# Migrate from another sales engagement tool to Reply

> A checklist for moving from any outreach platform: what transfers, what has to be rebuilt, and the two mistakes that damage a domain or a reputation.

**Contacts and their custom fields move through a CSV import; sequences are rebuilt rather than imported, and history does not come with you. Two things matter more than the rest: carry the old tool's opt-out list across before anything sends, and make sure nobody receives from both tools at once.**

_Status: Reviewed – written against Reply's product documentation on 2026-09-22, not yet confirmed against the running product._

## Why teams switch to Reply

### One sequence, more than one channel

Email, LinkedIn, calls, SMS and WhatsApp steps sit in the same sequence, branching on what each contact does, rather than running a separate tool per channel and reconciling afterwards. See [Multichannel outreach](/capabilities/multichannel-outreach/).

### Replies are classified, not just counted

Reply distinguishes a real reply from an out-of-office, an auto-responder and a bounce, and each does something different to the contact. Automatic messages are kept out of your reply rate. See [Reply management](/capabilities/reply-management/).

### Deliverability is managed continuously

Mailbox warm-up, a gradual ramp, pacing between sends, randomized delays and authentication checks run all the time, not as a one-off setup step. See [Deliverability](/capabilities/deliverability/).

### Your CRM stays in step both ways

Native two-way sync with four CRMs, with per-record control over direction and mapping. See [Integrations](/integrations/).

### Prospect data is built in

Finding contacts, filling in missing addresses and phone numbers, and sourcing new people happen in the same place as the outreach. See [Prospect search](/capabilities/prospect-search/).

Ready to switch? [{{MIGRATION_CTA_PRIMARY_LABEL}}]({{MIGRATION_CTA_PRIMARY_URL}}) or [{{MIGRATION_CTA_SECONDARY_LABEL}}]({{MIGRATION_CTA_SECONDARY_URL}}).

## Migration at a glance

| | |
| --- | --- |
| **Transfers directly** | Contacts and custom fields, through a CSV import |
| **Rebuilt in Reply** | Sequences, steps, timing and copy |
| **Doesn't transfer** | Sending history, open and reply statistics, and your old tool's reporting |
| **Do first** | Export the old tool's opt-out and do-not-contact list, and load it into Reply's blacklist |
| **What you need** | Export access in the old tool, mailboxes connected in Reply, and a switch-over date |

## Before you start

- [ ] You can export contacts, and ideally custom fields, from the old tool
- [ ] You can export its opt-out or do-not-contact list
- [ ] Mailboxes connected and authenticated in Reply ([guide](/how-to/connect-a-mailbox/))
- [ ] A switch-over date agreed with everyone who sends
- [ ] A decision on which sequences are worth rebuilding, and which were never working

## Sending infrastructure without the warm-up wait

The step that most often stalls a migration is not the data; it is sending reputation. New domains and new
mailboxes need weeks of careful ramping before they can carry real volume, and a migration that switches over
on day one from cold infrastructure lands in spam.

You have three ways through this, and the right one depends on how much notice you have.

**Keep sending from the mailboxes you already use.** If your current domains have a good record, connect those
mailboxes to Reply and nothing about your reputation changes. This is the simplest path and the one to prefer
when your existing setup is healthy.

**Buy domains and mailboxes inside Reply and warm them yourself.** You can register sending domains and have
mailboxes created without going to a registrar. Allow up to five mailboxes per domain. The first mailbox
usually appears within a few minutes; the rest can take up to 48 hours. Then warm them before they carry
volume: which still takes weeks, so start this well before your switch-over date.

**Buy mailboxes that are already warmed.** Reply also sells ready-warmed packages from a pool that has been
warming in advance. A package is one domain plus exactly three mailboxes, and they arrive able to send with no
warm-up setup. This is the option that removes the wait.

Three things to know before you choose a ready-warmed package:

- It is bought and cancelled as a single unit. You cannot remove one of the three mailboxes or add a fourth.
- The sender names on the mailboxes are assigned by the provider, not chosen by you.
- The package cannot be renewed. Plan for it as a term, not as a permanent domain.

