Moving from Chorus.ai to Gong is one of the most common sales tech migrations happening right now — driven by ZoomInfo’s aggressive post-acquisition repricing and Gong’s strong product development. But most teams approach this migration wrong: they evaluate Gong, negotiate the contract, and then realize on the last day of their Chorus subscription that they have 50,000 recordings sitting in a platform they’re about to lose access to.
This checklist is designed to fix that. We’ll start with the single most important step that most teams miss, then walk through the full migration in the right order.
Before You Sign the Gong Contract
Step 1: Export Your Historical Chorus Data (Do This First)
This is the step that 90% of teams skip — and then regret.
Your historical Chorus recordings, transcripts, and metadata cannot be imported into Gong. Gong doesn’t offer a Chorus import tool. What you’re moving to Gong is your future recordings; your historical data stays wherever you put it.
If you don’t export before your Chorus subscription ends, that data becomes inaccessible. There’s no grace period.
What to export:
- All call recordings (MP4/MP3 files)
- All transcripts (text files with speaker attribution and timestamps)
- All call metadata (participants, duration, deal linkage, call scores)
How to export: The Chorus native UI only supports single-call downloads — not viable for bulk export. Your options:
- portshift (fastest): Provide your Chorus API token and cloud storage credentials. portshift exports everything in 24-48 hours with a SHA-256 manifest. Costs $499-$999.
- DIY script: Write a custom export using the Chorus v3 API. Takes 1-2 weeks of engineering time.
- ZoomInfo professional services: $10,000-50,000+ and takes 4-8 weeks.
Where to put the data: Azure Blob Storage, AWS S3, or Google Cloud Storage. If your new Gong contract includes Azure or AWS as your infrastructure (most enterprise Gong customers run in AWS), use the same cloud provider for simplicity.
What to verify after export: Check the manifest to confirm all calls are accounted for. Look for any calls that failed (portshift will flag these and let you retry). Verify at least a sample of recordings are playable.
Timeline: Start this at least 2 weeks before your Chorus contract end date. Give yourself buffer for retries on any failed items.
Step 2: Audit Your Current Chorus Configuration
Before you can configure Gong intelligently, you need to document what you have in Chorus:
- Which call recording rules are active (which meetings are recorded, what’s excluded)
- Which integrations are configured (CRM, Slack, email)
- What coaching scorecards and templates you’ve built
- Which playlists and highlights have been curated
- Who has admin vs. user vs. read-only access
- What reports and dashboards your RevOps team uses regularly
You won’t be able to migrate these directly to Gong — they’ll need to be rebuilt — but having the documentation makes the rebuild faster.
Step 3: Evaluate Your CRM Integration Requirements
Both Chorus and Gong integrate with Salesforce, HubSpot, and other CRMs. But the specifics matter:
Salesforce: Gong’s Salesforce integration is generally considered stronger than Chorus’s, particularly for deal intelligence and call activity logging. Verify that your Salesforce field mappings will work with Gong’s integration architecture.
Custom CRM fields: If you’ve customized deal or contact fields to surface in Chorus, map out what equivalents Gong supports before signing.
Activity sync: Confirm how calls will be logged back to your CRM and whether your sales process depends on specific activity record formats.
Step 4: Understand What You’re Giving Up
Gong is an excellent platform, but it’s different from Chorus. Going into the migration with clear eyes prevents post-migration regret:
You may miss:
- Chorus’s deal execution workflows (if your team uses them heavily)
- Specific Chorus coaching templates you’ve invested in building
- The ZoomInfo contact data integration if you’re a ZoomInfo customer
You’ll likely gain:
- Gong’s deal intelligence and revenue forecasting features are widely regarded as best-in-class
- Better mobile app experience
- Stronger Slack integration for async coaching
Negotiating the Gong Contract
Step 5: Get Competing Bids Before Negotiating
Gong’s list price is rarely the final price. Having a competing quote from Clari Copilot, Fireflies, or Avoma gives you meaningful leverage, even if Gong is your first choice.
What to negotiate:
- Per-seat pricing (typically $80-150/user/year at list; can often negotiate to $60-100)
- Onboarding and implementation fees (often waivable)
- Contract length (3-year deals get better pricing but reduce flexibility)
- Data storage limits (verify that your call volume won’t hit limits)
Step 6: Clarify Data Ownership and Portability Terms
Before you sign any new platform contract — not just Gong — read the data portability section. Specifically:
- What happens to your recordings if you cancel?
