Item: HubSpot CRM
Rating: 7
Author: Fatima Trapaga

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Hubspot CRM is being used across the company as our main CRM, marketing and sales tool.
It addresses issues like customer segmentation, deal tracking, pipeline, customer life cycles, etc.
We also use it a lot for lead generation [and] reporting on sales across the company.

Pros and Cons

Ease of use in the beginning - Not a steep learning curve to start using it.
The free version surprisingly includes a lot of features.
It can grow with you as your company / client base grows.
Has increasingly improved its available integrations with other software.
Surprisingly a lot of great features that integrate with Gmail (what our company uses). Other CRM software are more geared towards Outlook.

Not as feature packed / powerful as other CRM software in the market (I used to use Salesforce extensively).
Integrations with other software needs to be improved and expanded.
Some features / processes are clunky and not intuitive.
Need to improve features like email formatting, etc. in creating workflows and nurture sequence.
Need to expand on available plugins.

Return on Investment

HubSpot has helped us manage our marketing campaigns as well as be the client "source of truth" in our company.
Helps sales and delivery "talk" to each other - provides visibility on client journey.
Helps us generate leads and close deals quicker.
Improving our use has also helped us manage our company growth.

Usability

Admittedly, usability in the beginning is very good. The learning curve is not as steep and you can start right away. Some features though could be improved like setting up workflows. The ease of usability comes at a price though - it's because it is not as feature packed. And this is OK if you are a startup or an SME. Not so good if you are a billion dollar multinational company.

Alternatives Considered

NetSuite CRM and Salesforce CMS

HubSpot I think has its niche for SMEs. Just enough included features to give you all that you need without any additional paid plugins (Salesforce can be irritating that way). Cheap start up cost and easy to learn, use, and manage - very helpful when you have new starters.

Key Insights

Do you think HubSpot CRM delivers good value for the price?

Not sure

Are you happy with HubSpot CRM's feature set?

Yes

Did HubSpot CRM live up to sales and marketing promises?

I wasn't involved with the selection/purchase process

Did implementation of HubSpot CRM go as expected?

Would you buy HubSpot CRM again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Cvent Event Management, Salesforce CMS, Qualtrics CoreXM

Likelihood to Recommend

I think HubSpot is well suited to SMEs, if you are just starting out, your client base is not that huge, or your company uses G-suite.
Set it up properly in the beginning, with integrations with the software it can talk to - it will serve you well, and can grow as you grow.
Since it is not as comprehensive as other CRMs when it comes to plugins and software integration, I would not recommend it to a big company that uses a lot of different software to manage other functions, and you decided to switch CRMs later in the game. They are improving on this though. Also, surprisingly expensive the bigger your client base gets - so maybe it's cheap in the beginning, but it gets expensive fast!

Small, but mighty!

Overall Satisfaction with HubSpot CRM