Migrate from Centrium CRM to Mailchimp

Centrium Contact records map directly to Mailchimp Members. We extract email address, first name, last name, phone number, and address fields from the CSV export and map them to Mailchimp's EMAIL, FNAME, LNAME, PHONE, and ADDRESS merge fields. The contact's creation date migrates as a custom merge field MEMBER_SINCE so that original account age is preserved in Mailchimp. Duplicate emails are resolved by Mailchimp's member deduplication rules (oldest subscribed record wins by default).

Centrium stores organizations as Contact records marked with an organization flag. We identify these records during preprocessing and apply one of two strategies: assign each organization name as a Tag on the individual contacts belonging to that organization, or create a Mailchimp Group (if the organization list is small and static). The customer chooses the strategy during scoping. This preprocessing step adds 30-60 minutes of analysis time per 1,000 distinct organizations and can extend the timeline for accounts with large company lists.

Centrium custom fields migrate to Mailchimp merge fields. Mailchimp restricts merge field types to text, number, date, phone, address, dropdown, and radio. We inspect each Centrium custom field during discovery, map the type, and create the corresponding merge field in the destination audience before import. Dropdown fields in Centrium migrate as Mailchimp dropdown merge fields; multi-select fields in Centrium migrate as Tags on the Member record because Mailchimp does not support a native multi-select merge field type.

Centrium Deals have no Mailchimp equivalent. Mailchimp has no deal, pipeline, or opportunity concept. We preserve deal data as a custom merge field DEAL_STATUS (text) and DEAL_VALUE (number) on the linked Contact Member, or we tag the Member with the deal stage name. Deal history and stage progression do not transfer because Mailchimp's contact model does not support temporal event logs. We document the deal summary per contact in a written record for the customer's admin to review post-migration.

Centrium Tasks do not map to Mailchimp's contact model. We tag open Tasks as @todo-[task name] on the linked Contact Member, or we document Task summaries in a written inventory. Completed Tasks with no CRM value in Mailchimp are dropped from the migration. Task assignees (Centrium users) do not have a Mailchimp equivalent and are noted in the written inventory for manual follow-up.

Centrium Notes migrate to Mailchimp Notes attached to the Member record. Note body text transfers as a timestamped note entry in the Mailchimp contact profile. Notes are not threaded in either platform, so multi-message conversations map as sequential note entries in chronological order. Notes attached to Centrium Deals or Projects without a Contact parent are noted in the written inventory since they cannot be linked to a Mailchimp Member.

Centrium Projects have no Mailchimp equivalent. We tag all Member records linked to a Project with a Project-derived tag (e.g., @project-[project name]) so that the grouping is preserved as a Mailchimp segment filter. Project metadata beyond name and membership is documented in the written inventory.

Centrium User records (name, email, role) have no Mailchimp equivalent because Mailchimp's contact model does not include a user-permission concept. If the Centrium user email matches a Mailchimp subscriber email, we flag the match and note it. Otherwise, the User records are excluded from migration and documented in the written inventory for admin awareness.