What you need to know before migrating to HubSpot

Migrating to any new technology platform can prove to be challenging and in this respect HubSpot is no different. But one great advantage of HubSpot onboarding and migration is that it is largely regarded as one of the easiest to use platforms in the game – and that ease of use definitely extends to the onboarding and migration aspect of the platform.

When considering HubSpot – or other new technology platforms – it is always helpful to reference a tried and true framework of people, process and technology (PPT). The PPT framework has existed since the 1960s and continues to show value to businesses and teams leveraging the framework.

What is HubSpot?

Well, if you’re here, chances are you know at least the broad aspects of HubSpot, but here’s a nice little primer just in case.

HubSpot is most famous as a customer relationship management (CRM) platform, but has expanded upon this core function with five “hubs” including Marketing, Sales, Service, CMS and Operations (listed roughly in order of maturity and usage).

Or in HubSpot’s own words: “HubSpot is a CRM platform that connects everything scaling companies need to deliver a best-in-class customer experience into one place. Our crafted, not cobbled solution helps teams grow with tools that are powerful alone, but better together.” 

What are the benefits of choosing HubSpot?

The benefits of migrating to HubSpot will always depend on your specific business. No doubt you have identified an opportunity in your business to improve or introduce HubSpot as a growth tool. That growth can come from improving operational efficiencies by getting Marketing and Sales working from a single platform, converting more leads to customers with automation or any number of examples – they are nearly endless! But let’s talk about some of the ways HubSpot differentiates from other platforms.

Ease of implementation
This is good news because it means your migration just got a whole lot easier. HubSpot is one of those few platforms that “just works”. This means that you’re able to focus on the more important topics of people and process in your PPT framework. An easier implementation also means reduced costs, increased speed to market and increased time to ROI.

Integrations
Okay, maybe not a true differentiator since platforms like Salesforce also have fairly extensive integration capabilities and 3rd party app marketplaces. However, HubSpot’s apps are often just one-click integrations and the extensive APIs allow us to build bespoke apps where there are custom business requirements.

Support
“How do I …?” and “Where do you find the …?” – little questions are going to arise along the way and one of the most challenging aspects of implementing a new technology is training. If you are spending all your time answering these questions, you’re in for a world of hurt. HubSpot’s live chat support has very good timezone coverage in Australia and is absolutely amazing. They will even go beyond the basics and try to help recommend improved ways of completing tasks for your team. Big tick!

Scalability
This is a loaded word that means lots of things to lots of people, but in a simple sense what we mean when we talk about “scalability” is that you can roll out hubs or features as you see fit and as the business grows. In fact, this is one of the most important factors to keeping the implementation easy, scaling the project down to a minimum viable product (MVP) and working in phases. You can buy “automation” anytime you want but if you try to automate everything at once, you’ll never finish.

Top 5 questions to ask yourself before migrating to HubSpot

1. Who is your HubSpot champion hero?

The first and most important question to ask. You’ll often hear people talking about appointing a project “champion” to lead all the important facets implementing a new technology or running any digital transformation project. We like to think that what true transformation requires is not just a champion, but a hero. Transformation is the story of change, from one place (poorly organised customer data) to another (a single source of irrefutable customer data truth). And what do all good stories need: a hero.

Heroes are brave, intrinsically driven and called to the mission. Seeking the victory not for the glory, but for the purpose of the cause. Find the most passionate and driven person in your business to be your HubSpot hero.

2. What is your north-star metric of the implementation?

If you’re migrating to HubSpot, we know it will regard growth. So make sure you have a clear metric that the entire business can agree is the most important for the implementation. This will help ensure that you are measuring this metric pre and post implementation. It’s hard to show ROI when you don’t know where you are today. Even if you need to subjectively measure the metric in the current state, it’s important to measure and be clear on your north-star metric.

Keep in mind SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound) goals when trying to establish your north-star. Some ideas include:

• Percentage (or speed) of converting leads to customers

• Net Promoter Score (NPS)

• Percentage of opportunities converted into closed won

3. What is the current state of your people, process and technology?

It’s difficult to know where you are headed if you don’t know where you stand. Diagramming out the people, process and technology in relevance to the HubSpot hubs you are evaluating will be helpful in understanding who needs to be brought along for the journey.

Importantly, do not expect HubSpot (or any technology for that matter) to fix broken processes or people. If you find a missing or broken process, be clear about this and plan to fix this as a business to get the most out of the technology. A common example is a sales process, configuring one in HubSpot is trivial, but designing and optimising a first-class sales process experience for your customers is a lifelong job. Be realistic about your future state when understanding your current state.

This step will also help you to prioritise the HubSpot features you most need to achieve your north-star metric. 

4. What is the biggest risk you face?

Every good hero will face adversity and the implementation is no different. The importance of calling out risks is that you can plan mitigation strategies effectively. With the right team, anything is possible. Here are some example and common risks:

• Lack of executive sponsorship

• Misalignment of teams on the “right” platform

• Availability of team members

Each of these risks are easily mitigated with the right strategy but make sure you identify them and plan accordingly. Organise a meeting with your executive team, develop a cross-functional decision making team, ask the business for the appropriate time from team members.

5. Who do you need for a successful implementation?

The best heroes do not journey alone but with a set of companions to guide them and share the journey. Think about what allies you may need to achieve a successful project. You may identify a real gap in understanding your customer or sales process. Review your PPT diagram and identify any knowledge gaps or areas where outside or inside expertise and consulting may be required.

Additionally, you can work with a trusted HubSpot Agency Partner (hint hint) like Honest Fox, or in less complicated scenarios HubSpot also provides onboarding services.

When you should consider a HubSpot migration for your business

There’s no time like the present! But in all seriousness, HubSpot provides a scalable and easy framework for identifying a growth challenge and implementing a solution to help your business. There is no “right time” to tackle a technology implementation but while reading this article we hope you are more prepared for the opportunity.

There is one simple rule of thumb when considering any new technology. If it solves more problems than it introduces, it’s probably a step in the right direction.

Remember to keep your implementation focused, do not try to solve everything at once and plan for continuous improvement over time.

If you want to talk about your specific HubSpot implementation, get in touch with the Honest Fox team.