This checklist covers every step that needs to be completed before a Salesforce to HubSpot migration goes live. It is organized in execution sequence: data audit first, then instance architecture, then migration preparation, then validation. Complete them in order. Steps that are skipped in the interest of timeline consistently reappear as remediation projects after go-live.
Use this as your project tracking document. Each step should have an owner, a completion date, and a sign-off. If a step cannot be completed, document why and what the impact will be on the migration outcome.
Phase 1: Data Audit (Complete Before Any HubSpot Configuration Begins)
Salesforce Database Assessment
- Pull a full contact export and run a duplicate analysis. Document the duplicate rate.
- Identify contacts not associated to any Salesforce account. Document the count and percentage.
- Run a field population report for all custom contact fields. Flag fields below 30% population.
- Run a field population report for all custom account fields. Flag fields below 30% population.
- Identify all custom objects in the Salesforce instance. Document record count and business use for each.
- Identify all Salesforce integrations: what systems connect to Salesforce, what data they exchange, and what the integration method is (native connector, API, middleware).
- Pull a list of all active Salesforce workflows and process builders that will need equivalents in HubSpot.
- Pull a list of all active Salesforce reports that stakeholders use regularly. These become the baseline for HubSpot dashboard configuration.
- Identify the Salesforce opportunity stages and document the business definition of each.
- Document the Salesforce lead source values in use. These map to HubSpot original source properties.
Attribution History Assessment
- Identify the attribution history period to migrate. Recommend 24 months minimum.
- Pull a report of all Salesforce campaigns that had responses in the attribution history period.
- Verify that campaign member records exist for those campaigns and document record count.
- Pull a sample of 10 recently closed-won opportunities. For each, document the marketing campaign touchpoints visible in Salesforce. This is the baseline for post-migration attribution validation.
- Identify any Salesforce activity types (calls, emails, meetings) that should migrate as HubSpot timeline events for attribution history preservation.
Phase 2: HubSpot Instance Architecture (Complete Before Data Migration Begins)
Properties and Data Model
- Create HubSpot custom contact properties for every Salesforce custom contact field that will migrate. Match field type (text, number, dropdown, date) exactly.
- Create HubSpot custom company properties for every Salesforce custom account field that will migrate.
- Create HubSpot custom deal properties for every Salesforce custom opportunity field that will migrate.
- Configure HubSpot deal pipeline stages to match your Salesforce opportunity stage mapping. Document the stage mapping in a reference document.
- Define HubSpot lifecycle stages: map each stage to a specific behavioral or firmographic criterion. Get written agreement from sales and marketing before configuring.
- Configure lead source values in HubSpot to match your Salesforce lead source taxonomy. Add any new values needed for post-migration campaigns.
Lead Scoring and Routing
- Design the HubSpot lead scoring model. Do not replicate the Salesforce lead scoring model automatically. Validate it against closed-won data first.
- Configure lead rotation and assignment rules in HubSpot. Match the territory and assignment logic from Salesforce.
- Configure the MQL workflow: what score threshold triggers MQL status, what notifications fire, what task is created for the assigned sales rep.
- Configure the MQL-to-SQL handoff workflow: what actions in HubSpot move a contact from MQL to SQL stage, what the SLA is for sales follow-up.
Attribution Infrastructure
- Define and document the UTM taxonomy that will be used for all marketing campaigns in HubSpot. Distribute to all campaign owners before go-live.
- Configure HubSpot tracking codes on all marketing properties.
- Configure the marketing attribution report: define first-touch, last-touch, and multi-touch attribution models.
- Build the marketing-sourced pipeline dashboard. Validate that it can produce a number before migration data is loaded.
Integrations
- Complete integration architecture decisions for every Salesforce integration identified in the audit. Document: rebuild natively in HubSpot, maintain through Salesforce-HubSpot sync, or replace with HubSpot-native alternative.
- Configure and test each integration in a HubSpot sandbox environment before go-live.
- Document the data flow for each integration: what fields sync in which direction and on what trigger.
Phase 3: Migration Preparation (Complete Before Data Transfer Begins)
Data Preparation in Salesforce
- Deduplicate contact records in Salesforce using the duplicate rate identified in the audit.
