CRM CLEANUP & MIGRATION

UK CRM migrations need a UK GDPR data minimisation review before you move — migrating a dirty, non-compliant CRM into a new platform does not make the data clean or legal

Moving CRM platforms feels like a fresh start. It is not. The contact data you migrate carries its problems with it: outdated records, missing consent information, duplicate contacts from years of uncoordinated imports, and company data that has never been enriched or validated. The new CRM goes live with all of it. UK GDPR adds a layer that most migration projects do not account for. Moving personal data from one platform to another is a data processing activity. It requires that the data you migrate is accurate, that you have a lawful basis for processing it in the new system, and that you can demonstrate consent where you are relying on consent as your basis. Most UK businesses cannot demonstrate this for a significant proportion of their contact database at the point of migration. We run CRM cleanup and migration projects for UK businesses that include a UK GDPR data minimisation review, consent record migration, deduplication, and Companies House enrichment before a single contact lands in the new system.

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/ This is for you if

This service is for Nepal-based businesses that have been running their sales process through a combination of WhatsApp Business, personal phones, and Google Sheets — and have now decided to move into a proper CRM.

Your contact list exists across multiple Google Sheets maintained by different team members, each with a different column structure

You have exported contacts from WhatsApp Business and now have a list of names and phone numbers with no additional context

You have never defined what fields, pipeline stages, or lead source categories your CRM should have

You want to set up HubSpot, GoHighLevel, or a similar platform but are not sure what data to import or how to structure it first

/ What's broken

Problems We Solve

Migrating from Salesforce or Infusionsoft to HubSpot without a data audit

UK businesses moving CRM platforms often make the migration decision quickly and start the technical migration without first asking what data is actually worth moving. A CRM that has been in active use for three or more years will typically contain a significant proportion of contacts who are outdated, unsubscribed, or missing any record of how they came to be in the system. Migrating all of these contacts transfers the problem. The new CRM starts its life with the same data quality issues the old one had, and the team has the same experience of not trusting the data within six months. The difference is that you have now paid for a platform migration and still do not have clean data. We run a data audit before any migration begins: categorising contacts by age, activity, consent status, and data completeness, producing a recommendation on which records to migrate, archive, or delete, and getting sign-off from the business before the migration file is built.

UK GDPR consent records not migrated correctly

UK businesses migrating contact data from one CRM to another often focus on migrating the contact fields — name, email, phone number, company, job title — without migrating the consent fields: consent status, consent date, consent source, and the specific communication type the consent covers. The consequence is that the new CRM has a full contact database with no record of whether any of those contacts consented to marketing communication, when they consented, or how. Sending commercial email to contacts in the new CRM without being able to demonstrate consent is an ICO compliance gap from the first campaign sent on the new platform. UK GDPR requires that you be able to demonstrate consent on request. "We migrated from our old CRM" is not a sufficient answer if the consent records were not migrated with the contacts. We map consent fields from the source CRM, build the consent record as part of the migration file, and validate that every contact in the new system has a documented consent status before go-live.

Duplicate contacts from multiple import sources

UK CRM databases accumulate duplicate contacts over years of importing from different sources: Mailchimp subscriber lists, LinkedIn Sales Navigator exports, trade show badge scanner exports, website enquiry forms, and manual entries by the sales team. The same individual ends up in the CRM three times, with slightly different name spellings, different email addresses, or records that are missing fields the other versions have. The sales team stops trusting the CRM when duplicates are visible. A sales director searching for a contact and finding three records for the same person draws a reasonable conclusion: the data is not reliable. The CRM adoption problem is often a data quality problem in disguise. We run deduplication as part of every migration project: matching on email address, phone number, company plus name combination, and fuzzy name matching for cases where the same person has different email addresses across records. We produce a merge recommendation report before executing any merges, so no data is lost without review.

Companies House data not used for enrichment

UK business-to-business CRM records are often missing the company-level data that makes B2B segmentation and account-based marketing possible: registered company name, Companies House company number, SIC industry code, registered address, and company size. This data is publicly available via the Companies House API and can be matched against existing CRM company records. A CRM migration is the best opportunity to enrich company records because the data is being handled and transformed anyway. Enriching during migration costs less than enriching after the new system is live. The result is a CRM that arrives in the new platform with more complete company data than it had in the old one. We enrich UK company records with Companies House data as part of the migration process, matching on company name and registered postcode, adding the Companies House number and SIC code as custom fields, and flagging records where no match was found for manual review.

