CRM Data Export Checklist: Test What You Can Actually Take With You

Create a synthetic relationship map

Use fictional records: organisations Harbor and Meadow; contacts Ari and Bo at Harbor and Casey at Meadow; one opportunity associated with Harbor and Ari; one note on that opportunity.

Write the expected map before export. Keep stable references and record the fields you need: names, identifiers, contact methods, ownership and links. Do not use real personal data to test an unfamiliar destination.

Copy the export inventory

• Record families: which contacts, organisations, opportunities and other objects are included?
• Fields: which values and custom properties are present or omitted?
• Relationships: are links preserved through usable identifiers?
• History: are notes and dates retained with their meaning?
• Files: are attachments supplied, linked with authorised access or excluded?
• Scope: which permission or workspace boundary selected the records?
• Format: can the intended receiving process read it without guessing?

Reconcile the result

The sample expects two organisations, three contacts, one opportunity and one note. Compare those counts, then inspect every expected relationship. Three exported contact names alone do not prove which company each belongs to.

Record each gap as: expected item | observed output | effect | supplier question. An attachment URL that the receiving team cannot access is not equivalent to a usable exported attachment. Blank and omitted fields are also different outcomes.

Decide what the gap means

Ask for documented supported routes before promising a migration. A manual workaround may be acceptable for a small dataset, but measure the actual work with the sample instead of assuming a complete history can move automatically.

Protect export files as customer data and use the authorised retention/deletion process after the exercise. This checklist tests operational portability; it is not legal advice about statutory data rights and does not assert that Client Craft exports a particular object or attachment format.