Switching CRM platforms feels simple: export, import, done. In reality, you'll lose deal history, relationship depth, custom fields, and metadata that took years to build. By the time you realize what's missing, your new platform is live and rescue options are closed. This guide walks you through what each major platform actually lets you export, what gets left behind, and how to audit your data before you commit to the switch. What native exports actually include (and what they don't) Every CRM offers CSV export. None of them are equal. Pipedrive Pipedrive exports contacts, deals, activities, and notes as CSV. The trap: deal history doesn't include stage progression dates or the original win probability. You'll see the final deal amount and close date, but not the sales cycle—how long it sat in negotiation, whether probability dropped before closing, what the rep actually forecasted. What you lose: Deal stage timestamps, activity metadata (whether a call was logged or manual, whether an email bounced), custom fields with dropdown history (only the current value exports). Workaround: Before export, run a custom report showing deal stage timeline. Screenshot or PDF it. It won't import cleanly, but you'll have documentation. HubSpot HubSpot's export is more granular—contacts, companies, deals, tickets all have detailed CSV options. But custom properties are a bottleneck. If you built custom fields (e.g., 'competitor mentioned', 'contract value', 'renewal likelihood'), HubSpot exports them as columns, but only if you've mapped every single one in the export settings. Miss one, and it's gone from the file. What you lose: Deal stage duration (HubSpot tracks it, but doesn't export timestamps for each stage entry). Custom property calculation logic (if you built a formula field, the final value exports, but the formula itself doesn't). Email tracking data (open/click events don't export with the contact record). Workaround: Before export, audit your custom properties in HubSpot's Data Management tab. List every field you created. Cross-reference against your new platform's import schema to confirm they have equivalents. If they don't, decide now whether to keep them in a reference spreadsheet or map them to existing fields. Affinity Affinity's export is the weakest. You get contacts and organizations, but the relationship graph—the real value of Affinity—doesn't export as a structured file. You can export a CSV with contact names and companies, but the connections between them (Person A knows Person B through Company C, and they worked together in 2019) live only in Affinity's database. What you lose: Relationship depth, interaction history between connected contacts, warm introduction paths, fund-company-founder mapping. Workaround: Before you leave, export contact lists and use Affinity's API to pull relationship metadata if you have engineering support. If not, manually document your highest-value relationships in a spreadsheet: key contacts, their connections, and the strength of each relationship. This becomes your reference during migration. The audit checklist: What to do before you export Don't export until you've answered these questions: What custom fields do you actually use? Open your current CRM and audit every custom field in your contact, deal, and company modules. Document the field name, type (text, dropdown, number, formula), and how many records use it. If a field is empty for 80% of your records, it's not worth migrating. Which deal data drives your forecasts? If you rely on deal probability, stage duration, or weighted pipeline, confirm your new platform calculates these the same way. If not, decide whether to manually adjust forecasts post-migration or keep a shadow spreadsheet during the transition. How many integrations feed your CRM? If Salesforce syncs opportunity data, or if your marketing platform pushes leads into HubSpot, those integrations won't work on day one in your new platform. Plan cutover timing so you don't lose inbound data on the day you switch. What historical reports matter? If your board reviews yearly close rates by rep or quarterly pipeline by stage, export those reports as PDFs now. You won't be able to compare pre- and post-migration data in your new CRM without them. Where's the relationship metadata? If you use Affinity, Pipedrive, or HubSpot primarily to track who knows whom, export that data to a reference spreadsheet before you leave. Map the most important relationships so you can manually recreate them if needed. Native export formats compared Most CRMs default to CSV. Some offer JSON or API-based export, which preserves more metadata. CSV: Flattens hierarchical data. If a contact has 5 associated deals, CSV creates 5 rows for the same contact. This bloats your import and requires deduplication in your new platform. Best for: simple migrations with low contact-to-deal complexity. JSON: Preserves relationships. A single contact record can nest its associated de