Export everything from the old CRM
Each CRM exports contacts to a CSV, but not always every field by default, and sometimes only to certain users. Export before your old subscription ends, and keep the original file: it's your backup if an import goes wrong.
Follow Up Boss
People, then All People. Filter, tick Select All, click the export arrow and tick Export All Columns: without it you only get the first phone, email and address of each contact. Account owners can export by default and choose which users can.
BoldTrail (kvCORE)
Contacts, select the contacts, then Export Contacts under More Actions. The file arrives as a download link in an email to your login address. You can only export contacts you own; admins can export company and team leads.
Lofty
People, the three dots beside Add Lead, then Lead Export. You get an email with a link to the CSV, which can take 10 to 15 minutes. Exporting needs permission, and agents can export their own personal leads.
Not everything travels. Follow Up Boss can't export emails or call recordings, and can't import tasks, appointments or deals. Emails stay in each agent's own email account, but plan to set up tasks and deals again in the new CRM.
The fields each CRM reads its own way
Names, emails and addresses usually map straight across when you match columns during the import. These are the ones that need changing first.
Assigned agent
Follow Up Boss matches the agent's full name, and tags a contact "Imported Agent: Jane Doe" when it doesn't match. Lofty also needs the name exactly as it is in Lofty. BoldTrail needs the agent's login email, and doesn't import a lead without one.
Stage or status
None of them create new stages from a file. Follow Up Boss tags unknown stages "Imported Stage: Warm", Lofty imports an unknown pipeline stage as a tag, and BoldTrail turns anything but its eight statuses into Prospect. Set up stages and pipelines before you import.
Tags and lead type
Follow Up Boss splits tags on commas, semicolons or pipes. BoldTrail wants hashtags separated by | with no spaces, and Lofty takes several lead types as Investor|Buyer.
Dates
BoldTrail requires mm/dd/yyyy for birthdays and closing dates, and Lofty shows its dates as 01/03/2019. A file of day-first dates from outside the US needs converting first.
Phones and emails
Follow Up Boss takes up to six of each, one per column. BoldTrail takes three emails and five phones, and only 10-digit numbers; extras can go into notes.
What goes wrong, and the fix
Contacts land with the wrong agent, or none
Write each agent exactly as the new CRM expects: the full name in Follow Up Boss and Lofty, the login email in BoldTrail. Add every agent to the new account before importing.
Everyone has the same stage
Map each old stage to one of the new CRM's before you import, and turn any without an equivalent into a tag.
Birthdays and anniversaries are wrong
Use one date format in the whole file, month first for these US CRMs. Excel often changes dates when it opens a CSV, so check them before saving. CSV date formatting guide.
Zip codes lose their leading zero
Excel turns 02134 into 2134, and Follow Up Boss's own help centre warns about it on exports. Keep zip codes as text. Excel leading zeros guide.
Second phone numbers and emails go missing
Export with every column, and keep one number or email per column. Follow Up Boss doesn't read comma-separated numbers in one cell, though it does split them on a pipe or a new line.
The same person appears twice, or not at all
Remove duplicates in the file before importing. Each CRM decides differently what counts as a duplicate, so the result depends on where you're going. CSV duplicate rows guide.
How each CRM handles duplicates
An import into an account that already has contacts, such as a brokerage CRM, meets existing records. Each system matches them differently.
Follow Up Boss
Merges a contact into an existing one when the email matches, or the phone number and name both do.
BoldTrail
Skips a lead whose email the agent already owns. Leads without an email can't be checked, so they're imported even if they're already there.
Lofty
Asks whether to merge or skip duplicates. Leads you've deleted still count until you empty Deleted Leads, so a second attempt can merge or skip against them.
Consent, limits and undoing an import
Bring opt-in and do-not-contact details across, not only names and numbers. Follow Up Boss asks you to confirm the contacts have opted in before it imports, pointing to the US Telephone Consumer Protection Act. BoldTrail has TRUE or FALSE columns for email, call and text opt-ins, and group texts still need the lead to text your number or register on your site. Lofty reads yes, out or unsubscribe as unsubscribed from email, and yes, DNC or out as do not contact for a phone number.
File limits differ too. Follow Up Boss takes a CSV under 90MB. BoldTrail takes a CSV up to 2MB, and up to 7,000 leads if you import them yourself. Lofty takes CSV, XLS or XLSX files of up to 10,000 rows at a time.
Start with a test import of a few contacts, as Lofty recommends 2 to 5. Follow Up Boss lets you delete an import for 14 days, and Lofty can reverse one from its import history for a limited time. In both, changes merged into contacts that were already there stay, so a test run is the safer undo.
Before you import
Fix the export in the new CRM's columns
Import your old CRM's export into a form with the new CRM's columns. Agents, statuses, dates, phone numbers, emails and duplicates are checked as you go, so the file is right before it's imported. Data is checked in the browser and never stored by us.