and tested on a staging copy of the site, then swapped in on cut-over day, so no enquiry lands in a system nobody is watching.
An Access database full of products
A manufacturer's products and pricing live in an Access database one person understands. Products, SKUs and price lists move into the HubSpot product library, ready for quotes, and the Access file stops being a single point of failure.
A CRM migration consultant for teams that can't afford to lose history
Most businesses change CRM once a decade, so nobody inside has done it before. I do the audit and training in person across the Illawarra when that helps, and the data work remotely, so it suits businesses anywhere in NSW and Australia. Want the setup decisions first? Read the HubSpot implementation guide.
Good fit
- Businesses on Insightly, Mailchimp, Zoho or spreadsheets ready to commit to HubSpot
- Teams with years of history they can't afford to lose
- Owners who want the move done once, with the junk left behind
- Anyone who tried a DIY import and regretted it
Not a fit
- You want a straight copy of everything, duplicates and all
- You haven't chosen HubSpot yet. Talk to me, but the migration comes after that decision.
- Nobody on your side can decide which fields and records matter
HubSpot migration FAQs
How much does a HubSpot migration cost in Australia?
From $7,500, with a fixed quote once I've seen your data. Price depends on sources, record volume, history and integrations to reconnect. Already migrated and it went badly? Start with the $1,950 HubSpot health check.
How long does it take to migrate to HubSpot?
A single-source migration typically takes 2 to 4 weeks from audit to cut-over. Several sources, years of email history or custom objects push it to 4 to 8 weeks. The timeline is in the fixed quote, along with what I need from your team to hit it.
Will we lose our notes and email history?
Not if it's done properly. Notes, calls and emails come across as timeline activity with their original dates, on the right records, using the HubSpot API where the import tool falls short. What can't move cleanly is archived as a file, and the old system stays read-only as a fallback.
Can you do an Insightly to HubSpot migration?
Yes. I've configured and migrated Insightly, so I know how it structures organisations, opportunities, projects and custom fields. The main decision is what Insightly projects become in HubSpot, and we make it in the mapping step.
What happens to our Mailchimp unsubscribes?
Every one comes across. Under the Spam Act you can't email people who have unsubscribed, and a migration is the easiest time to break that rule by accident. Unsubscribes and bounces are mapped to HubSpot subscription status before any email goes out.
Can you migrate from Zoho or another CRM?
Yes, as a source system, using its exports or API and the same method. I'm a HubSpot specialist, not a Zoho specialist, so anything that needs a Zoho admin to export gets flagged in the audit, not on cut-over day.
Do we need to clean our data before we migrate?
No. Cleaning is part of the method, and it's far cheaper in a spreadsheet than inside HubSpot. If the data is in very rough shape, a dedicated data clean-up may come first. The free CRM data hygiene checklist shows the rules I apply.
Will the business stop while we cut over?
No. The old system is frozen for a short window, usually a quiet afternoon or a weekend, while final changes are imported and forms are switched. Your team logs into HubSpot the next working day.
Other HubSpot work
HubSpot consulting
Design, setup and fix-ups. Objects, pipelines, lifecycle, workflows and reporting built around how you sell.
From $9,500
Find out moreHubSpot admin retainer
A senior HubSpot admin on call each month. Fixes, builds, reports and user help without hiring.
$2,800/month
Find out moreHubSpot integrations & custom apps
Connect HubSpot to your ERP, quoting, phones, website and project tools. Custom apps when no connector exists.
From $7,500
Find out moreHubSpot health check
A fixed-price review of your portal with a ranked fix list. The fastest way to find out what's wrong.
$1,950
Find out moreHubSpot training
Hands-on HubSpot sessions for your sales, marketing or service team, built around your own portal.
From $3,500
Find out moreHubSpot implementation guide
The setup decisions that make or break HubSpot, and the mistakes I see in most portals. A 12-minute read.
Free guide
Find out moreRead first: the CRM data clean-up guide and HubSpot implementation: getting it right the first time. All rates are on the pricing page.
Tell me what you're moving from
Tell me the system, roughly how many records and how much history matters. I'll reply within one business day with how I'd run it and a ballpark price.
- Fixed quote before anything moves
- You sign off the field map
- Test import before go-live
- Wollongong-based, working Australia-wide
What are you migrating from?
I read every enquiry myself and reply within one business day.
Got it. Thanks.
I'll be in touch within one business day.