Use this when
- You are moving orgs, or “we will clean it after go-live” is the current plan.
- Marketing, sales, and CS cannot name the same fields for MQL, owner, and next step.
- Nobody knows which fields are populated versus ceremonial.
- You are about to buy automation on top of a model nobody mapped.
Do not use this when
- There is no ICP and no stages. You will migrate a mess with better branding.
- You need a weekly forecast call. That is forecasting.
- Legal hold, privacy, or deletion rules must be designed by qualified owners. This is not that advice.
Keep this in mind
Map left to right, and count records before you keep a field. Legacy label, API name, data type, and how many records actually have a value. New side: label, API name, data type, standard vs custom. Types must match. A picklist (or multi-select) is not “text we will fix later”—it gets its own value list.How to do it
Step 1: Define the core records and relationships
Start with Lead, Account, Contact, Opportunity if that is your commercial spine. Duplicate the map for every extra object you insist on (Task, Contract, custom objects). If you cannot say who lives in the object day-to-day, do not migrate it “just in case.”Step 2: Review the existing fields and their usage
For each field: label, API name, type, populated count. Empty custom fields are candidates for death, not for a matching custom field in the new org. Operators often run a field-population audit in the current CRM before they copy the schema. The point is the count, not a branded app.Step 3: Map fields to the new system
Right side: the counterpart. Standard if the new CRM already has the job. Custom only if you can name the report, workflow, or legal need. Data types must match (date is not text; picklist is not a long dump). If the new system cannot hold the type, you are designing a transformation, not a rename.Step 4: Map picklist values separately
Every picklist and multi-select: object, field, values. Stage names here must be the same words forecasting and lead scoring use. Hidden synonyms (“SQL” vs “Sales Qualified”) are how routing dies.Step 5: Agree on the model before adding automation
Integrations, sequences, and scoring write to this map. If MarTech governance later finds a tool that cannot two-way sync a field you marked required, that is a stack decision—not a surprise in week three. Date the map. Changing it after go-live is a migration of its own.Worked example (illustrative)
Sales-assist. Leaving a cluttered HubSpot for a tighter CRM. Not your schema.Copy: model one-pager (fill)
- From-org / to-org / freeze date / owner:
- Objects in scope (and objects we will not move):
- Required fields for MQL, SQL, opportunity, handoff:
- Population rule (below n records → kill or archive):
- Picklist fields that must match forecast/scoring language:
- Integrations that write to this map:
- Who may add a custom field after freeze:
Before you start
- Lead, Account, Contact, Opportunity (or your spine) each have a map.
- Every kept field has a populated-count or an explicit “new, empty on purpose.”
- Standard vs custom is marked on the new side.
- Data types match or a transform is written.
- Picklist values are listed, not implied.
- Extra objects were duplicated as tabs, not forgotten in Slack.
- Stage language matches the forecast page.
- The map is dated before automation is rebuilt.
Metrics
Do not count objects created, or resemblance to a Salesforce-shaped template, as a model.
Common mistakes
- Migrating every field because someone might need it.
- Matching labels and ignoring types.
- Picklists left as free text.
- Stage names that do not match forecasting.
- Rebuilding scoring and sequences before the map exists.
- Copying another company’s objects (including a sample Lead/Account/Contact/Opportunity set) as if they were yours.
What to read next
What the score does at a threshold is lead scoring. Whether a tool may write into this record is MarTech governance. Post-sale intelligence (value, cadence, renewal, risk) is CS workspace. The number people call sits in forecasting. If you are still inventing the commercial motion, stay in channel strategy.Sources and evidence boundary
This is an owner-maintained operating synthesis. It is not a licensed migration product, not Salesforce administration advice, and not a vendor implementation quote. The left-to-right field map (label, API name, type, record count → new label, API, type, standard/custom), object tabs for Lead / Account / Contact / Opportunity, duplicating sheets for extra objects, a dedicated picklist-values tab, and “audit population before you copy junk” are distilled from an operator CRM-migration workbook (blank mapping file). That file is a method prompt, not a source to copy. Author contact details, community Slack handles, agency matching, and named admin utilities in its pro tips are not imported as requirements.Copyright © 2026 Ivan Xu. All rights reserved. See the copyright and reuse terms. Canonical source: github.com/weilun88313/B2B-Playbook