From Excel to CRM: a 1-day migration checklist

Most agencies stay on spreadsheets long past the point they hurt, because switching sounds like a project. It isn't. Done in the right order, moving to a CRM is a one-day job. Here's the checklist we walk new agencies through.

Before you start (15 minutes)

• Decide who's doing the migration — one person, one afternoon.
• Find your customer spreadsheet and your list of suppliers.
• Have your logo file and brand colours ready.

Morning: set up the workspace

1. Create your agency and add your branding. Logo, colours, and the prefix for your quotation and booking numbers. This is what customers will see, so do it first.
2. Import your customers. Export your spreadsheet to CSV and bring it in. Name, email, phone, passport number, nationality — map the columns once and you're done. If your sheet is messy, that's fine; send it to us during your trial and we'll help.
3. Add your regular suppliers. Hotels, transport, guides. You don't need all of them — just the ones you use most. Add the rest as you go.

Afternoon: run one real tour through it

The fastest way to trust a new system is to use it for something real.

4. Build one quotation for an inquiry you're working on right now. Notice how much faster the second one will be.
5. Convert it to a booking and assign the hotel, vehicle and guide day by day.
6. Record a payment — a deposit, a supplier bill — so you can see the money side working.
7. Upload one document (a passport, a voucher) so your team knows where files live from now on.

Before you close the laptop

• Invite your team and set their roles.
• Bookmark the dashboard on everyone's phone.
• Agree one rule: new inquiries go into TourVilo, not the group chat.

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That's it. By the end of the day you've got your customers in, your branding set, and one real tour running through the system. The spreadsheet becomes your backup, not your business — and next season you'll wonder why you waited.