Migrating from Salesforce to HubSpot can be one of the most impactful decisions your business makes — reducing complexity, cutting costs, and boosting team adoption. While Salesforce is a powerful, enterprise-grade CRM, it can be resource-intensive to manage. HubSpot’s all-in-one CRM offers a more user-friendly, integrated alternative that scales with you.
But moving CRMs is not as simple as copying data from one system to another. Done right, it’s your opportunity to clean up your database, streamline processes, and set your team up for long-term success.
This guide covers:
Why businesses switch from Salesforce to HubSpot
How HubSpot addresses Zoho’s common limitations
A Salesforce-specific migration deep-dive
The step-by-step migration process
Data mapping best practices
Migration scope essentials
Typical timelines and pitfalls to avoid
Companies often switch to HubSpot to:
Operate faster — From “days and weeks” to “minutes and hours” for common tasks.
Align teams — Sales, marketing, and service share the same, real-time customer view.
Boost adoption — HubSpot’s intuitive design means more consistent use and better data.
Lower admin overhead — No full-time admin required for small changes.
Scale easily — Custom objects, advanced permissions, and 500+ native integrations.
While Zoho is a budget-friendly CRM, scaling businesses often find limitations:
Steep learning curve for non-technical users
Limited native integrations with modern marketing/sales tools
Advanced customisation requiring developer skills
Restrictive reporting without heavy configuration
Data silos across multiple Zoho apps
HubSpot’s built-in automation, better UI, and unified reporting make it a more scalable long-term option.
Salesforce core objects: Leads, Contacts, Accounts, Opportunities, Cases
HubSpot core objects: Contacts, Companies, Deals, Tickets
In Salesforce, Leads are separate records before conversion to Contacts.
In HubSpot, everyone is a Contact from first touch — qualification is tracked via Lifecycle Stage.
Migration impact:
Leads and Contacts from Salesforce will both map to HubSpot Contacts, so you must decide how to translate Lead Status and Stages into Lifecycle Stages and properties.
Deduplicate records
Standardise picklist values
Check GDPR/consent compliance
Audit property types to match HubSpot
Leads → HubSpot Contacts (Lifecycle Stage = Lead/MQL)
Contacts → HubSpot Contacts (SQL/Opportunity/Customer depending on stage)
Accounts → HubSpot Companies
Opportunities → HubSpot Deals
Cases → HubSpot Tickets
Rebuild Salesforce automations in HubSpot’s Workflow tool:
Lead routing → Contact owner assignment workflows
Lead scoring → HubSpot scoring properties
Task creation → Task automation
Case handling → Ticket pipelines
Salesforce’s lead-to-contact conversion reporting becomes HubSpot’s Lifecycle Stage progression
Attribution uses HubSpot’s multi-touch model
Sales velocity is measured through Deals, not Opportunities
Needs Assessment — Decide what to migrate (data, activity/timeline, automations).
Salesforce Audit — Identify non-standard setups and automation dependencies.
Migration Plan — Document mapping, workflows, integration re-connections, and timing.
Migrate & QA — Execute, validate data, fix errors, and review results on a call.
If using HubSpot’s native Salesforce integration, you can import standard and custom objects.
Pre-import checks:
Campaigns must be Active in Salesforce
Leads/Contacts only sync email initially; rest of fields follow after inclusion list sync
Without an inclusion list, the initial import triggers a full property sync
Import steps:
In HubSpot, go to CRM > Contacts → Import
Choose Objects from an app → Salesforce records
Select object type and apply filters
Review settings (full import or filtered)
Click Begin import
Check Sync Health tab for errors
Tip: Plan large imports in batches to avoid exhausting Salesforce API limits.
Even beyond Salesforce-specific considerations, a successful migration follows three phases:
Audit current setup and processes
Map Salesforce fields to HubSpot properties
Choose migration method (native integration, CSV, API, third-party)
Set migration timelines and plan for downtime or parallel running
Create necessary properties in HubSpot
Delete unused fields to reduce clutter
Import in stages, testing along the way
Shut off Salesforce sync only after confirming accuracy
Rebuild workflows in HubSpot
Recreate reports and dashboards
Reconnect integrations
Train teams and monitor data quality
Migrate only clean, relevant data
Match field types exactly
Use HubSpot’s existing properties before creating new ones
Preserve historical activity where possible
Test with a small dataset before full import
Data objects (Contacts, Companies, Deals, Tickets, Custom Objects)
Properties and fields
Automation workflows
Templates (emails, forms, landing pages)
Reports and dashboards
Integration reconnections
Simple migrations: 3–4 weeks
Standard: 4–8 weeks
Enterprise: 8–12+ weeks
A phased migration (parallel running) reduces disruption.
Migrating “as-is” without improving processes
Replicating Salesforce’s setup exactly in HubSpot
Overlooking integration dependencies
Insufficient team training before go-live
With the right preparation, Salesforce to HubSpot migration can:
Increase adoption
Improve data quality
Align marketing, sales, and service
Provide clearer reporting and attribution
Reduce operational overhead
Ready to migrate?
We specialise in Salesforce to HubSpot migrations — from data audits and mapping, to workflow rebuilding, training, and optimisation.
Book your free migration consultation and make the move with confidence.