Making the Move to HubSpot
There are many reasons why companies are increasingly turning to HubSpot for all their CRM needs:
-A startup wants to get off on the right foot and have complete confidence in their contact management and team alignment
-A company’s current CRM is absolute trash and they’ve finally decided to stop throwing money away
-It’s become painfully obvious that using an Excel spreadsheet to manage customer information is so 1999
-Matt Bolian’s LinkedIn posts have finally sunk in (TL;DR “The HubSpot wave is coming. Ride it.”)
Whatever the reason may be, ultimately it’s an easy call. Why? Because HubSpot is the best.
Once you’ve chosen HubSpot, it’s also a no-brainer to go through the onboarding process. Here’s just a few of the reasons why:
- Access to all HubSpot resources and insights
- Proper setup of the software and its features
- Learn how to use HubSpot (sales, marketing, and service hubs) to its full potential
- Correct setup of automation
- Getting assets like workflows, pipelines, and templates ready
- Take the pressure off your team
Of course, if you like lighting both money and company time on fire, there's always the alternative of just having your employees watch a bunch of how-to videos on YouTube related to HubSpot software and training.
Ok, so the first two decisions were easy:
- Use HubSpot for your CRM
- Do onboarding
There’s a third decision that needs to be made though, and this one ain’t as easy.
Direct HubSpot Onboarding vs HubSpot Agency Onboarding (Partner)
As the names suggest, you essentially have two choices when it comes to how you onboard. The first choice is to onboard directly through HubSpot itself via a dedicated HubSpot Implementation Specialist. The second choice is to go through a HubSpot partner agency for onboarding, which involves companies that are experts in the inbound marketing methodology who have been certified to implement the HubSpot platform.
Here’s the good, the bad, and the ugly for each.
Direct HubSpot Onboarding Services
Pros
- Because your team will be handling most of the implementation, it provides an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the platform
- A very clear timeline (90 days) provides your team with a chance to plan accordingly
- The pricing is very transparent; no surprise charges at the end. This aides in gauging ROI
- You get a team of certified HubSpot experts who know the product very well, and can offer excellent technical and strategic guidance
Cons
- HubSpot’s Implementation Specialist will serve only as a consultant/guide. The heavy lifting of actually implementing HubSpot and the technical setup will fall on your team
- If you have many employees on your team who are unfamiliar with HubSpot, they will not get extensive training on the platform
- You are responsible for data migration into HubSpot
- The onboarding experience will not be tailored and customized to your company’s specific needs (cookie-cutter)
- Because your HubSpot Implementation Specialist will be working with dozens of other clients, the amount of personalized customer support you will receive may be minimized
HubSpot Onboarding Agency Services
Pros
- The onboarding will be customized to your company’s specific needs
- You have the opportunity to cultivate a relationship with the agency you are onboarding with for future collaborations on projects
- Ideal for companies with a more complicated sales process or buyer’s journey
- Flexible pricing options (not one size fits all)
- Because your team will not be doing the actual implementation themselves, it streamlines the onboarding process and you save on company time/bandwidth
Cons
- It will be more expensive
- The timeline tends to be more fluid (can make planning difficult)
- Not all partner agencies have education built into the onboarding, and as a result your team may end up with less HubSpot knowledge
- Not all agencies are equal. You need to invest time in researching one that has a good reputation and will fit your company’s needs
The HubSpot Partner For You
If you opt for the partner HubSpot onboarding route, don’t miss out on the RevPartners white glove onboarding experience. When you choose to go with the best CRM, back it up by onboarding with the fastest tiering ELITE partner. Here’s the “RP Difference”:
- We are NOT an agency. We are data-driven, technical experts
- We have more coders (not website developers) on our team than graphic designers
- We run 2x more Sales Hub implementations than any other HubSpot Solutions Partner
- We have over 700 HubSpot certifications, making us the most technical partner in the world
- We are proactive
- We over communicate
- We are responsible - If something fails; it’s our fault
Which HubSpot Onboarding Plan is Best?
Deciding between direct onboarding with HubSpot and onboarding through a partner is a little bit like deciding between a vanilla frosted cupcake and a chocolate frosted one. First of all, you're already winning because you’re eating a cupcake (just like you’re already winning because you’ve made HubSpot your CRM). When it comes to the frosting, for some people vanilla is an easy choice, while others can’t fathom not taking chocolate.
Likewise, for some companies, a very clear timeline and exact pricing are their top priorities, and so onboarding directly with HubSpot makes all the sense in the world. In contrast, for the companies who rate a customized onboarding experience and saving company bandwidth as their paramount concerns, onboarding through a partner is the logical choice.
In the end, remember these three things:
- HubSpot is the CRM of the future, so join now!
- Choose the onboarding route that makes the most sense for your company!
- RevPartners is the fastest-tiering HubSpot Solutions Partner to Platinum, Diamond and Elite for a reason!
