CRM Migration from HubSpot to Zay CRM — Full Guide

Short version: HubSpot → Zay CRM migration is one of the cleaner SaaS-to-SaaS migrations because both speak standard contact + company + deal schema. Data move is 30-60 minutes (CSV export from HubSpot, CSV import to Zay, automatic field mapping). Workflow rebuild is 1-2 weeks (your team rebuilds automation rules and email templates — by design, the surface is different). Below is the exact playbook. Start Zay CRM Growth ($400/mo flat for $15 seats).

Before you start: the honest "should we migrate" question

Don't migrate just because per-seat is expensive. Migrate because the math justifies it AND the workflow rebuild is achievable. Three checkpoints:

1. Annual delta is real. 5 seats on HubSpot Pro vs Zay Growth: ~$500/mo delta, ~$6k/yr. 10 seats: ~$600/mo, ~$7,200/yr. 15 seats: ~$1,100/mo, ~$13,200/yr. Past 15 seats: more. If the annual delta is under $5,000, the migration cost isn't worth it.
2. Active workflows are countable. If you have 5-15 active HubSpot workflows that drive real revenue, rebuild is achievable in 1-2 weeks. If you have 50+ active workflows with complex branching, the rebuild is a real project — plan a month and dedicate an ops person.
3. Custom-built integrations. If your team has built custom HubSpot API integrations (custom apps, webhooks, custom-object schemas, Operations Hub data sync), those need rebuilding against Zay's API. Plan time for engineering review.

If all three look reasonable: migrate. If any is a hard "no": stay on HubSpot or push the eval out a quarter.

Step 1: Export your HubSpot data

In HubSpot:

1. Settings (gear icon) → Account Setup → Account Defaults → Account & Billing.
2. Find "Export account data."
3. Pick the object types: Contacts, Companies, Deals, Tickets (if you use Service Hub), Activities (notes + emails + calls + meetings if needed).
4. Pick property sets: "All properties" is safest — exports every standard + custom field.
5. Submit. HubSpot emails you the ZIP file (10-60 minutes for medium-sized accounts; longer if you have 100k+ contacts).

Optional: export email templates. Marketing Hub → Email → Templates. Export each to HTML. You'll re-import these into Zay CRM Settings → Email Templates.

Optional: export workflows. Automation → Workflows → for each active workflow, screenshot the canvas and note the trigger + action sequence. You'll rebuild these as Zay automation triggers (by design, the visual builder is different shape).

Step 2: Map fields ahead of import

Open the Contacts CSV and look at the column headers. HubSpot's standard columns are: First Name, Last Name, Email, Phone Number, Company, Lifecycle Stage, Lead Status, Owner, Country, City, State/Region, Postal Code, Number of Employees, Annual Revenue, Industry, Job Title, plus your custom properties.

Zay CRM imports these directly to the equivalent fields. Lifecycle Stage → Pipeline Stage (mapping: Subscriber → Lead, Lead → Qualified Lead, MQL → Qualified Lead, SQL → Discovery, Opportunity → Proposal, Customer → Won, Other → Custom).

Your custom properties will land in Zay CRM as custom fields. Names map 1:1.

For Deals: HubSpot Deal Stage maps to Zay Deal Stage. Deal Owner maps to Zay Deal Owner. Deal Amount, Close Date, Pipeline (if using multiple) all map.

Step 3: Import to Zay CRM

1. Sign up for Zay CRM at zayrev.com/signup. Pick Growth tier ($$400/mo flat, 7-day trial).
2. Settings → Import.
3. Drop in Companies CSV first (so company records exist before contacts get associated to them). Review the auto-mapping. Confirm.
4. Drop in Contacts CSV. Review auto-mapping (especially: phone field, owner field, custom fields). Confirm.
5. Drop in Deals CSV. Review the deal-stage mapping. Confirm.
6. Optional: drop in Activities CSV. Confirm.

The import runs server-side. For a 5,000-contact CRM, expect 5-10 minutes end-to-end. For 50,000+, expect 30-60 minutes.

Step 4: Spot-check 50-100 records

Pick 50-100 records across the spectrum — 10 high-value deals, 10 lost deals, 20 random contacts, 10 companies with most contacts, 10 random tasks. Compare each side-by-side: HubSpot vs Zay.

Common things to check:

• Owner field — did the assignment carry over?
• Custom fields — did they all import? Did any get cut to a length limit?
• Deal stage — does the mapping look right?
• Multi-line text fields — formatting preserved?
• Phone — did formatting survive?

If 95%+ of your spot-check looks clean, proceed. If you see systematic problems (e.g., a custom field consistently missing), pause, fix the export/import, retry.

Step 5: Rebuild workflows

This is the real work. Go through each active HubSpot workflow and rebuild it in Zay CRM automation:

• HubSpot "deal stage changes to X" → Zay "deal stage change trigger."
• HubSpot "contact created from form" → Zay "inbound lead trigger."
• HubSpot "send email sequence" → Zay "email sequence automation."
• HubSpot "ticket created" → Zay "support task created" (if using Zay's task automation).