Whichever route you take, ramp volume rather than switching everything at once, and keep your old sending
running until the new mailboxes have carried real traffic for a while.

## How outreach tools generally map to Reply

Names differ between products; the shapes rarely do.

| In your current tool | In Reply | What to watch |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Contact, lead, prospect | Contact | Pick one identifier and use it for every import |
| Custom field, property | Custom field | Create them in Reply before importing, so mapping has somewhere to land |
| Sequence, campaign, cadence, flow | Sequence | Rebuilt, not imported |
| Step, touch, task | Step | Reply distinguishes automatic steps from ones a person performs |
| Unsubscribe, suppression, do-not-contact | Blacklist | Account-wide, and enforced across every sequence |
| Mailbox, sending account | Email account | Connect each one and let it warm before volume |

## Step 1: Export from your current tool

Export contacts with every field you care about, not only name and address. Custom fields are the ones people forget and then cannot reconstruct.

Export the **opt-out list separately**: it is often in a different screen and a different format, and it is the export that matters most.

If your tool's export omits something, note it now rather than discovering it after the old account is closed. A common example is that engagement history and per-step statistics cannot be exported at all.

## Step 2: Prepare your data

- Create matching custom fields in Reply first, under **Settings → Contacts → Custom fields**
- Fill **First Name** for every row; rows without it do not become contacts
- Keep phone numbers and anything containing `+`, spaces or dashes as text
- Choose your identifier: Email where addresses exist, the LinkedIn profile URL for lists without them
- Decide what should happen to contacts you already have in Reply. See [Manage duplicates](/how-to/manage-duplicates/)

## Step 3: Carry your opt-outs across

**Before anything sends.**

Load the old tool's opt-out and do-not-contact list into Reply's blacklist. Individual addresses, or whole domains where you need to exclude a company.

Someone who unsubscribed from your old tool has asked *you* not to contact them, not that product. Reaching them again from a new platform is the one migration mistake with consequences outside your own account.

## Step 4: Import into Reply

Import from **People → Contacts** and choose your identifier, the **Matched Records** behaviour and how to handle contacts without email addresses. A single import takes up to 100,000 rows; the API takes 1,000 per request.

Read the result notification (**Imported**, **Updated**, **Skipped**, **Import Errors**) before moving on. See [Import contacts](/how-to/import-contacts/) and [Why were contacts not imported?](/troubleshooting/contacts-were-not-imported/).

## Step 5: Rebuild your sequences

Recreate the steps, the timing and the copy. Two things to decide as you go:

- **Which steps a person performs.** Reply separates automatic steps from ones that create a task for someone. Your old tool may have drawn that line elsewhere.
- **What a reply should do.** A sequence either finishes a contact on reply or keeps sending. Choose deliberately. See [Why is a contact still active after replying?](/troubleshooting/contact-remained-active-after-reply/).

Rebuilding is also the moment to drop the sequences that never worked. See [Create a sequence](/how-to/create-a-sequence/).

## Keep the shape of your sequences

Rebuilding cadences one at a time is the slowest part of a migration, and most teams are rebuilding several
variations of the same shape: the same channel order and the same spacing, with different copy.

Rebuild one properly, then save its layout and reuse it. A saved layout carries the steps, their order and
their delays, so the next sequence starts from the shape you already agreed rather than from an empty canvas.
Reply will also propose a layout for you if you would rather start from a suggestion and adjust it.

Two things worth knowing while you plan the order of work:

- **A sequence's structure can only be changed before it has started sending.** Settle the shape before you
 switch anything on, because afterwards you are editing an active sequence rather than reshaping it.
- **Saving a layout for your whole workspace or organization needs permission.** If you are migrating as a
 team and want everyone building from the same shapes, ask your administrator to grant it before you start,
 or one person will end up rebuilding for everyone.

