ALArchie Lyon
All projects
Planhat → HubSpot

CRM Migrations

Aligning Planhat and HubSpot accounts through ID-based reconciliation, safeguarded data preparation and a bespoke integration. Prepare the data first, sync second, and de-duplicate as a follow-up phase.

Role
Revenue Operations Contractor
Approach
Prepare → sync → de-duplicate
Stack
PlanhatHubSpotn8n
Reporting status
Final counts and rollout status pending
Skills demonstrated
CRM migrationsAPI reconciliationData integrityIdentity mappingControlled batch updates
B

The challenge

What was happening?
Account records existed in both systems without reliable links. Some Planhat accounts held stale or incorrect external IDs, while HubSpot already contained duplicate companies.
Why did it matter commercially?
Sales, Customer Success and Marketing needed the same account, contact and deal context for a trustworthy customer picture and better handovers.
Limitations of existing systems
Discovery answers lived in AI-generated Planhat fields. Matching by name or domain could collide, and a complete duplicate cleanup would delay alignment.
What needed to change?
Validate account IDs, preserve invalid legacy values and prepare records for the native integration without building a custom ongoing sync.
Why the move to HubSpot

HubSpot was the better home for the pre-sale record: stronger attribution reporting so campaigns can be traced to real revenue, lead enrichment and lifecycle tracking built in, and easier integrations and syncs with the other commercial systems the team uses. With the accounts aligned, leads carry the right context from first touch through to handover, and the Planhat connection stays a supported native sync rather than custom glue someone has to maintain.

C

The architecture

n8n prepares account IDs for a bespoke Planhat to HubSpot integration. Reconciliation and controlled ID changes are separate from the ongoing sync; the pilot and rollout are follow-up phases whose completion is not confirmed.

Comparison / reconciliationn8n automationNative integration
D

The implementation

  1. 01

    Plan and critique the matching strategy

    Stress-test ID matching, consider domain fallback and make dry-run mode the default before any writes.

  2. 02

    Build and validate reconciliation in n8n

    Read every company from both APIs, compare the records and produce a match summary.

  3. 03

    Simplify the scope to accelerate alignment

    Prioritise reliable sync preparation, with de-duplication as a planned follow-up phase.

  4. 04

    Preserve legacy IDs and prepare accounts

    Keep valid links intact. For invalid links, preserve the old value before clearing the active ID.

  5. 05

    Pilot the native integration

    Start with a small batch, verify it, then expand the Planhat–HubSpot sync. Completion status is not yet confirmed.

  6. 06

    Extend to contacts and discovery data

    Design the next phase around repeatable contact updates and discovery answers on HubSpot deals; rollout is not confirmed.

E

Safeguards

  • Dry-run mode is the default before any writes.
  • Small write batches with pauses between them.
  • Only records that need a change are updated.
  • Legacy Source Id preserves the original ID before sourceId is cleared.
  • A reverse check identifies HubSpot companies missing from Planhat.
  • A small-batch pilot precedes full native-sync rollout.
  • API duplicate handling and association limits are verified before relying on them.
F

Intended benefits

  • — A shared account picture across Sales, Customer Success and Marketing.
  • — Traceable changes with legacy IDs preserved.
  • — Lower-risk rollout through previews, batches and spot checks.
  • — A maintainable native sync rather than a custom integration to own.
  • — Discovery context on deal records for better handovers.
  • — A repeatable preparation approach for future system changes.