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The client, a safari travel operator working on three continents was currently using Salesforce CRM, and at a large cost, had over the last year integrated Salesforce into both this booking engine and their sales operations. Disillusioned by the sprawling licensing costs and the ongoing monthly bills to customise and integrate Salesforce, she had pulled the plug on the project and wanted to move over to HubSpot CRM.
On the flip side, we have another potential customer in the medical technology industry that was desperate to move from their legacy CRM system over to HubSpot CRM. They cited the ease of use and user interface of HubSpot CRM as the primary reason.
In addition to meeting with us, they also met with a Salesforce partner and were evaluating Salesforce for their CRM requirements. After conducting a discovery exercise, we advised them to go with Salesforce and not HubSpot CRM. (Additionally, they will be using HubSpot Marketing for their automation and marketing integration into Salesforce CRM, and not Pardot, Salesforce's own automation and marketing tool.) So when is HubSpot CRM the best choice?
1. The product/service you sell is characterised as a large considered purchase.
In the case of the safari tour operator, although the tours are made up of multiple components (flights, accommodation, guides, etc.), the customer only wanted to track the total deal amounts in the deal section of the CRM, track all communications, and move the deals through the deal pipeline stages easily. A simpler to use CRM bodes well for adoption.
But not all CRM applications are simple... The medical technology client that we recommended rather go with Salesforce had 25 different suppliers with 20,000 - 30,000 product line items per supplier and wanted to integrate the quoting of all these line items into the CRM. Salesforce being an enterprise level system, can handle this massive product book and a large volume of daily quotes per rep. Examples of large considered purchases and applications perfect for HubSpot CRM are consulting contracts, a large capital purchase like a machine, vehicle or building, or marketing services like a new website or a marketing retainer.
2. Industry leading user interface
You desire the cleanest and easiest CRM user interface on the market. Millennials, born between 1981-1996, and now 22-37 years old form the large majority of today's sales teams. They are remarkably IT literate and have an affinity for clean and easy to use system interfaces. I would go as far to say that the poor user interface of Salesforce was one of the largest reasons the safari travel operator was wanting to move over to HubSpot CRM. A great user interface has a massive impact on user uptake - especially when the users fall into the millennial age group.
3. Marketing automation and integration into your sales process
Like our medical technology customers using Salesforce CRM, they decided to go with HubSpot Marketing rather than Salesforce's own natively integrated Pardot. The marketing and automation product from HubSpot is without a doubt the industry leader and far away from the marketer's system of choice. Ask any marketer which marketing automation system they would like most to use, and nine times out of ten, HubSpot Marketing will be the answer. Marketing is going online, so it makes total sense to tie up your CRM with a marketing automation platform.
Although right now Salesforce integrates very well with HubSpot Marketing with the swap of an API key and flick of a switch, the civility of these two companies could change. Unlikely, but Salesforce/Pardot could choose to limit the integration, bringing increased costs of ownership or limitations to the user.
HubSpot CRM and HubSpot Marketing are one in the same, they are designed to work together and product enhancements are rolled out all the time for both platforms. You could liken this to the tight integration of Apple software to Apple devices. For the most part Apple devices 'just work'. Windows on PC works pretty much 'most' of the time and all PC users have been hit/delayed by forced Microsoft updates...
Interested in moving over to HubSpot CRM? Wondering if it is potentially the right CRM for you?
Give us a call, we'd love to help you make an informed decision. Contact MO now.
