What’s the very first thing you think of when you hear the word “Hubspot”? To us, it’s a familiar name used throughout the entire digital marketing industry. That being said, maybe this is your first time hearing about them.
In plain terms, Hubspot is both a digital marketing agency and a customer relationship management (CRM) platform. How so, you ask? From the software and so much else they provide to marketers and businesses of all kinds, of course!
If this seems confusing, don’t worry, it’s really not that complicated. Let’s dive into the subject of Hubspot CRM features that your business could potentially start using as soon as you’re finished reading this post.
First, an Overview
Hubspot is a software company that was initially established back in 2006. What’s significant about this year is that it’s the year after Google officially became a public search engine! That makes Hubspot one of only a few companies to be in touch with the way search engines work from the get-go.
Hubspot has grown over the years not only in size and scope, but also in the way they approach digital marketing. The company has established itself as a frontrunner for the direction the digital marketing industry is heading towards, and they’ll continue to do so in the future.
Features you can get from Hubspot CRM for free
Yes, you can get quite a lot of these features for free! And there’s no punishment for deciding to switch from this CRM to another.
You’re immediately greeted with the following features when you read up on Hubspot from their website:
- Reporting dashboard
- Company insights
- Contact deal and task management
- Pipeline management
- Email tracking & notifications
- Prospect tracking
- Meeting scheduling
- Live chat
They sound fancy and all, but you may be wondering what that all means? Especially if you’re brand new to the company you work for, as well as your job’s responsibilities.
- Pipeline management is an especially useful feature for anyone working in sales. It’s a visual means of tracking the effectiveness of your sales process: where deals are being stalled, which activities are bringing in the most revenue, and what the different stages are of the purchase itself. Not knowing this is the same as driving blind, which can lead to a loss of sales instead of ensuring more of them. Hubspot’s CRM can provide the visuals needed in order to get a good idea of what’s going on during your sales process.
- Having a lot of client prospects means keeping up with all of the many, many email threads and notifications. Hupspot’s CRM works together with Gmail and Outlook seamlessly in order to track emails and prospects with ease.
- Meeting scheduling can help your clients understand your availability as well as receive updates in real time. This feature can be integrated with ease in both the Google and Office 365 calendar apps.
- The reporting dashboard can help you best identify all sorts of insights without you needing to enter any data yourself. Real-time data collection is a must for understanding the status of any project, which Hubspot absolutely does do.
Basically, these features are all tools to improve everyone’s ability to understand where they are in terms of the project, what the end results need to be, and how those tasks are going to be done.
Why these features are worth considering
There’s no time limit on trial usage – Hubspot allows you to access several of its features for free without this attachment.
No expiration date on usage either – meaning you can access your software at any time, even if it’s been years after the fact.
Premium is optional – if you really like the free versions Hubspot has to offer, the premium and advanced features can be upgraded anytime you’re ready—again, no time limit or expiration dates attached.
Plays nice with other CRM – if you’d rather hold on to your current CRM, you can automatically integrate it with Hubspot’s marketing, customer services, operations, and sales tools. This means you can easily optimize and personalize your current campaigns and processes using data from your CRM.
Are there alternatives in case I change my mind about Hubspot?
Absolutely! For all it’s worth Hubspot is only one option from CRM—that doesn’t make it the ultimate choice. Other CRM options are available if you are less than certain or comfortable with using Hubspot, or maybe you’ve already used it and are looking into new options.
Need a Hubspot CRM Expert?
Just like with Honeybook and Dubsado, I have received certification on Hubspot meaning I’m officially an expert on using this CRM software. In the event you’d rather see someone other than Hubspot show you how to use it, we can set something up and go over the CRM, one business person to another.
Learning anything new can be a hassle, especially if you’re pressed for time. Why not allow us to take the load off your shoulders for you?
Call to book a consultation if you’d like to get started!