/ What we engineer

What We Do

CRM data structure definition

Before any import, we work with you to define what fields the CRM needs, what your pipeline stages should be named, and what lead source categories apply to your business. This becomes the schema that all imported data maps to.

Google Sheet audit and standardisation

We audit all existing Google Sheets, identify inconsistencies in column structure and data formatting, and produce a single cleaned master import file with consistent columns, standardised phone number formats, and clear handling of blanks.

Cross-sheet deduplication

We identify contacts that appear in more than one sheet, standardise the matching fields, and merge duplicate rows so that each contact appears once in the final import file.

WhatsApp export processing

We take your WhatsApp Business contact exports, merge them with the Google Sheet data, and flag contacts that need additional context before they can be actioned in the CRM.

CRM import and configuration

We import the cleaned file into your chosen platform — HubSpot, GoHighLevel, or an equivalent — with correct field mapping, pipeline stage setup, and lead source property configuration.

Post-import validation

After the import, we check for records that did not map correctly, contacts missing required fields, and any duplicates that were not caught before the import. We provide a validation report and fix any issues before handing the CRM over for active use.

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/ What changes

What Changes

Before

After

BeforeEach team member has maintained their own format. One sheet has phone numbers in column B, another has them in column D. Some rows have email addresses, most do not. Company names are in some rows and absent from others. Lead source is recorded in a free-text notes column by one person and missing entirely from another person's sheet. Before any CRM import can proceed, this data needs to be standardised into consistent columns for name, email, phone number, company, and lead source. Without that standardisation, the CRM import wizard cannot map fields correctly, and the resulting contact records are incomplete from day one.

AfterA single cleaned contact list exists, deduplicated and standardised, ready for import

BeforeThree sheets with significant overlap is a common pattern. The sales team has "leads 2022," "leads 2023," and "WhatsApp contacts" as separate files. The same contact appears in all three, sometimes with a different phone number format (+977-98XXXXXXXX in one, 98XXXXXXXX in another, 977 98XXXXXXXX in a third). When all three sheets are imported without deduplication, the CRM starts with multiple records for the same person. Deduplication before the import is the first step. It requires standardising phone number formats so that matching logic can identify duplicates correctly, then merging or removing the redundant rows before the import file is finalised.

AfterThe CRM is configured with fields, pipeline stages, and lead source categories that reflect how the business actually works

BeforeA contact exported from WhatsApp Business is a name and a phone number. There is no conversation history attached to the export, no record of what was discussed, no indication of where the lead is in the sales process, and no notes from the sales person. Importing a WhatsApp export directly into a CRM produces a contact database that has names and numbers but no sales intelligence. For each WhatsApp contact that matters, the context needs to be added manually or through a structured interview with the sales team before the import. Without that step, the contacts are in the CRM but the information needed to action them is not.

AfterEvery imported contact has a consistent data structure so that filters, segments, and reports work from day one

BeforeThe Google Sheet has names and contact details but no record of where each lead came from. Without that data, the first CRM reports cannot show which channels — Instagram, referral, website, trade fair — are producing the best leads. The business cannot make a channel allocation decision based on CRM data if the CRM was never given that information. Adding lead source data retroactively is partially possible through team recall, invoice records, and message history, but it requires a structured process. Where it cannot be recovered, a consistent "source unknown" classification needs to be applied so that future data is not contaminated by blanks that look like a separate category.

AfterThe team has a defined process for adding new contacts so the CRM stays clean going forward

/ How it works

Process

Discovery call (60 minutes) 60 minutes

We review your existing Google Sheets and WhatsApp exports, understand your sales process, and define the fields, pipeline stages, and lead source categories your CRM needs.
Data audit

We audit all source files for structural inconsistencies, blank fields, phone number format variations, and duplicate entries. We provide a written audit report with findings and a recommended approach.
Data standardisation and deduplication

We produce a single cleaned master import file with standardised columns, consistent phone number formats, merged duplicates, and retroactively recovered lead source data where possible.
CRM configuration

We configure your chosen CRM platform with the agreed field structure, pipeline stages, and lead source properties before the import runs.
Import and validation

We run the import, check for mapping errors and missed duplicates, and produce a post-import validation report. Any issues identified are fixed before the platform is handed over.
Team handover

We walk the team through the configured CRM, explain how to add new contacts correctly, and document the data entry standards so the clean database stays clean.

