Tool Migration

What you will learn in 5 minutes:

💡 What to fix before you even start migrating

💡 Why visuals beat long emails - every time

💡 How retention grew 35% after ditching “basic” CRM

It Started With a Tool Change - And Turned Into a Team Rethink

Quandoo helps diners reserve restaurants in 12 countries. But their CRM? It was stuck in the past.

Zero personalisation. Segmentation that stopped at 'what country are you in?' No user journey logic. And then Leanplum, their tool, got eaten by CleverTap. Welcome to the deep end.

Maria could’ve waited for help. She didn’t.

“I’d never done a CRM migration before. But I knew we couldn’t keep sending emails like it was 2016.”

Step 1: Don’t Wing It - Define It

Before building anything, Maria sat down and asked: what does “better” even mean for us?

She wrote it out. Turned it into slides. Delivered it to three different audiences:

- The devs got schema diagrams.

- The execs got KPI targets.

- Her team got clarity, timelines, and roles.

Don’t assume people “get it.” Say it. Then say it again. Then turn it into a diagram.

Step 2: Face the Mess

There’s no skipping the audit.

Maria’s team mapped out what campaigns existed, what data they relied on, and how many weird attributes they’d collected over the years. Spoiler: it was a lot.

Then they worked with BI to group users by actual lifecycle stages: new, active, passive, churned, loyal.

Every campaign starts with clean data and shared definitions. No more “what does this attribute even mean?”

Step 3: Make It Visual - or Watch People Tune Out

Miro boards. Slack threads. One ugly-but-useful migration workbook.

Maria didn’t rely on meetings or nice words. She built a visual map of who does what, when, and why.

Why? Because not everyone understands the same way. But everyone gets a screenshot.

Step 4: Accept the Chaos, But Keep Talking

Campaigns failed. A/B tests weren’t actually A/B. Metrics didn’t line up. People went on holiday in the middle of critical bugs.

It was all happening. And Maria kept going.

Weekly syncs, shared status docs, and someone - always - who was actually responsible for progress.

“You can’t spread ownership too thin. If it belongs to everyone, it belongs to no one.”

Step 5: Finally - Campaigns That Work

Once the dust settled, things changed fast.

- New diners got nudged to rebook their last table.

- Loyal users were reminded their points were about to expire.

- Everyone else? Personalised banners, seasonal promos, and push notifications based on what they actually did in the app.

The old CRM was sending emails. The new one? It was talking to users like people.

The numbers? +35% in retention. Campaigns live twice as fast. And all with less headcount.

Takeaways

🧩 Start with a shared definition of “better.” Don’t assume. Align.

📂 Document like you’re handing this to someone clueless. Because one day, you will.

🧠 Your smartest move? Make complex stuff visual.

🤝 Find your allies. Keep them close. Thank them publicly.

🥳 Small wins matter. Celebrate loud, especially when nothing else is going to plan.

About the Speaker

Maria Bocharova runs CRM and content for Quandoo. Her team’s tiny, her challenges are big, and her approach? Show, don’t tell. She believes most “tech problems” are people problems - and that most of those can be solved with clear communication and a decent Miro board.

About the Meetup

Organised by Audrey Mann and Jessica Jantzen, the INSIDE CRM Meetup is a platform for CRM professionals to share insights, strategies, and success stories. It brings together experts from various industries to discuss the latest trends and innovations in customer relationship management.

Disclaimer: This article has been generated with ChatGPT based on an audio transcript and presentation slides from the INSIDE CRM Meetup. The content has been reviewed by the presenter to ensure accuracy and relevance.