By design, Zay's automation builder is simpler. A 10-step HubSpot workflow often rebuilds as a 3-step Zay automation because the surface area is more focused. Expect each active workflow to take 15-60 minutes to rebuild + test.

Step 6: Rebuild email templates

HubSpot email templates with their drag-drop visual builder don't import 1:1 (different rendering engine). The cleanest approach: open each HubSpot template, copy the rendered HTML (or copy the text + subject + variables), recreate in Zay CRM Settings → Email Templates. 5-15 minutes per template.

Variable substitution: HubSpot uses {{contact.firstname}}; Zay CRM uses {{firstName}}. Find/replace the variables when pasting.

Step 7: Update integrations

Most teams have 3-10 integrations connected to their CRM. For each, point them at Zay CRM instead of HubSpot:

• Stripe — re-connect via Settings → Integrations → Stripe. Existing Stripe customers + subscriptions auto-sync to Zay contacts on email match.
• Calendly — re-point Calendly webhook to Zay's webhook endpoint. Bookings flow to deal records.
• Google / Microsoft 365 — Settings → Integrations → Calendar. Two-way sync.
• Zapier zaps — for each zap that has HubSpot as a step, swap to the Zay CRM Zapier app.
• Custom API integrations — re-point against Zay CRM's REST API (full docs at the API reference page).

Step 8: Run in parallel for 1-2 weeks

Keep HubSpot live alongside Zay CRM for 1-2 weeks during cutover. Mirror new leads into both temporarily (most teams do this with a Zapier zap). This catches any edge case where data didn't make it to Zay.

During parallel running: train the team in Zay. Most teams need 2-3 hours of in-team training. The Zay UI is intentionally simpler than HubSpot — team adoption is typically faster, not slower, than the HubSpot onboarding was.

Step 9: Cut over and cancel HubSpot

Once the team is running on Zay for 5+ days with no issues, stop the parallel sync and cancel HubSpot.

Important caveat: HubSpot annual contract. If you signed an annual on HubSpot Pro and you're mid-contract, you can either let it run out the clock (cheapest — you just don't renew) or pay the early-termination fee (rarely worth it). If you're 6+ months out from renewal, just run both until the renewal date.

The "what could go wrong" list

• Custom field overflow — HubSpot lets you have 1,000+ custom properties. Zay CRM supports 200+ but consolidates. If you have 500+ custom properties, plan a cleanup pass before import.
• Lead-scoring re-implementation — HubSpot's predictive lead scoring doesn't port. Rebuild scoring rules in Zay (or use BYO AI to do scoring at runtime against your own prompts).
• Marketing Hub workflow depth — if you run 30+ marketing automation flows with complex branching, that's a real project. Plan a month with a dedicated ops owner.
• Custom API integrations — if your team built custom apps against the HubSpot API, expect rebuild time against the Zay API.

The "if we'd done it again, we'd..." list

Based on the migration patterns we've seen from teams cutting over:

• Always export the ALL-PROPERTIES set, not just the standard. You catch custom fields you forgot existed.
• Migrate companies first, contacts second, deals third. Associations work better.
• Don't rebuild workflows 1:1. Take the move as an opportunity to cut workflows that nobody uses. Most teams find 30-50% of their HubSpot workflows are dead.
• Plan the cutover for a quiet week. Avoid month-end, quarter-end, or major launch periods.
• Document the migration as you go. Future team members will thank you.

FAQ

Will I lose my HubSpot deal history?

No — all deal records, including stage history and notes (if you export Activities), migrate via CSV. Visual deal stage progression timestamps are preserved as Created Date + Last Modified Date.

Can I migrate gradually instead of all-at-once?

Yes, but it's harder. The reason is dual-source-of-truth — running both CRMs means deciding which one is canonical for each record. Most teams find a clean 1-2 week parallel-run is cleaner than a 2-3 month gradual move.

What about HubSpot's reporting dashboards?

Rebuild in Zay CRM's reporting interface. The data is there — the dashboard views need to be recreated. Plan 1-2 hours for the standard pipeline / activity / forecast dashboards.

Will my team push back on the migration?

Sometimes yes. The pushback is usually "but I learned HubSpot." It dissipates after a week of Zay use — the UI is intentionally simpler and adoption is faster. Frame the move: "Same workflow, simpler tool, $7-13k/year savings to fund other things."

Can Zay support help with the migration?

Yes. Zay CRM Pro tier includes a dedicated CSM who runs migrations. Growth tier customers get priority email + phone support during migration weeks. For very-large migrations (100k+ contacts, custom integrations), we offer Zay Custom migration services as a one-time engagement (~$5,000-15,000 depending on scope).

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