Field guide
Move off Salesforce without carrying the mess with you.
A Salesforce to HubSpot migration is mostly a decision about which data is worth moving. Make those decisions before anything is imported, let Claude assist the field mapping, cleanup, deduplication and validation, then check the result against the source. Setanta migrates off Salesforce and does not implement it.
What a migration is
Most of the work is deciding what to bring.
A Salesforce org that has run for years holds more than records. It holds fields nobody uses, picklist values from three sales leaders ago, duplicate accounts, and automation that nobody remembers writing. A like-for-like copy into HubSpot moves all of it, and the new system starts out as confusing as the old one.
So we treat a migration as a cleanup that happens to cross a system boundary. Claude does a lot of the reading: comparing fields, flagging likely duplicates, spotting values that do not fit. People make the decisions. You own what the new HubSpot portal looks like, and we make that choice quick to make and easy to check.
Where Claude helps
Four jobs that used to take weeks of spreadsheet work.
Field mapping.
Claude reads the Salesforce schema and proposes how each field maps to a HubSpot property, flagging the ones with no obvious home, the ones nobody populates and the ones that mean different things in different teams.
Cleanup.
Inconsistent values, free text that should be a list, missing owners, malformed emails and phone numbers. Claude lists them and proposes fixes, and your team approves the rules.
Deduplication.
Companies and contacts that are the same entity under different spellings. Claude proposes matches with its reasoning, and a person approves merges where the match is not certain.
Validation.
After a test import, Claude compares source and target: counts, relationships, a sample of records read end to end. Differences come back as a list, not a feeling.
Phases
Six phases, in an order that limits surprises.
We do not state a standard timeline. It depends on the size and age of the org, how much custom work it holds and how quickly decisions get made. Tick each phase off below as you go.
- 1. Audit
- Objects, fields, record counts, users, integrations, automation, reports and attachments in the Salesforce org, with what each is used for and by whom.
- 2. Design
- The target HubSpot structure: objects, properties, pipelines, lifecycle stages and permissions. Decisions on what is left behind, written down.
- 3. Map and clean
- Field mapping, cleanup rules and deduplication, with Claude proposing and your team approving.
- 4. Test import
- A trial run into HubSpot, validated against the source. Repeat until the differences are explained.
- 5. Cutover
- A short freeze on edits, the final import, a last validation and the switch of users, integrations and forms.
- 6. After
- A review period for what was missed, a handover to your admin and documentation of what changed.
Free tool · Migration checklist
You are in phase 1: Audit.
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1.Audit
2.Design
3.Map and clean
4.Test import
5.Cutover
6.After
Risks
What goes wrong, and what we do about it.
| Risk | Why it happens | What we do |
|---|---|---|
| Automation does not carry over | Flows, validation rules and code in Salesforce are not data and cannot be imported. | List every piece in the audit, decide what to rebuild in HubSpot and what to retire. |
| History is lost | Activity history, field history and attachments move differently from records, and some do not move at all. | Agree up front what history matters, and keep an archive of what does not move. |
| Custom objects | Whether HubSpot can hold a custom object depends on your plan. | Check the plan during the audit, before design depends on it. |
| Duplicates multiply | Two imports of overlapping data create new duplicates. | Deduplicate in the source and agree match rules before the first import. |
| Users go back to the old habit | The team keeps working in Salesforce during testing. | Set a freeze window and a single cutover date, and tell everyone in advance. |
| Integrations break | Forms, email tools and billing systems point at Salesforce. | Inventory them in the audit and repoint each one at cutover. |
What to prepare
Before we start, gather these.
- An admin login to the Salesforce org, or someone who can export on request
- A list of the integrations that read or write Salesforce data
- The name of the person who decides what the new HubSpot portal looks like
- A short list of the reports the business cannot live without
- A window when edits can pause, which your sales and service leads agree to
- Your HubSpot plan, so we know what the portal can hold
We state no timeline on this page because it depends on the audit. Setanta has no Salesforce implementation practice, and none is implied here: the work is the move off it.
Questions
Asked before every first call.
Can Claude migrate Salesforce data to HubSpot?
Claude assists. It proposes field mappings, flags dirty data and likely duplicates, and compares source and target after a test import. People approve the rules and the merges. The import itself uses HubSpot's own tools. The result is checked against Salesforce before cutover.
How long does a Salesforce to HubSpot migration take?
It depends on the size and age of the org, how much custom automation it holds and how fast decisions get made, so Setanta does not state a standard timeline. The audit gives a realistic plan before any work starts.
What does not migrate?
Salesforce automation such as flows, validation rules and code is not data, so it has to be rebuilt or retired. Activity history, field history and attachments move differently from records. We list all of this in the audit, so you decide what matters before anything moves.
Do you also implement Salesforce?
No. Setanta has no Salesforce implementation practice and holds no Salesforce certification. We migrate companies off Salesforce to HubSpot. If you want to extend or reconfigure your Salesforce setup, a Salesforce specialist is the right call.
What should we prepare?
An admin login or export access, a list of integrations, the person who decides how the new portal is structured, the reports you cannot lose, an agreed edit freeze, and your HubSpot plan. With those, the audit is quick and the cutover has fewer surprises.
What is the free Operating Diagnostic?
A free call (book a time) that looks at how your team works today. It finds where Claude would move your numbers first and the process worth fixing first, and says which package fits. If it is not the right time, we say so.
Planning a move off Salesforce? Start with what is in the org.
We will say what we would audit first, or whether the move makes sense yet.