HubSpot is an extremely complex tool, which is both good and bad - good because everything is in one place, and bad because it's easy to get messed up while using it.
When it comes to HubSpot onboarding, there are many different paths you can take. And since every business is different and HubSpot is flexible enough to be developed to support any business, regardless of its use case, there are roughly hundreds of ways you can build your HubSpot portal.
All in all, it's very useful, but knowing your way around the software and getting the most out of it is no easy task. There are many mistakes you can make if you don't know the platform and lack experience and training on it. Therefore, the perfect option is to do a custom onboarding with the help of an expert or a certified agency. Otherwise, there are many mistakes you can make as a new user on the platform.
Mistakes you can make without onboarding and training on HubSpot
1st mistake: Not having a strategy in place
HubSpot can do a lot of things, but it won't tell you how to run your business. If you start using HubSpot without a plan or strategy for what you want to accomplish, you won't know what parts of the platform you need to use. You need solid goals and strategies to guide your implementation and get your team to commit to the change. Just because HubSpot offers features like account-based marketing or website chat doesn't mean you can activate them without a plan.
Think about what problem you want to solve with HubSpot and research what tools you should use to solve it. Develop a plan before you start implementing HubSpot to make the setup and transition as smooth as possible.
- As part of your HubSpot strategy, determine:
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- Which HubSpot tools you will adopt from day one.
- Which of your tools will be replaced by HubSpot features
- How and when you will implement the tools to minimise disruption and maintain functionality
- Who will be in charge of the tool
HubSpot also has a lot of resources and tools available to help you set goals and measure your success on the platform, and having experts or an agency partner can help you figure out which tools are best for your business.
2nd mistake: Incomplete platform setup
One of the most common mistakes made during individual onboarding is incomplete platform configuration. As a result, users may not know how to set up HubSpot correctly or may overlook critical settings that affect the effectiveness of the software.
One mistake you may fall into is not setting up your lead capture forms or workflows correctly, resulting in missed opportunities. An expert onboarding partner will ensure that HubSpot is configured correctly and that all settings are adapted for optimal use.
3rd mistake: Not adapting the platform to your goals and needs
If you don't know how to use the platform, you won't know how to adapt it to your organisation's needs. HubSpot is highly customisable and allows anyone who wants to start using it to adapt the platform to the needs of their business. However, an untrained and inexperienced user will not know how to customise it, which leads to underutilisation of the platform.
Once you have identified your strategy and the needs of your business, you will have to customise the platform and adapt it to all your objectives.
4th mistake: Not debugging your data before you start using it
HubSpot is a complete CRM system, which means it can handle your sales, marketing, operations and much more. All of this depends on one thing: your data.
One of the most common problems when getting started with HubSpot is not importing clean data. If your information is outdated, incomplete, inaccurate, or has duplicate records, you're putting yourself at a disadvantage from the start.
Before entering your data into HubSpot, do your best to update or delete any outdated information and merge duplicate records. Enter only the data you really need: for example, don't import a list of unengaged contacts that you never email.
5th mistake: Not training your team
The platform has a myriad of skills, tools and tricks to make it easier than ever to close and delight your customers, but these are virtually useless if you and your team don't know how to use them.
In fact, without the right training, HubSpot can be much more complex than your old systems, and you're less likely to reach your goals or get a return on your investment.
To help you with this, HubSpot Academy has several video courses dedicated exclusively to familiarising yourself with the CRM, and its Knowledge Base has hundreds of articles on all sorts of topics related to the platform.
If you prefer to ensure onboarding success, you can have an onboarding expert train your team on how to use the platform, making sure everyone is on the same page and can use HubSpot to its full potential.
6th mistake: Undocumented sales and marketing processes
Before incorporating HubSpot, document your marketing and sales processes to better align your teams. If you don't, efficiency can suffer because you won't be able to move any of your current processes to HubSpot.
You may struggle to understand how to set up a deal pipeline or what activities are needed to determine the different stages of your customer lifecycle. Take the time to document your marketing and sales processes so that your professionals don't get confused about where some of the data in the platform is coming from and end up messing up the information. If you take the time to do this before you start onboarding, it will be easier to replicate, improve and scale the results and usage of this software.
7th mistake: Not integrating the rest of your organisation's systems
HubSpot's power is limited if you don't properly integrate with the other platforms you're using - this is especially important if any other system collects and stores customer data: you don't want your CRM to be inaccurate or missing data from other sources!
There are hundreds of app integrations available, pre-built and ready to use in HubSpot. Check out the marketplace to see if your tools are compatible. If you don't see your tool listed, the data sync tool within Operations Hub could help you move data back and forth.
mistake #8: Not having a HubSpot partner agency
You're not a HubSpot expert. You don't have countless hours available to train yourself and your team on every aspect of the system. Without a HubSpot partner, you might feel overwhelmed, unsure or simply doubt your CRM investment.
But don't worry, there are specialised agencies like Occam for that. All the mistakes we are describing in this article can be avoided if you have a specialised partner agency, and Occam can become your perfect ally.
ask for a consultation and we'll answer all your questions!