## Bring the writing you already have

Your old tool holds years of decisions about how your team writes: what your opening lines look like, what
you never say, how long a follow-up runs. None of that is in an export file, and it is the part teams most
often lose in a migration.

Two things carry it across.

**Upload examples of your own emails.** When Reply drafts a playbook for an AI SDR sequence, you can give it a
handful of your past emails and it will copy the style it finds in them. Use messages that actually performed,
not your most polished ones. The files need readable text; a scanned PDF will be rejected, because there is no
text in it to read.

**Write your house rules down as standing instructions.** Reply keeps a set of messaging rules that apply every
time it writes: things like never opening with a particular greeting, or keeping subject lines short. You can
write these by hand at the start of a migration instead of waiting for Reply to infer them, which is the
fastest way to stop the first few hundred messages sounding unlike you. Reply also adds rules of its own over
time, from what you approve, reject and edit.

A rule can apply to just you, to named sequences, to everyone in your workspace, or to everyone in your
organization. The wider reaches need permission from an administrator, so agree who sets team-wide rules before
several people start writing their own.

One practical note: a playbook draft is not saved until you continue past that step of the setup, and a draft
left open expires after an hour. Finish the step in one sitting.

## Step 6: Connect your CRM and other tools

If the old tool wrote to your CRM, connect Reply to it before you switch over, so the record does not go quiet in between. See [Integrations](/integrations/).

## Step 7: Switch over

1. **Stop or pause sending in the old tool.** Not "wind down": stop. A paused sequence there is still a sequence that can resume.
2. Launch in Reply with a small group first.
3. Confirm the first sends went out and landed.
4. Add the rest.

Running both tools "just for a week" is how contacts receive two sequences. If you must overlap, split the audience so no person is live in both.

## What doesn't transfer

- **Sequences and templates.** Rebuilt in Reply. Export your old copy as text first if you want it to hand.
- **Sending history.** No import path exists. Export any reporting you need to keep *before* closing the old account.
- **Statistics.** Reply reports on what Reply sent.
- **Contacts' step positions.** Everyone starts at the beginning of their new sequence.

## Check your migration

- [ ] Contact count matches the export, minus duplicates and expected skips
- [ ] Custom fields arrived populated, not just created
- [ ] The old opt-out list is in the blacklist, spot-checked
- [ ] Sending is stopped in the old tool
- [ ] Nobody is active in both tools
- [ ] The first sends went out from the right mailboxes

## FAQ

### Can I import my sequences?

No. They are rebuilt in Reply, which is also a chance to leave behind the ones that were not working.

### Will my statistics come with me?

No. Export any reporting you want to keep before closing the old account.

### How do I avoid contacting people twice?

Stop sending in the old tool before launching in Reply. If you overlap, split the audience so no person is live in both.

### What if my old tool cannot export custom fields?

Note it before you close the account. Rebuilding a field you can still see is far easier than reconstructing one you cannot.

## Ready to move to Reply?

[{{MIGRATION_CTA_PRIMARY_LABEL}}]({{MIGRATION_CTA_PRIMARY_URL}})

Want to talk it through first? [{{MIGRATION_CTA_SECONDARY_LABEL}}]({{MIGRATION_CTA_SECONDARY_URL}})

Already moving and stuck on a step? {{MIGRATION_HELP}} Open the
[Reply Help Center](https://support.reply.io/) and send the support team a message.
Include the tool you're moving from, roughly how many contacts and sequences you're
moving, and the step you're on.

Don't send passwords, API keys, or access tokens, and don't attach contact files
unless the support team asks for them.

## Related

- [Switch to Reply](/migration/) – all migration guides
- [Import contacts](/how-to/import-contacts/)
- [Create a sequence](/how-to/create-a-sequence/)
- [Integrations](/integrations/)

## Build with Reply

- Bulk import through the API: [Import contacts](https://docs.reply.io/api-reference/contacts/import-contacts) – up to 1,000 contacts per request