Migrating From Saleshandy to lemlist: The Best Way to Proceed

Why teams outgrow Saleshandy and what to expect from the switch

Saleshandy works well for high-volume cold email. But the moment your outbound motion goes beyond email, you start bolting on other tools. Saleshandy has no native LinkedIn steps, no calling tasks that auto-execute, and no SMS. You can create a LinkedIn task in Saleshandy and write notes on what to do while reaching out on LinkedIn, but you have to manually go to LinkedIn and perform the task: you cannot send connection requests or messages from Saleshandy on LinkedIn.

That gap is typically what triggers the switch. Teams running LinkedIn-first or multichannel outreach (LinkedIn → email → LinkedIn) end up pairing Saleshandy with tools like Closely, Heyreach, or SalesRobot, adding $50–100/mo to the stack. lemlist consolidates email, LinkedIn, calls, SMS, and WhatsApp steps into a single campaign, with a built-in lead database and deliverability tools included.

Here’s what changes and what stays the same:

The migration itself typically takes about two weeks if you plan it right. The rest of this guide walks through each step.

What to audit in Saleshandy before you export anything

Before touching the export button, take inventory of everything you’re working with. Skipping this step is how teams lose data, miss custom fields, or accidentally re-contact prospects who already replied.

Active sequences and their engagement data. Document which sequences are live, paused, or completed. Write down the open rates, reply rates, and top-performing subject lines for each one. You’ll want those benchmarks when you rebuild in lemlist so you can tell whether the new platform is performing better (it typically does with multichannel, but you want the proof).

Prospect lists, tags, and custom fields. List every tag, status label, and custom field you’ve created in Saleshandy. Pay attention to which prospects have the status “replied,” “bounced,” or “unsubscribed” because those contacts require different handling during import.

Email accounts and domain authentication records. Record each connected email account and its sending domain. Check that your SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records (the DNS entries that tell inbox providers your emails are legitimate) are documented somewhere outside of Saleshandy. You’ll re-verify these in lemlist.

CRM sync settings and integrations. If you’ve connected HubSpot, Salesforce, or Pipedrive to Saleshandy, screenshot the field mappings and any webhook URLs. These will be rebuilt in lemlist’s integration settings, and having the original configuration on hand saves guesswork.

How to export your prospects, sequences, and reports from Saleshandy

You can export your prospect list from Saleshandy by going to Sequence → Prospect → and clicking the Export option in the top right corner. You’ll receive an email with the exported prospect CSV attached.

Do this for each sequence individually, not just once. The reason: a global export won’t show you which prospects belonged to which sequence, and you’ll lose that context during the rebuild.

Next, pull per-sequence engagement reports from the Analytics section of each sequence. These include opens, replies, bounces, and unsubscribes. Then grab the global dashboard reports from the Reports tab to benchmark your overall sending volume and deliverability trends.

One thing Saleshandy won’t export: your sender configurations. Manually note each account’s daily sending limit, sending window, and tracking preferences. You’ll want these when you set up sending in lemlist.

How to clean and format your data for lemlist’s CSV import

Raw Saleshandy exports are rarely ready to import as-is. A few minutes of cleanup here prevents broken personalization and deliverability problems in lemlist.

Start by removing hard bounces, duplicates, and unsubscribes. Filter them out in a spreadsheet before uploading. Importing bad data into a fresh platform is the fastest way to damage your sender reputation from day one.

Then map Saleshandy fields to lemlist variables. lemlist recognizes default variables: {{firstName}}, {{linkedinUrl}}, {{companyName}}, {{icebreaker}} (see lemlist’s guide on choosing the right CSV import type). Here’s how typical Saleshandy columns translate:

Setting up your sending infrastructure in lemlist without losing deliverability

This is the step where migrations go sideways. If you skip warmup or misconfigure DNS, your emails will land in spam regardless of how good your copy is.

Connect or purchase sending domains. You can connect an existing domain or purchase a new sending domain directly in lemlist, with authentication configured automatically. If you’re reusing the same domains from Saleshandy, the transition is simpler since your domain reputation carries over. New domains require warmup time, though.

Verify your DNS records. For domains purchased in lemlist, authentication is handled for you. For existing domains, confirm that SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are correctly pointed to lemlist’s servers. This is non-negotiable.

Start lemwarm before anything else. Warm-up runs in two phases before any campaign: roughly 2–3 weeks of ramp-up to reach your target volume, then 2 weeks of stabilization with no spam, so about one month in total. Keep lemlist at 0 for both. Only begin outreach once your Warmup Score reaches 90+, lemwarm shows no spam, and your inbox rate has stayed above 90% for 14 straight days. lemlist’s guide to setting up lemwarm walks through each phase.

That timeline sounds long for a brand new inbox. However, if you’re migrating existing domains with established reputations, the stabilization period is typically shorter. Every lemlist seat includes lemwarm, so warm-up runs automatically in the background without extra setup.

Configure inbox rotation and daily volume caps. lemlist’s Deliverability Hub rotates sending across your connected inboxes and enforces safe daily limits per mailbox. Set these before launching your first campaign.

