Hubspot Portal Mergers: Seamless Integrations, Intact Data

Company mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are a whirlwind, and integrating digital systems can often feel like adding another layer of complexity. We recently had a client come to us post-acquisition with a classic challenge: how do you merge two HubSpot portals without losing all that crucial contact and company activity data from the acquired company?

This wasn't just about moving files; it was about safeguarding the entire customer story – the interactions, the pipeline history, the marketing engagement – that made the source portal so valuable.

The Challenge: Keeping All the Good Stuff

Now, here's where it gets tricky. Standard HubSpot migration tools are great for moving core records like contacts and companies. But what about all the real context? We're talking emails sent, calls logged, deals inching forward, tasks completed, website visits, and every little marketing interaction.

Preserving all that associated activity data, while keeping it perfectly tied to its original record, is a much more intricate dance. Imagine your sales and marketing teams trying to navigate new client relationships without this historical context – it's like trying to read a book with half the pages missing!

That's why keeping this data intact is absolutely crucial for effective engagement with those newly inherited leads and customers.

Our Approach: A Meticulous & Multi-faceted Strategy

To make sure not a single byte of vital data was left behind, we crafted a comprehensive strategy that goes way beyond your typical 'export and import' routine. 

Our approach zeroed in on:

1. Pre-Migration Audit & Data Mapping: The Grand Tour

First, we embark on a thorough audit of both the source and destination HubSpot portals. Think of it as a grand tour, understanding every nook and cranny: data structures, custom properties, workflows, sales pipelines, and marketing assets.

We then partner closely with our clients to pinpoint every piece of essential data – from standard contact details to custom properties, and especially all that rich associated activity data (emails, notes, calls, tasks, meetings, form submissions, website activity – the works!).

Finally, we perform a meticulous data mapping exercise, ensuring every property from the old portal finds its perfect, consistent home in the new one, skilfully avoiding any pesky data overwrites.

2. Strategic Data Export & Extraction: Beyond the Basics

HubSpot's native export tools are handy for core data, but when it comes to comprehensive activity logs, they often don't quite cut it. So, we switch gears and use a multi-pronged approach:

API-Driven Precision: For the nitty-gritty of activity data, we tap into the HubSpot API. This lets us pull granular records of every interaction – complete with timestamps, involved users, and the full content of those activities.

If API access gets a bit shy for certain activity types, we roll up our sleeves and create custom reports directly within the source portal to capture that precious data.

Manual Verification (Because Humans Still Rule!): Every single exported dataset undergoes a rigorous manual review. Think of it as our quality control, ensuring absolute accuracy and completeness before the big move begins.

3. Intelligent Data Import & Association: Connecting the Dots

This is where the magic happens – and it's critical for keeping all those relationships and historical threads perfectly intact.

Foundation First: We begin by importing core contact and company records, setting up the foundational entities in the new portal. Making sure we do not duplicate existing records.

Phased Activity Arrival: Rather than one big, messy bulk import, we bring in activity data in carefully managed phases. This means importing activity records that don't exist already, then meticulously associating each one with its correct contact and company. Sometimes this even calls for custom scripts to perfectly link activities using email addresses, company names, or unique IDs – think of it as digital detective work!

Timestamps & User Integrity: A major priority is preserving original timestamps and the user who logged each activity. This ensures an accurate historical timeline, which is invaluable for sales insights and compliance – no rewriting history here!

Deals & Engagement Restored: For deals and other sales engagement data, we meticulously re-create deal stages and link them to the right companies and contacts, ensuring the sales pipeline is fully restored and ready for action.

4. Post-Migration Validation & Optimisation: Tying Up Loose Ends

Our job isn't done until we've thoroughly validated that every piece of data is exactly where it should be.

Comprehensive Spot-Checks: We perform extensive spot-checks across numerous contact and company records in the new portal, confirming that all associated activities migrated perfectly.

Client Review & Feedback: Our clients' sales and marketing teams were key players here! They actively participate in the validation, giving us invaluable feedback on the accuracy and usability of their newly migrated data.

HubSpot Portal Polish: After the merger, we help optimise the destination portal. This means consolidating any pesky duplicate properties, tidying up redundant workflows, and setting up dashboards that sparkle with the newly integrated data. We also manually migrated some of the design files so that key elements could be re-used in the destination portal.

The Outcome: A Unified, Powerful HubSpot Portal!

Thanks to this meticulous and truly dedicated approach, we successfully merged our client's HubSpot portals without sacrificing a single piece of vital contact or company activity data.

The result? A shiny, unified portal that delivers a complete 360-degree view of their combined customer base. This empowers their sales and marketing teams with all the historical context they need to nurture relationships, drive new business, and absolutely maximise their post-acquisition success.

This project truly highlighted that when it comes to complex data migrations, a detailed, customised strategy is not just important – it's absolutely paramount, especially when safeguarding that rich history of customer engagement.