HubSpot Has Been a Mover and a Shaker
In the CRM world, HubSpot’s meteoric ascension has been undeniable. Its founders essentially invented inbound marketing and many believe it now has passed up the older, and more established, CRM powerhouse Salesforce as the gold standard.
In the web search platform world, ChatGPT’s meteoric ascension has been undeniable. Many believe it now has passed up (or will pass up) the older, and more established, Google Search as the gold standard in obtaining instant information.
Let’s combine the two.
Hey ChatGPT, what do you know about your (unofficial) blood brother, HubSpot?
Step 1: Asking General Info Questions
Prompt: “What is HubSpot? Assume I have no background knowledge whatsoever.”
Starting from ground zero, let’s see what ChatGPT can tell us.
Result:
HubSpot sounds pretty awesome. If I knew absolutely nothing about it, it would seem to be a one-stop shop for all business, marketing, sales, and customer service needs. A vast array of hubs and tools, such as social media platforms, are mentioned, as well as the addition of integrations.
One thing that came up in both responses is a CRM system. So let’s ask ChatGPT a follow-up question....
Prompt: “Explain what CRM’s are. Pretend you’re talking to an 8 year old.”
If you ask ChatGPT a question about something you know nothing about, this is a good strategy. It’s also a good way to just get some basic information about a topic without it getting too technical.
Result:
After regenerating a few times, it became clear that ChatGPT really loved this store analogy. So if I combine this response with the previous ones, HubSpot is a software platform that has many tools and outside integrations available to help me remember all of my customers and their specific wants and needs. Sounds pretty good!
Prompt: “Who are HubSpot’s main competitors? How does HubSpot compare to them?”
HubSpot sounds great so far, but how does it compare to other platforms or companies that offer similar services? Is it considered the best? The worst?
Result:
A few observations:
- It seems clear that Salesforce is HubSpot’s main competitor
- HubSpot differentiates itself by having a free plan, having a wide range of integrations, placing an emphasis on inbound (not outbound) marketing, and being user-friendly.
- It’s suggested that HubSpot is not as well established as some other CRM platforms
Prompt: “Use an analogy to explain what HubSpot migrations are and how they work”
Let’s say I wanted to switch over to HubSpot. What does ChatGPT believe that entails?
Result:
ChatGPT continued to use this same analogy after a few regenerations, but it’s a good one. It basically likens it to moving from one house to the next and taking all your stuff with you, except your “stuff” is all of your customer data.
ChatGPT describes it as a “complex and time-consuming” process, which leads to another question…
Step 2: Asking More Specific Questions
Prompt: “What is HubSpot onboarding? How does it work?”
Will HubSpot help you get set up once you migrate over? What does the HubSpot onboarding process look like?
Result:
If I was apprehensive about migrating over to HubSpot, this description by ChatGPT would help put me at ease. The idea of video tutorials and live training sessions sounds like a good way to make sure there is no confusion, and customized onboarding based on the specific needs of each business is the cherry on top. The first response also identifies the total time commitment as just a few weeks.
Prompt: “What are the HubSpot ‘hubs’?”
These have come up a few times in the responses generated by ChatGPT, so let’s ask for a more fleshed out description.
Result:
ChatGPT does a good job of separating the hubs and explaining what each one does. It also notes that although they can be utilized individually, they are designed to work together. For some reason, the second response leaves out the Ops Hub (maybe because it’s the newest?).
Prompt: “Explain HubSpot integrations”
This was also something that’s been mentioned in several past responses from ChatGPT.
Result:
ChatGPT did a good job of explaining the purpose of HubSpot integrations (“improve overall functionality of HubSpot platform”) and then giving examples. In the first response, it broke it down by the benefits of integrations, and in the second it talked about the types. That’s an example of why it’s a good idea to regenerate responses…you’re virtually guaranteed to get new or differently worded information.
Step 3: Asking Fun Questions
Prompt: “In the HubSpot vs Salesforce debate, if each were characters from the Rocky franchise, who would each be and why?”
In an earlier response to a prompt, ChatGPT made it clear that Salesforce was HubSpot’s main competitor. Of course, I could just ask “What are the pros and cons of Salesforce and HubSpot?”, but that’s not as fun. Also, Ivan Drago from Rocky IV is the greatest movie villain of all time.
Result:
I regenerated this a bunch of times, and Salesforce was always Apollo Creed and HubSpot was always Rocky Balboa.
If you’re unfamiliar with the original Rocky movies, Rocky Balboa was an amateur boxer (basically a nobody) who got a shot to take on the heavyweight champion of the world, Apollo Creed. In the first fight, Rocky lasted all 15 rounds and lost by a split decision. In the second fight, Rocky knocked Apollo out in the final round to become the champ.
With that in mind, this answer from ChatGPT is awesome! Salesforce is very much like Apollo in that they have been the champ for a long time and now there’s an underdog challenger, HubSpot (like Rocky), who is taking them on and going punch for punch with them.
Prompt: “Discuss the pros and cons of HubSpot, but pretend you’re Dracula and do the accent.”
I love asking ChatGPT these pros and cons questions, and I love Dracula movies. So this prompt just makes all the sense in the world for me.
Result:
Ok, note to self: ChatGPT does a terrible Dracula impression. However it did provide some good pros and cons to consider.
Pros:
- Has many features (a one-stop-shop)
- Powerful tool for inbound marketing
- CRM system helps businesses manage contacts and sales pipeline
Cons:
- Can be expensive for smaller businesses
- Some may find it overwhelming or difficult to use
- It’s inbound strategy may not be suitable for all companies
Prompt: “Predict two services HubSpot may add to its repertoire in the future, but do it as if Doc Brown went 15 years into the future and then came back and told Marty McFly all about it.”
What are some possible changes that HubSpot might employ in the coming years? As a bonus, this prompt also tests ChatGPT’s Back to the Future knowledge!
Result:
Well ChatGPT seems pretty convinced HubSpot will be developing an AI chatbot (it mentioned it first in both answers). This chatbot could provide real-time support and answer complex questions.
Also mentioned was a VR tool for marketers to create more interactive experiences for customers and an augmented reality feature that would allow customers to customize products in real-time.
This all seems plausible by 2038!
The Final Word
ChatGPT has extensive knowledge regarding HubSpot and provides a much more enjoyable and interactive experience in researching topics than simply Googling things.
The one drawback that I would see to a tool like ChatGPT with reference to researching a company like HubSpot is that it would not be able to provide you with customer testimonials, which can often be the most reliable form of information when it comes to comparing CRMs.
Overall? ChatGPT = awesome. HubSpot = awesome.