- Is there a bulk export tool? (Gong’s is better than Chorus’s but still limited)
- Are there data egress fees for exporting large volumes?
- What’s the data retention policy after contract termination?
You’ve already learned this lesson from Chorus. Don’t sign a new contract without understanding the exit terms.
Configuring Gong
Step 7: Set Up Recording Infrastructure
Gong records via:
- Zoom, Teams, Google Meet integrations (bot-based recording)
- Gong Dialer for outbound calls
- Phone integrations for inbound
Map your current call flows to the appropriate Gong recording method. The most common issue at this stage: teams discover their conferencing setup isn’t supported or requires additional configuration.
Step 8: Configure Integrations
In priority order:
- CRM integration (Salesforce, HubSpot, or your CRM of choice)
- Calendar integration (for automatic meeting detection)
- Email integration (for deal context)
- Slack integration (for coaching notifications)
- Video conferencing integration (Zoom/Teams/Meet)
Test each integration with a few test recordings before rolling out broadly.
Step 9: Rebuild Your Coaching Framework
Your Chorus scorecards don’t transfer to Gong — they need to be rebuilt. Use this as an opportunity to audit whether your existing coaching criteria still reflect your sales motion:
- Update talk tracks based on what you’ve learned in the past year
- Review which behaviors you’re actually coaching on vs. which ones are theoretical
- Set up Gong’s Smart Trackers for key phrases your team should be using (or avoiding)
- Configure deal risk alerts for your ICP
Step 10: Set Up AI Features
This is where Gong differentiates. Configure:
- Call Spotlight: Customized question detection for your common objections and qualification criteria
- Deal Intelligence: Connect deal stages to call activity signals
- Forecast Intelligence: Set up the leading indicators that correlate with deal closings in your specific market
Rolling Out to the Team
Step 11: Identify Champions Before Broad Rollout
Find 3-5 salespeople who are either already enthusiastic about the migration or who are influential within the team. Onboard them first, gather feedback, and refine your training materials before rolling out to everyone.
Step 12: Address the “Chorus Nostalgia” Problem
This sounds soft but it’s real. Sales teams get used to specific tools. The most common objection to Gong from Chorus migrants is “it’s not where I know where things are.”
The fix: create a simple navigation guide that maps Chorus concepts to Gong equivalents (e.g., “Chorus Moments → Gong Smart Trackers”, “Chorus Playlists → Gong Library”). This reduces the cognitive load of learning a new interface.
Step 13: Train Managers Before Reps
Sales managers use conversation intelligence differently than reps — they’re reviewing calls for coaching, not watching their own calls. Ensure your managers are comfortable with the coaching workflows in Gong before asking them to teach reps.
Post-Migration Validation
Step 14: Verify Recording Coverage
In the first 2 weeks post-launch, check:
- What percentage of calls are being recorded vs. expected? (Gong’s dashboard shows this)
- Are there call types that aren’t being captured?
- Are integration syncs working correctly?
A 5% recording gap is usually acceptable; a 20% gap indicates a configuration problem.
Step 15: Confirm Your Historical Archive is Accessible
This is where your export from Step 1 pays off. Confirm that:
- Your historical Chorus recordings are accessible in your cloud storage
- A sample of recordings are playable
- The manifest is stored separately from the recordings (in case you ever need to verify completeness)
Step 16: Close Your Chorus Account
Once you’ve confirmed:
- Gong is recording all current calls
- Historical data is exported and verified
- Your team is onboarded
…you can safely cancel your Chorus subscription. Save your Chorus cancellation confirmation email — you’ll want proof of the cancellation date.
The Migration Timeline
| Phase | Duration | Key Actions |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-migration prep | 2-4 weeks | Export Chorus data, audit configuration, negotiate Gong contract |
| Gong setup | 1-2 weeks | Integrations, recording configuration, coaching framework |
| Pilot rollout | 1-2 weeks | Champions, feedback, training materials |
| Full rollout | 1-2 weeks | Team training, manager enablement |
| Post-migration validation | 2 weeks | Recording coverage, integration checks |
Total: 7-10 weeks from decision to fully operational on Gong.
The Chorus-to-Gong migration is well-trodden territory at this point. The teams that do it successfully are the ones who handle the data export first, negotiate the Gong contract with clear terms, and invest in manager training before rep rollout.
If you’re at the start of this process, get your Chorus data export started now. It’s the one step that can’t be done retroactively.