Profiling the ACT! database Using our proprietary software, Exporter, the ACT! data is "profiled". This helps determine the size and structure of ACT! database. Using these reports, we will make recommendations and cost estimates for your migration.
Data Review Based on how you have used ACT!, we can determine how the data should be imported. For example, ACT! does not support Leads. Both Salesforce and ZOHO do. If you have a lot of unqualified Contacts in your database, it might be best to import it as Leads. Or, if you have Contact records that haven't been updated in 15 years, we would probably recommend excluding these or putting them in Leads for qualification in the new CRM.
Custom User Fields Next the custom user fields from ACT! are added to the new CRM. Unless there are a huge number of unwanted fields they are all moved to the new CRM. The fields from ACT! are put in a separate section in the new page layouts named "ACT! Migration Fields". This allows them to be easily located and moved or renamed. We prefer not to rename any fields until all the data from ACT! has been imported.
Loading the Data Each object that you have selected is prepared for import and loaded using the manufacturer-supplied data loader. The table on the right shows the ACT! database objects and how they are transferred to ZOHO and Salesforce.
| ACT! | SFDC | ZOHO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Companies | >> | Accounts | Accounts |
| Contacts | >> | Contacts | Contacts |
| Secondary Contacts | >> | Contacts (linked to Primary) | Contacts |
| History | >> | Completed Tasks | Completed Tasks |
| Notes | >> | Completed Tasks | Notes |
| Open Activities | >> | Tasks | Tasks |
| Opportunities | >> | Opportunities | Opportunities |
| Product Services | >> | Opportunity Line Items | N/A |
| Attachments | >> | Files | N/A |
| Custom Tables | >> | Optional | Optional |
Account Assignment While ACT! provides the ability to associate contacts with companies, most users do not do this. The use of the Account/Contact relationship is considered a best practice in both Salesforce and ZOHO. Therefore, when the import files are prepared, each contact is assigned an Account using the following rules.
If a Contact has been assigned to an ACT! Company, the Account information for that Contact will be taken from the ACT! Company data. This may be different than the data contained in the Contact Company field.
If a Contact does not belong to an ACT! company and the company name is present in the contact’s record, then this company name will be used to create the Account.
If a Contact does not belong to an ACT! company and does not have a company in the Company data field, the Contact will be assigned to a Account {lastname}- Household.
Blank Contacts If the Contact name is blank and there is a Company name, then the contact will be named Contact at {companyname}.
Account Addresses ACT! companies can have three address fields. Salesforce and ZOHO have two -- billing and shipping. When ACT! company data is used to populate Account addresses the following rules are used:
If the ACT! company billing address field is blank, the ACT! main address is moved to the Salesforce.com billing address.
If both the ACT! company and billing addresses contain data, the ACT! company address is put into a field which will need to be created labeled, ACT_Company_Address.
Groups There are no groups in Salesforce or ZOHO. However, they can be simulated using Views. The Exporter software creates a field labeled GroupMembership which contains a list of all the groups the contact belongs to. This field can be used to set up Views. You can find instructions on setting up Views in the Migration Tips section of this web site.
ACT! Activities Salesforce and ZOHO split the Activities into Events(timed) and Tasks(untimed). Because ACT! does not do this , it makes it very difficult to split the calendar items. Unless you have specific rules for your operation, the Activities are all imported as Tasks.