Importing leads and mapping custom variables in lemlist

With clean data and warmed infrastructure, you’re ready for the actual import.

CSV import is how most teams add leads at scale. A properly formatted CSV with correct variable mapping ensures your personalization works ({{firstName}} actually shows names), your emails reach the right addresses, and enrichment adds valuable data (see lemlist’s CSV import guide).

Here’s the process:

1. 1.

   Upload your cleaned CSV to a campaign. Create a new campaign in lemlist to start reaching out to leads via email, LinkedIn, or calls. You can build it step by step, import leads, and launch once everything is ready (see lemlist’s guide to creating a campaign). In lemlist, you import leads directly into a campaign rather than a global list.

2. 2.

   Assign columns to lemlist variables. During the “Set up imported custom variables” step, assign each CSV column to the correct lemlist variable type. This is what makes lemlist recognize fields like {{email}} and {{linkedinUrl}} in your campaign steps (see lemlist’s guide on choosing the right CSV import type).

3. 3.

   Enrich leads during import. On the “Enrich leads data” step, choose whether you want lemlist to find/verify emails, find phone numbers, or enrich LinkedIn data. When you’re ready, click Import leads to finish. This is especially useful if your Saleshandy data had phone number or email gaps.

4. 4.

   Set duplicate handling rules. lemlist gives you options to skip duplicates within the current campaign, across all campaigns, or allow them. During migration, skipping across all campaigns prevents the same person from getting contacted twice.

Rebuilding your outreach sequences (and adding multichannel steps)

This is where the switch pays off. You had email-only sequences in Saleshandy. Now you can rebuild them as multichannel campaigns.

Recreate your email steps with AI-generated copy. Use lemlist’s Campaign Generator or lemAgent to rebuild your top-performing email sequences. Paste your best Saleshandy copy as a starting point, then let the AI adapt it for lemlist’s variable syntax and suggest personalization improvements. You don’t have to start from scratch.

Add LinkedIn and call steps. Build your workflow with steps such as emails, LinkedIn messages, calls, tasks, and delays. Add conditions to create logic (for example, “if lead clicks, send Step 5”), as explained in lemlist’s guide to creating a campaign. You might insert a LinkedIn profile visit on day 2, a connection request on day 4, and a call step on day 7 after an email open. This kind of branching logic didn’t exist in Saleshandy’s automated sequences.

Reconnect your CRM. lemlist has native integrations with HubSpot, Salesforce, and Pipedrive. Rebuild your field mappings using the documentation you saved during the audit step. lemlist also offers API access and 500+ integrations via Zapier if you had custom webhook workflows in Saleshandy.

The 14-day migration timeline that keeps your pipeline running

You don’t want outbound going dark for two weeks. Here’s how to run Saleshandy and lemlist in parallel so your pipeline stays warm.

• •

  Days 1–2: Audit and export. Complete the checklist above. Export all prospect data and reports from Saleshandy. Create your lemlist account and connect your mailboxes.

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  Days 3–4: Clean data and configure lemlist. Scrub your CSVs, map fields, authenticate domains, and start lemwarm on every connected inbox.

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  Days 5–10: Warmup, sequence building, parallel operation. Let lemwarm run while you rebuild sequences in lemlist. Start a small test campaign to a warm segment. Keep Saleshandy active for any sequences that haven’t finished.

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  Days 11–14: Full cutover. Pause remaining Saleshandy sequences. Move all new outreach to lemlist. Validate deliverability in the Deliverability Hub and confirm CRM sync is working. Cancel or downgrade Saleshandy.

7 migration mistakes that tank reply rates

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  Importing bounced or unsubscribed contacts. Scrub your lists before uploading to any new platform. Inbox providers penalize early bounces heavily.

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  Skipping warmup on migrated inboxes. Even if your domain has history, a new connection in a new tool still benefits from lemwarm stabilization.

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  Copying sequences without updating variables. Saleshandy’s variable syntax (e.g., {{First Name}}) can differ from lemlist’s ({{firstName}}). One missed bracket breaks personalization across your entire send.

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  Sending at full volume on day one. Ramp gradually using lemlist’s daily caps and inbox rotation. A sudden spike looks suspicious to inbox providers.

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  Forgetting to re-verify DNS records. Confirm SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are valid for every domain connected to lemlist.

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  Not testing inbox placement before launching. lemlist’s Monitoring & Alerts runs inbox placement tests across Google, Microsoft, and other providers before your campaign goes live. Use it.

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  Migrating all sequences at once. Move one or two campaigns first, validate results, then migrate the rest. A phased approach catches problems before they scale.

Over to you

Switching outreach platforms sounds like a big project. In practice, the prep work (audit, export, clean, warmup) takes the most time, and once that’s done, the actual import and rebuild in lemlist typically finishes in a day.

The real upside is what happens after migration: you go from email-only sequences to multichannel campaigns with LinkedIn, calls, SMS, and WhatsApp steps running from one workflow, with built-in enrichment and deliverability tools keeping everything on track.