Comparison at a glance
| Decision | CRM cleanup | CRM migration |
|---|---|---|
| Starting question | Can this platform support the agreed workflow? | What required capability or constraint demands a different platform? |
| Data work | Merge rules, ownership, stage evidence, and stale records | Source export, mapping, transformation, relationships, and reconciliation |
| Disruption | Controlled changes within the current operating environment | Cutover, training, parallel work, and source-of-truth decisions |
| Success evidence | Trusted active records and a maintainable intake process | Required records and workflow function correctly after transfer |
When the first approach fits
Favor repair when the main failures are unassigned leads, undefined stages, duplicate contacts, and missing next actions. Fixing those rules may restore useful reporting without a platform change.
When the second approach fits
Investigate migration when a required permission model, relationship, workflow, or integration cannot be supported within acceptable operating effort. Demonstrate the requirement in the candidate system before committing.
Worked decision example
Illustrative example: a team blames the CRM for unreliable forecasts. A sample shows sellers use different meanings for proposal stage. Migrating those records unchanged would preserve the disagreement in a new interface.
A practical selection test
Write three mandatory scenarios, run them in the present system, and document the actual limitation. For any replacement, reconcile a sample of records and history and test a recovery path before cutover.
What the proposal must resolve
Ask for the exact work boundary, internal counterpart, access requirements, deliverables, and acceptance evidence. Clarify what happens when new information changes the brief. Compare the work your team must still perform, not only the outside fee or the name of the service.
Related implementation resources
Discuss the operating problem
Elixir consulting starts at $5,000 per month, with final pricing based on scope. Bring a recent example, the current workflow, and the person who owns the result to define the appropriate implementation scope.