As a HubSpot partner agency, we frequently work with companies that already have HubSpot, but need some help cleaning up data or streamlining the tools for their use. The number one thing we hear is "I just can't get my sales team to use it."
Adoption is an extremely common challenge with any new tool, but especially for CRMs, marketing and sales software like HubSpot, which of course touches several different teams. Without the proper direction, it's natural for your sales team to disengage and just keep doing the same old things they used to do - which negates the entire point of getting HubSpot for your business.
The good news is that you can get your sales team to use HubSpot. You just need to follow these steps.
No matter how enthusiastic your company's leadership is about HubSpot, your sales team won't fully buy-in unless they understand that the system is for their benefit. Change is difficult, and HubSpot is a big change, no matter how good the end result might be. So simply saying "this will make your life easier" and then throwing your sales team into HubSpot isn't going to cut it.
You need to make sure that your sales team understands exactly how HubSpot is useful for them. Get specific! You can use these sales benefits directly from HubSpot to communicate to your team:
- HubSpot makes it easy to identify your most qualified leads. You'll spend less time sorting through leads and more time closing deals with motivated prospects.
- HubSpot makes for seamless communication between sales and marketing. If a lead doesn't seem quite ready for sales, they can pass the lead back to marketing for more nurturing without missing a beat.
- Automate repetitive tasks. HubSpot is designed to automate the parts of your sales process that take up your team's time. Integrating automatic follow ups and workflows ensure your team can put more of their time to what matters — closing deals.
- Easily see which tools and strategies are providing the best results. Sales pros will appreciate the data and analytics HubSpot offers on their sales techniques.
You can also encourage your team to join HubSpot Groups - these are places for users to connect based on job titles and interests. This lets them connect with other sales teams who have gone through the exact same process, learn from their experiences and get helpful tips to make the most of HubSpot's sales tools.
Bottom line: you don't want to tell your team that they need to use HubSpot. You want them to want to use it.
One of the most common mistakes companies make when starting with HubSpot is to throw their team into the system and then expect them to have everything up and running by a certain deadline. Instead, break up the process into actionable, easy-to-follow to-dos. Here's an example for Month 1 of a BizzyWeb client's implementation process:
Whatever your team's to-dos are, they need to be easy to complete within a specific deadline. This will give your sales team more direction so they can become comfortable with the system.
The last thing anyone wants is another meeting, but sometimes it's necessary. If you want to get HubSpot right, everyone needs to be on board, clear on how it should be used, and up to speed with how to use the system. The best way to ensure that is by planning to have regular team check-ins on HubSpot.
This is where you can follow up on the to-dos listed above. Give your team time to ask questions, share frustrations, and walk through any points of friction. Finding spots where your team is getting stuck early on in the process will make it much, much easier to address and fix now rather than finding out a few months down the road that all your data is inaccurate or the team just isn't using the tools.
Having regular meetings ensures that your team understands that HubSpot is a helpful tool for them, not just some shiny new toy that management is "making them use."
Plus, we are the only agency in Minnesota with a Platform Enablement Accreditation from HubSpot - sounds fancy, but it means we're top-notch in making HubSpot work within your business.
BizzyWeb is a Minneapolis-based digital marketing and web design agency that helps companies get the high-quality leads they need to grow and thrive. Our tactics include inbound marketing, SEO, advertising, web design, content creation and sales automation. We are an accredited HubSpot Platinum Partner and we offer full-service HubSpot onboarding, enablement and strategy for new and current users.