The HubSpot CRM Platform is much more than just a tool for Marketing Automation. In fact, it helps companies to unite departments such as marketing, sales and service so that they can work together hand in hand – fast and effective.
Not much long ago, CRM was still considered as a pure sales tool. But times are changing. Now several departments must juggle customer data. Of course, a CRM tool has been helping sales for years to keep track of customers and answer questions such as: Who are my best customers? When do they need to be visited or called again? What other products might they be interested in? And so on.
But meanwhile also marketing and service depend on customer information – especially its handling and analysis. Service staff must be able to respond to customer questions and complaints in real-time. These teams need a quick look at the individual customer files: Which product is causing problems? Have there already been complaints? What is the best way to help the caller? Does a sales representative have to come by? If so - when?
Today, the task of marketing is to attract and address prospects and (potential) customers convincingly and personally. This only works if the behavior and buying decision patterns of the individual prospects are known. The usual target group segmentations according to psychographic and socio-demographic characteristics are no longer sufficient. In order to reach customers as early as possible in their purchasing decision, it is much more important to divide the target groups into so-called buyer personas. A buyer persona is a fictitious person, based on real facts of the target customers. Buyer personas show how different potential customers “tick”.
The HubSpot CRM Platform covers essential business needs
In order to accomplish such diverse tasks of different departments, a CRM system currently still must be connected to various other systems via numerous interfaces, for example, to an ERP system, a content management system, or route and tour planning. For many companies, this is an almost insurmountable obstacle for which they need help. The larger the company, the more difficult this problem becomes, because all teams bring in various software products that are barely integrated. Users face the challenge of having to operate many different software solutions with a rather poor UX. Work thus becomes a daily challenge and customer relations become harder to manage than ever.
As user requirements in marketing and sales teams alike are continuously increasing, the American Software company HubSpot has raised its profile as a vendor of innovative and homegrown, natively built marketing technology solutions. Over the last years, HubSpot has built a worldwide reputation in areas like marketing automation, sales and service software and now it focuses on holistic customer relationship management (CRM). The step into CRM is a natural progress that takes advantage of HubSpot’s key technologies. It is worth exploring as a solution that can grow with a businesses' needs.
The HubSpot CRM Platform unites marketing, sales and service
The HubSpot CRM Platform succeeds in uniting the three worlds of marketing, sales and service. To raise customer management to a professional level, an easy exchange between the three departments is important. In fact, their activities must be coordinated with each other. Therefore, it is important to network all departments so that they can access and modify the same information. In this way, every employee has a 360-degree view of the customer and can create analyses and forecasts of how the individual customer or entire customer groups might behave in the future.
The platform promises a single source of truth for front office teams to deepen their relationships with customers – no matter if you purchase a single product, or go all-in with the full CRM Suite that will come to include the complete range of products, including Marketing Hub, Sales Hub, Service Hub, CMS Hub:
- Marketing Hub: HubSpot’s Marketing Hub enables companies to grow their traffic, convert more visitors, and run complete inbound marketing campaigns at scale. Popular features: lead generation, marketing automation, analytics and much more.
- Sales Hub: This software helps to get deeper insights into prospects, automate the tasks you hate, and close more deals faster. Popular Features: advanced CRM, meeting scheduling, quotes etc.
- Service Hub: HubSpot’s customer service software enables companies to connect with customers, exceed their expectations and turn them into promoters who grow your business. Popular Features: tickets, customer feedback or knowledge base.
- CMS Hub: This content management software is flexible for marketers, powerful for developers, and gives customers a personalized, secure experience. Popular Features: drag-and-drop editor, SEO recommendations, website themes etc.
HubSpot CRM Platform is an integrated solution with easy handling
The HubSpot CRM Platform is built to meet advanced business needs without adding unnecessary complexity. The user interface is simple and keeps training needs for employees comparably low. So it is easy to get started. Furthermore HubSpot’s CRM Platform is flexible enough to architect your business as it appears in the real world, without months of development.
The Platform offers full-fledged functionalities for modern and holistic customer relationship management incorporating
- marketing management (lead generation, lead nurturing, inbound marketing)
- sales management (deal management, contact management, workflow-based automation)
- customer service management (ticketing, FAQ portals, internal workflows, individual customer help processes)
The HubSpot CRM suite unlocks a lot of power for marketing, sales and service. This aspect makes the solution an attractive option for SMBs. Companies can choose add-ons as needed and will not be hit with high upfront costs for a host of features they may not need. Three paid Sales Hub plans with premium features are Sales Hub Starter (starting at $50 per month), Professional (starting at $500 per month) and Enterprise (starting at $1,200 per month).
HubSpot CRM Platform helps to manage digitalization
If you are new to CRM or already use HubSpot's marketing or sales software, then the HubSpot CRM platform is a fine choice as a natural addition to your solutions stack. It is straightforward to set up and use and fits every budget. Users can immediately start entering their contact information, generating leads and using their CRM functionality. HubSpot’s product offers outstanding email and calendar integration and removes a lot of the tedious data entry and management that some CRMs require to get up and running. As your company grows and changes, you can upgrade to HubSpot CRM's premium products any time.
One thing is certain: CRM will be at the heart of many digital initiatives in the coming years, because customer management is an area that is crucial for companies to remain competitive. There is a wealth of new opportunities in marketing, sales and service to reach and engage with potential customers. But still, many companies struggle to take advantage of the new contact opportunities offered by new technologies. Valuable leads are still being lost. It is not because marketing or service isn't doing a good job or sales isn't closing. Rather, departments are overloaded with information. The faster companies can manage data handling and digitization, the more effective their work will be and therefore the more successful they will be. The HubSpot CRM Platform can help you get it all together and stay ahead of the competition.