CRM Pitfalls, Contracts and Official Sources
CRM data export and exit planning: getting your customer records out before you need to
What a complete CRM export should include, contract terms on export and deletion, a step-by-step exit plan, an illustrative exit cost and how to keep consent and unsubscribe records intact.
Your customer history is one of your business's most valuable assets, so plan how you would get it out of a CRM before you sign. A complete export includes not just contacts and companies but deals, activities, notes, emails, attachments, custom fields, consent and unsubscribe records, and the links between them, in standard formats you can load elsewhere. Check what the vendor's export tools actually produce, whether the contract guarantees export during and after the term, and how long your data stays available after cancellation. Then do a test export once a year.
This guide is part of why CRM rollouts fail. An export is also part of your fallback during an outage (see SLAs, uptime and support), and an exported file of personal information needs the same protection as the CRM itself (see the data breach response plan). Costs are illustrative.
What a complete export should include
| Data | Typical format | Common gaps |
|---|---|---|
| Contacts and companies | CSV or spreadsheet | Usually fine |
| Links between contacts, companies and deals | IDs in CSV files | Lost if exported as separate flat files without IDs |
| Deals and pipeline history | CSV | Stage history often missing |
| Activities, calls, meetings, tasks | CSV | Sometimes only via API |
| Notes | CSV or text | Long notes truncated, formatting lost |
| Emails logged to records | Varies | Often not in standard export |
| Attachments and documents | Files | Often require API or separate download |
| Custom fields and objects | CSV | Field definitions not exported |
| Consent and unsubscribe records | CSV | Consent source and date may be missing |
| Quotes and products | CSV or PDF | Line items separate |
| Call recordings and transcripts | Audio and text files | May sit with the telephony provider |
| Automations, templates, reports | None or PDF | Usually must be rebuilt |
Why consent records matter on exit
Under the Spam Act 2003 you must be able to show consent to send commercial electronic messages, and unsubscribes must stay honoured. If you leave a CRM and lose the consent dates and sources, or the suppression list, your next system starts blind. Export the suppression list separately and import it into the new system first. See the Spam Act and Do Not Call guide.
Contract terms to check
- Ownership: the contract should say your data remains yours.
- Export during the term: self-service export at any time, without extra fees.
- Post-termination window: how many days you can still access or request export after cancellation (look for at least 30–90 days).
- Format: standard, machine-readable formats.
- Assistance: whether the vendor will help with a bulk export, and at what cost.
- Deletion: when and how the vendor deletes your data and backups after exit, and whether it confirms deletion.
- Suspension: whether non-payment or a dispute can cut off access to export.
Terms that let a vendor hold your data hostage may be open to challenge under the unfair contract terms law; see contract traps and auto-renewal. If your business is covered by the Privacy Act, your obligations to secure, correct, provide access to and destroy personal information continue through the change; see the Privacy Act guide.
An exit plan in eight steps
- Check the notice date and give notice correctly; see renewal uplift.
- Inventory everything in the CRM: objects, custom fields, integrations, automations, files.
- Run a full test export early and check it opens and is complete.
- Export the suppression list and consent records separately.
- Download attachments, emails and call recordings that are not in the standard export.
- Document automations, templates and reports so they can be rebuilt.
- Switch off integrations that write to the old CRM, then do the final export after a freeze.
- Request deletion after your new system is verified, and keep confirmation.
Illustrative exit cost
A 10-seat business leaving a CRM after three years estimates the exit work:
| Task | Estimate |
|---|---|
| Internal time to export and check data (20 hours × $50) | $1,000 |
| Developer to extract attachments and email history via API | $2,500 |
| Rebuilding 12 automations and 8 reports in the new CRM (16 hours × $90) | $1,440 |
| Overlap: one month of both subscriptions (10 × $70) | $700 |
| Retraining (10 people × 3 hours × $50) | $1,500 |
| Total | $7,140 |
This is in addition to the new CRM's set-up and migration costs (see migration). Knowing an approximate exit cost helps at renewal negotiations: if switching costs about $7,000, a renewal increase of $1,500 a year might be worth accepting, or a reason to negotiate.
Annual export test
Once a year, preferably before the renewal notice date:
- run a full export;
- open each file and check record counts against the CRM;
- check notes and attachments are included or retrievable;
- store the export securely (it contains personal information), and delete older test exports.
The test also works as an independent backup. Most CRM vendors back up their systems, but their backups are for restoring the service, not for restoring a record your staff deleted by mistake last month.
Frequently asked questions
Can a vendor charge for exporting my data?
Some charge for assisted bulk exports or API usage. Check before you sign. Self-service export should ideally be free.
What if the vendor goes out of business or is acquired?
Contracts may address this through notice and export rights. Regular test exports are your best protection, whatever happens to the vendor.
How long should we keep the old data?
Keep what you need for legal, tax and business purposes, and securely destroy the rest. Your accountant can advise on record-keeping periods for financial records.
Do I need to tell customers we are changing CRM?
Usually not, but if you are covered by the Privacy Act and the change affects where data is stored (for example overseas), check your privacy policy and collection notices.
Sources
- Australian Competition and Consumer Commission — unfair contract terms for small businesses
- Office of the Australian Information Commissioner — security, access, correction and destruction of personal information
- Australian Communications and Media Authority — consent and unsubscribe obligations
- Australian Cyber Security Centre — backups and secure storage
