HubSpot is a Customer Relationship Management system that offers powerful tools to streamline marketing, sales, and customer service. The system is incredibly useful to businesses that want to take their operations and marketing to the next level, but it can be tricky to get set up and use unless you have guidance from a professional.
Luckily, there are tons of HubSpot partners available who specialise in fine-tuning the system to a business’ needs. But with a huge network of partners available, how do you find the best HubSpot partner? And who says the “best” partner is the right one for your business?
In this article, we’ll explore five elements you need to keep in mind when looking for a HubSpot partner to guide you through the setup, implementation, and running of HubSpot within your business. Ready to get started with HubSpot? Let’s dive in.
What is a HubSpot Partner?
HubSpot’s platform helps businesses excel in marketing, sales, and customer service. Adopting the CRM system can help to propel your business far above your competition — as long as you use it correctly! Unfortunately, most businesses try to have a go at HubSpot themselves (after all, you can DIY it). But this is where most business owners struggle and fail with HubSpot.
However, HubSpot has dedicated partners all over the world that specialise in using the CRM system — from setting it up to tailoring it to your business. These partners are fully certified and experienced using HubSpot and digital marketing. HubSpot can be complicated software to use, so it’s important to cut the learning curve and get someone to help you through it!
There are thousands of HubSpot partners all over the world, and oftentimes several to choose from in your area. So, how do you ensure you can find a partner that will guide your business to success using HubSpot? We’ll cover that in more detail in the next section.
Five Essential Criteria to Look for in a HubSpot Partner
If you head over to the HubSpot partner directory, you’re likely to find hundreds of different agencies and partners you can contact. It’s overwhelming. Finding the right partner seems like an impossible task at first – and you certainly don’t have the time to go through a thorough discovery call with each of them before you land on the one that will end up working with you.
Services offered
If you want to narrow your search down as quickly as possible, start by looking at the services that the partner offers. Of course, you’ll first need to understand your business needs – are you just looking for HubSpot implementation? Do you need help in maintaining the CRM? Or are you looking for a fully-fledged marketing agency? Once you’ve got your needs nailed down, you can look at the agencies that fit your needs and shortlist a couple of the best options.
Industry expertise
What industry is your business in? Has the potential HubSpot partner worked in the same industry before? It might not seem all that relevant at first – after all, they’re just implementing the CRM software, right? But actually, the partner should have experience in your field (at the very least) if they’re not an industry expert. Understanding the industry will help you implement and optimise HubSpot so that your business runs a lot smoother.
Case studies
Another key criteria you need to consider is their case studies. Case studies are previous successful projects that the agen cy will show off on their website. Of course, these are all the projects that went well, but it will give you a good indication as to what the partner is capable of achieving. Again, look for case studies that are in the same industry as your business. If they’ve achieved the results in the past, they can do it again in the future.
Testimonials
Testimonials are messages (preferablly in video format) from happy clients. This will give you a better idea of what it’s like to work with the agency from an outsider’s perspective. It can give you a guideline on what to expect. But remember, just like with case studies, there’s still some bias skewing this form of social proof. You should consider doing further research on search engines to find more customer reviews that aren’t controlled by the agency.
Communication
By now, you should have shortlisted a couple of agencies or partners you would like to work with. They tick all the boxes so far, but there’s one last thing you need to keep an eye out for – communication. The discovery call is the best time for you to assess their communication skills. If they show up late to meetings or don’t have the ability to answer your questions, there should be alarm bells going off. If communicating with them is smooth and easy, you could be onto a winner.
Building a Successful Partnership
Choosing the right HubSpot partner is just the first step. You still need to work with them – whether it’s a short-term project or a long-term retainer.
You need to make sure that you build a successful relationship with the agency and always be their favorite client. If you treat an agency well, they will treat you well. Always keep an open and honest line of communication and make sure that you meet all their standards as a client.