Key takeaways
- Preserve untouched source exports before cleaning or transforming data
- Move operationally useful records with documented mapping instead of importing every field blindly
- Test and reconcile representative leads, estimates, jobs, payments, attachments, and permissions before cutover
- Define ownership, freeze time, rollback conditions, and customer-facing continuity in writing
Switching moving-company software is a controlled change to live operations. The goal is not to make the new database look like the old one. The goal is to preserve the records your team needs, prove the new workflow, and keep estimates, scheduled moves, crews, customer communication, and money from falling between systems.
Phase 1: inventory every source
| Source | Records to inspect | Common migration risk |
|---|---|---|
| Current CRM | Leads, customers, stages, notes, tasks, users | Undocumented custom fields and duplicate contacts |
| Estimate system | Inventory, services, rates, versions, approvals | Flattening versions into one inaccurate total |
| Calendar / dispatch | Jobs, crews, trucks, windows, access notes | Importing events without operational status |
| Payments / accounting | Customers, invoices, balances, payments, refunds | Treating quoted or invoiced amounts as collected cash |
| Files and inboxes | Contracts, photos, signatures, claims, messages | Losing attachments, author, date, or access restrictions |
| Spreadsheets | Rates, referral partners, crews, storage, manual trackers | Conflicting copies and unknown owners |
Phase 2: decide what belongs in the live system
| Disposition | Typical records | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Migrate | Open leads, upcoming jobs, active customers, current balances, rates, users | Needed for current operations |
| Summarize | Older history useful for service or reporting | Keep essential outcome and reference without recreating every event |
| Archive | Closed records required for contracts, tax, claims, or retention | Searchable, controlled, and separate from live work |
| Exclude | Duplicates, tests, spam, obsolete drafts, invalid users | Document the rule and count excluded records |
| Review | Unknown statuses, unmatched money, missing owners, unsupported fields | Human decision before import |
Phase 3: build a field and status map
| Source value | Destination | Transformation | Acceptance check |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lead source | Original source | Preserve first known source and map approved labels | Source totals reconcile |
| Pipeline status | Defined lead stage | Translate documented values; unknowns to review | No silent default stage |
| Estimate | Versioned estimate | Preserve date, scope, assumptions, total, and state | Current and prior versions distinguishable |
| Calendar job | Scheduled move | Connect customer, scope, addresses, window, resources | Dispatcher can execute without re-entry |
| Payment | Payment ledger event | Preserve processor reference, date, amount, status | Collected, refunded, and due stay separate |
| Note / file | Timeline or attachment | Preserve author, timestamp, job link, and access class | Representative files open |
Phase 4: clean before importing
Normalize phone, email, dates, currency, addresses, and identifiers
Deduplicate with a documented rule and a review queue for uncertain matches
Remove test records and former users without erasing needed authorship
Resolve unknown stages, impossible dates, orphan jobs, and unmatched payments
Confirm current services, rates, crews, trucks, locations, and user roles
Scan attachments for unsupported formats, missing files, and inappropriate access
Record source count, excluded count, merged count, review count, and import count
Keep a repeatable transformation log rather than editing rows ad hoc
Phase 5: test representative workflows
A ten-row import of perfect customers proves very little. Select records that expose risk: duplicate customers, multiple contacts, a revised estimate, a future job, long-distance or multi-stop work, a partial payment, a refund, attachments, a claim, a former employee, and a restricted note. Then run a new lead and job in the destination system.
| Test | Pass condition |
|---|---|
| Counts | Expected source, excluded, merged, review, and imported totals reconcile |
| Relationships | Customer, estimate, job, payment, files, and messages stay connected |
| Money | Quoted, billed, due, collected, refunded, and disputed values remain distinct |
| Dates | Created, sent, booked, move, payment, and note dates keep their meaning |
| Permissions | Each role sees what it needs and restricted information stays restricted |
| Workflow | A migrated job and a new job can both complete without source-system re-entry |
| Export | Destination records and attachments can be retrieved in usable formats |
Phase 6: plan the cutover and rollback
Name one migration owner and one decision maker
Set the source-system freeze time and explain what users must stop changing
Export final deltas after the freeze and reconcile them separately
Protect upcoming moves, customer messages, deposits, payment links, and on-call access
Define stop conditions before importing, such as unmatched balances or missing jobs
Keep source access read-only until validation and retention decisions are complete
Publish the support and escalation path for the first live week
Record final sign-off by sales, dispatch, field operations, billing, and ownership
Switching to Reelow
Before committing, ask Reelow which source formats, records, attachments, and historical details can be imported for your specific account. Do not infer migration scope from a demo. Use the demo checklistto validate the destination workflow, then follow the30-day implementation planfor configuration, pilot work, role-based training, and adoption. TheHelp Center documents current Reelow workflows.
Sources and limitations
This guide is an operational framework, not a guarantee that every source field or file can be imported into Reelow or another platform. Migration scope depends on source access, export quality, destination capabilities, contracts, and retention requirements. Obtain written scope, preserve source evidence, and involve legal, accounting, security, or compliance reviewers where appropriate.