Moving to a new CRM is never something to take lightly and so working out whether or not HubSpot would be right for your business is kind of a big deal to get right. Let’s say upfront that we are a certified HubSpot agency but that doesn’t mean we’ve entirely ‘drunk the Koolaid’. It’s not right for everyone.
Problems with Hubspot
Over the past year we have been learning all about HubSpot and implementing it in our business. It’s been quite a big task and has taken a good deal of team effort and time. So issue number one is that integration with your website, your planning software e.g. Monday.com and all the other systems in your business is a serious investment even before any money is taken into account.
And then the real issue: getting your people trained and using it – this is a considerable effort.
On the upside it’s certainly worth saying that if you are processing sales manually or using a spreadsheet ( there’s no shame here – we’ve all done it) then automating will be a huge benefit and will almost certainly outweigh the issues mentioned. Having a neat and orderly sales pipeline where no leads are forgotten or misplaced will – without a shadow of a doubt – increase your sales.
First, a quick outline of all of Hubspot
A word of warning: for the newbie, Hubspot is too much to digest all at once. It’s simply too confusing so don’t try. We’ll be running a series of articles diving into each area but for those brave souls, here are links to their main service areas.
What are the Benefits of using HubSpot in my business?
1. Even HubSpot’s free CRM tool can really help bring your sales and marketing teams together
HubSpot’s free CRM tool, brings together sales and marketing teams – that age old issue can finally be resolved because both departments are using the same information in the same place.
2. You’ll spend more time on warm leads rather than ‘tyre-kickers’.
We’ve all that sinking feeling when a huge number of leads appear only to turn out to be largely useless upon closer inspection.
With Hubspot leads are sifted according to levels of interaction – so you can specify what a truly warm lead is for you.
As an example, if you set up a guide to be downloadable and someone enters their details in order to download it, the information collected in return for that download is then added to the workflow automatically and you can add them to a mailing list.
If someone has read 30 pages of content and has filled in a contact form then they would be considered a very warm lead and could be prioritised. No forgetting, no mistakes, and a better chance to impress your client and close your deal!
3. No more forgotten leads
Sales hub that will allow your sales team to set up automated follow-ups and actions depending on actions their lead will take, under sequences and tasks. People who request a ‘Call back in a fortnight’ will actually get one!
By saving so much time on administration by the automations you can save time in the handling, organisation and follow up planning. The leads are ready for you, with their customer journey detailing all you need to know.
4. Hubspot works beautifully with an inbound content approach that so many of us are using
HubSpot is designed to work with an inbound content strategy – which is an approach that most are at least moving towards if not fully adopting.
Thai means that Hubspot is, like your inbound content, working 24/7 to help you identify prospects interested in your product and/or service rather than wasting your time on leads that are not truly interested.
HubSpot’s software records every step of your prospect’s journey on your website to see what pages they visited before submitting a form.
So by the time you speak with them you already know ( they might suspect you are telepathic!) all about their concerns and worries. The effect this has on those initial conversations is very powerful – they become much shorter, much more focussed on the actual concerns and, of course, much more likely to result in a closed sale.
5. Marketing gets a new research tool
While sales go to work to close sales, marketing can set to work optimising both the content on the site and their wider marketing efforts. If 80% of prospects are arriving with a concern about a certain area of your offer then not only content but the wider marketing must address that concern.
Your Hubspot dashboard becomes an important research tool for your marketing strategy.
6. Reports are flexible and useful
HubSpot offers a range of reports from the incredibly detailed ones such as XXX and YYY for your SEO team through a range of useful marketing reports showing which content is most effective to the obvious ‘deal flow’ which is a great sales pipeline picture.
While one can usually link various systems up these days, it is always much easier if all the data is in one place: You can build customisable reports in seconds, send reports directly to the relevant people on a recurring basis and view data in a nice, easy-to-understand way. You’ll finally have a clear way of not only measuring your results but predicting them!