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/ Common questions

FAQ

Straight answers on scope, timelines and cost. Anything else, ask us directly.

Ask us directly

How do I perform a UK GDPR compliance review before migrating from Salesforce to HubSpot?

A UK GDPR compliance review before a CRM migration covers four areas: lawful basis documentation (can you identify the lawful basis for processing each contact's data in the new system?), data minimisation (are you migrating only the fields you need, or copying every field including ones you no longer use?), consent record completeness (for contacts where consent is the lawful basis, do you have a consent date, source, and communication type recorded?), and data accuracy (when were these records last verified as current?). The review produces a categorisation of the contact database into records that are safe to migrate, records that need a re-consent step before migration, and records that should be deleted rather than migrated. Running this review before the technical migration prevents the compliance gap from transferring to the new platform.

How do I migrate consent records correctly when moving to a new CRM under UK GDPR?

Correct consent record migration requires that you identify which fields in the source CRM store consent information, map those fields to corresponding fields in the destination CRM, and include them in the migration file alongside the contact fields. In Salesforce, consent may be stored in a custom field or in a third-party consent management app. In Infusionsoft or Keap, it is stored in tag history and subscription status. In HubSpot as a destination, the relevant fields are the legal basis for processing field, the last marketing email opt-in date, and any custom consent fields you create for UK GDPR. The migration file must include the consent status value (opted in, opted out, pending), the consent date, and the consent source (for example, web form, trade show, direct request) for each contact. Records with no traceable consent history should be flagged for deletion or a re-consent campaign before they receive marketing communication in the new system.

How do I deduplicate contacts in HubSpot after importing from multiple UK sources?

HubSpot's native deduplication tool (Contacts Duplicates Manager) matches on email address and company name and presents suggested merges for manual review. For more thorough deduplication following a multi-source import, the most effective approach is to export the contact list, run it through a deduplication tool such as OpenRefine or a Python-based fuzzy matching script that matches on email domain plus name similarity, produce a merge map (a list of record pairs with confidence scores), review the high-confidence pairs in bulk and the low-confidence pairs manually, and then execute the merges in HubSpot via the bulk merge feature or the HubSpot API. The key is to deduplicate before the migration rather than after, so the new CRM starts clean rather than requiring an immediate post-launch cleanup project.

How do I enrich UK CRM company records with Companies House data during a migration?

Companies House provides a free REST API that returns company information by company number or by company name search. During a migration, the process is: export the company records from the source CRM, run them through the Companies House API matching on company name and registered postcode (to disambiguate common names), retrieve the registered company number, SIC code, registered address, and incorporation date for each matched record, and add these as additional columns in the migration file. Records that do not match should be flagged for manual review rather than silently left without enrichment. In the destination CRM, create custom company fields for Companies House number and SIC code before importing, so the enriched data lands in the correct fields. This process adds meaningful segmentation capability (by industry, by company age, by geographic area) without requiring any ongoing data purchase.

What is the typical timeline for a Salesforce to HubSpot migration for a UK SMB?

A Salesforce to HubSpot migration for a UK SMB with between 5,000 and 50,000 contact records typically takes six to twelve weeks from data audit to go-live. The first two weeks are the data audit and scope approval. The following two to three weeks cover field mapping, custom property creation in HubSpot, and migration file preparation including deduplication and consent field mapping. One week is allocated to a test migration into a HubSpot sandbox, post-migration validation, and issue resolution. The final week covers the live migration, go-live validation, and the first post-launch data quality check. The timeline extends if there are significant data quality issues to resolve before migration, if Salesforce has heavily customised objects that do not map directly to HubSpot, or if there are multiple Salesforce instances or connected systems that need to be updated to point to HubSpot after go-live.

/ Our team

The people behind the work.

Niraj Raut

SEO Expert

LinkedIn Website

Keshab Joshi

PPC Expert

LinkedIn Website

Hawrry Bhattarai

Google Ads Expert

Arogya Rijal

SaaS SEO Expert

Start here

CRM cleanup and first-time CRM setup for Nepal businesses

If your contact data is currently split across Google Sheets and WhatsApp exports, the right starting point is a data audit, not a CRM purchase. The audit identifies what you have, what state it is in, and what work is needed before a CRM import will produce a usable database.

Ignited Nepal is a Growth Engineering Company based in Kathmandu. We work with Nepal businesses setting up their first CRM and with teams that need their existing data cleaned before it can be used.