Migrating from Zoho Bigin to NerdCRM: the 30-minute checklist

If you’ve decided to switch from Bigin to NerdCRM (or you’re considering it), here’s the actual checklist. We’ve helped a handful of customers through this in the last few months and the same script works each time. Plan for 30–60 minutes the first time; teams that have done it once can run it in 20.

Before you start

• Decide on a cutover time when nobody is in the middle of a deal close. End of week is usually best.
• Tell the team. The Kanban will look different the next morning.
• Pick the NerdCRM org that will receive the data — usually a fresh one (Settings → Create new org).

Step 1 — Export from Bigin

In Bigin: Setup → Data Administration → Export Data

Export, in this order:

1. Companies — produces Accounts.csv
2. Contacts — produces Contacts.csv
3. Deals (Pipelines) — produces Pipelines.csv
4. Activities — produces Tasks.csv, Calls.csv, Events.csv

Save them all to one folder. They’re plain CSVs.

Step 2 — Sketch your pipeline

Bigin pipelines and NerdCRM pipelines look the same; the stage names just need mapping. In NerdCRM, Pipelines → New pipeline and recreate your stage names.

Your Pipelines.csv has a Stage column with the Bigin stage names — note them down. The most common Bigin defaults map to:

• Qualification → Qualified
• Needs Analysis → Callback scheduled
• Value Proposition → In discussion
• Negotiation → In discussion
• Closed Won → Won
• Closed Lost → handled via the deal status field, not a stage

Step 3 — Import companies first

NerdCRM’s CSV importer is at Settings → Import → Companies.

Drop Accounts.csv in. Map:

• Bigin Account Name → NerdCRM Name
• Bigin Website → NerdCRM Domain
• Bigin Industry → NerdCRM Industry
• Bigin Description → NerdCRM Description

Skip everything else for round one — you can backfill notes later.

Step 4 — Import contacts

Settings → Import → Contacts, drop Contacts.csv in. Map:

• Bigin First Name / Last Name → NerdCRM same
• Bigin Email → NerdCRM Email (primary)
• Bigin Phone / Mobile → NerdCRM Phone (primary)
• Bigin Account Name → NerdCRM Company — this auto-matches against the companies you just imported
• Bigin Owner → NerdCRM Owner — see step 6 about owner mapping

Step 5 — Import deals

Settings → Import → Deals, drop Pipelines.csv in.

The mapping that matters:

• Bigin Stage → NerdCRM Stage — pick from your new pipeline’s stages
• Bigin Amount → NerdCRM Value (currency from a column or a fixed default)
• Bigin Closing Date → NerdCRM Expected close date
• Bigin Account Name → NerdCRM Company
• Bigin Contact Name → NerdCRM Contacts
• Bigin Owner → NerdCRM Owner

For deals that were Closed Won or Closed Lost in Bigin, set the deal status accordingly during import — there’s a column-mapping option.

Step 6 — Owners

Bigin’s CSV exports have owner emails, not user IDs. Before importing, create the matching users in NerdCRM (Settings → Users → Invite) using the same email addresses. The importer will match by email.

For users you don’t want to recreate (e.g., people who left the team), assign their deals to a “house” owner during import.

Step 7 — Verify

Spot-check before declaring victory:

• 10 random contacts: phone format normalized? company linked?
• 5 random open deals: stage correct? owner correct? value correct?
• One won deal and one lost deal — status correct?
• The KAM report (Reports → KAM report) — do the per-rep totals match Bigin’s?

Step 8 — Cut over

• Tell the team Bigin is read-only as of this morning
• Update softphones, email signatures, anything pointing at Bigin URLs
• Start placing new deals in NerdCRM

Keep the Bigin account active for one billing cycle as a backup. Cancel after you’ve made it through one full deal cycle (typically 2–6 weeks for most small teams).

Activities

Bigin’s calls, tasks, and events are also CSV-exportable, but the formats differ. We don’t have a one-click importer for them today (see the help center for the workaround). For most teams, the cleanest move is to start the activity log fresh in NerdCRM and treat the historical activity as archived in Bigin.

Need help?

We help the first cohort of customers migrate in person. If you’re moving more than a few hundred records, email hello@nerddevs.com — we’ll do a 30-minute screen-share walkthrough at no cost.