What to inspect in a CRM export before switching

List the records and working context the team needs after the move. Contacts and companies may be obvious, but deals, tasks, calls, notes, attachments, custom fields, and relationships can matter too. Ask the people who use each record what they need to continue their work, and record the source module and owner for each item.

Set a date for the export and note the filters or views used. A file created from a filtered view contains the selected portion of the system. Keep the original export unchanged and make a separate working copy for inspection.

Open each file and check its headers, record count, encoding, blank values, and identifiers. Compare a few rows with the source system to confirm that the expected fields landed in the expected columns. Record exactly which filters and property selections were applied so another person can repeat the export.

HubSpot's export documentation says record exports contain current property values and associations. It describes export choices for properties and relationships, and points to separate methods for contact activities such as calls or notes. The available choices depend on the object and export path, so verify the options for the account you are leaving.

A contact file may show names and email addresses; verify that company and deal links also appear. Inspect relationship identifiers and confirm that the destination can rebuild them. Then check activity history, files, and other context beyond the main record export. A note or attachment requires its own confirmation in the exported files.

Notion's import guide illustrates why destination behavior needs its own check: a CSV import creates database rows and properties, while a new CSV import cannot create new relations or formulas. Importing or merging adds rows rather than updating existing rows. These are Notion-specific limits, but they illustrate that a destination may not reconstruct every source relationship.

For every important source field, name the destination field or mark it as unsupported, transformed, or still undecided. Test whether relationship keys have stable matches and whether the receiving system can store the same distinctions. Ask the owner of each workflow to review the mapping rather than relying only on the person who exported the files.

If a field has no clear destination, decide whether it should be retained in an archive, moved another way, or excluded with a recorded reason. Keep the decision visible. Document how the destination will interpret each mapped value so the team can use the new records.

In this fictional audit, Willow CRM produces a contact export with 24 records and a company export with 8. The contact rows contain names and current email fields, and several rows include a company reference. The team does not find call notes in either file. The export register records that activity history needs a separate check before the destination is approved.

The team also traces three contact-to-company identifiers across the exported files and finds that one referenced company identifier is absent from the company export. It records that gap and assigns an owner to investigate before any import trial. The fictional example records an inspection finding without attributing a data-loss event or a successful migration to any provider.

Export inspection answers what data and context are present. A duplicate review decides whether two records refer to the same entity. A sample migration tests whether selected data behaves correctly after import. A rollback plan decides how to restore service and capture changes made after switching. These are related steps, but they require different evidence and decisions.

Use the inventory to decide whether a sample migration is ready. Keep access to the old system until the responsible owners have checked the exports, relationships, and destination behavior.

Ask Areinum Assistant to organise the files and field descriptions you provide into an export inventory and a list of gaps to check with the destination system. Keep the original export unchanged while you review a working copy.