- Associate unassociated contacts to accounts in Salesforce where account association can be determined. Document any contacts that cannot be associated.
- Archive Salesforce records that have been flagged for archival rather than migration. Do not migrate data that does not belong in the new system.
- Update field values for any custom fields that are migrating where the current values reflect an outdated ICP or data model.
- Freeze Salesforce data entry for migrating record types during the migration window. Establish a protocol for handling new records that arrive during the migration period.
Migration Sequence Planning
- Document the migration sequence: companies first, then contacts with company associations, then open deals, then closed-won historical deals, then activity and campaign history.
- Assign a migration owner for each record type. One person is responsible for executing and validating each phase of the migration.
- Define the rollback protocol: what happens if a migration phase produces unexpected results and needs to be reversed.
Phase 4: Pre-Go-Live Validation
Data Integrity Checks
- Compare HubSpot company record count to Salesforce account record count migrated. Variance above 2% requires investigation.
- Compare HubSpot contact record count to Salesforce contact record count migrated. Variance above 2% requires investigation.
- Validate contact-to-company association rate in HubSpot against the pre-migration baseline. Association rate should match or exceed Salesforce baseline.
- Validate open deal records: every deal should have at least one associated contact and one associated company. Pull the report and remediate any exceptions.
Attribution Validation
- Run the attribution history validation against the five closed-won deals identified in step 14 of the audit. Verify that contact timeline events for campaign touches are visible in HubSpot.
- Run the marketing-sourced pipeline report for the 24-month attribution history period. Compare the result to the Salesforce equivalent report. Document any material variance and its cause.
Go-Live Readiness
- Complete sales team training on HubSpot before go-live. Training should cover daily workflow tasks, lead and deal management, activity logging, and how to read the pipeline attribution reports that were previously in Salesforce.
Post-Go-Live: 30-Day Hypercare Checklist
The go-live checklist ends at step 47. The migration does not end there. These are the daily and weekly checks for the first 30 days.
Daily: Pull the marketing-sourced pipeline report. Verify the number is moving in line with new deal activity and not showing unexpected changes from historical data.
Daily: Check the MQL workflow for unexpected triggers. Migrated contact records with pre-existing engagement history can trip lead scoring thresholds and fire MQL notifications for contacts that are not actually new prospects.
Weekly: Check contact-to-company association rate for new records created since go-live. New contacts should be associating to companies at the same rate as migrated records.
Weekly: Audit lead routing. Verify that new leads are being assigned to the correct sales reps according to the routing logic configured in the architecture phase.
Day 30: Run the full attribution validation again. Compare marketing-sourced pipeline for the post-go-live period to pre-go-live Salesforce data for the equivalent period. Establish the post-migration attribution baseline.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do all 47 steps apply to every migration? Most do. Steps 30 through 32 (integration architecture) scale based on how many Salesforce integrations you are managing. A Salesforce instance with 3 integrations has a simpler integration migration than one with 12. Steps 11 through 15 (attribution history) scale based on how much attribution history you are migrating. Every other step applies to every enterprise migration regardless of size or complexity.
How long does it take to complete this checklist? The full checklist, including execution time for each step, runs 6 to 8 weeks for a standard enterprise migration. The data audit phase (steps 1 through 15) takes 1 to 2 weeks. The architecture phase (steps 16 through 32) takes 1 to 2 weeks. Migration preparation (steps 33 through 40) runs concurrently with architecture. Validation (steps 41 through 47) takes 3 to 5 days. The parallel phases can compress the timeline; they cannot eliminate it.
What is the most commonly skipped step? Step 46: the attribution validation comparing the HubSpot pipeline report to the Salesforce equivalent. Most migration teams validate data counts and record associations but do not run the pipeline attribution comparison before go-live. The result is discovering that attribution history is missing or inaccurate after the sales team has already been using HubSpot for two weeks. At that point the remediation is significantly more complex.
The Pedowitz Group has been implementing HubSpot at enterprise scale since 2007. If you want expert guidance through this checklist or a migration assessment before you begin, start here. Talk to TPG.