The HubSpot onboarding process will vary slightly depending on the products your clients are purchasing (e.g., HubSpot Sales Hub or Marketing CRM). The overall experience, however, shares a few goals. It should be positive, informative, and demonstrate involvement. Ensuring a good experience during onboarding will help your retention and future growth. There are a few steps you should take when getting a client started in the HubSpot portal, and they’re all geared towards accomplishing these goals! Follow this process to end onboarding with a happy, educated client.
Step 1: Research Before HubSpot Onboarding
Before you begin digging into the technicalities of HubSpot onboarding, you need to ask a few questions to establish a basis for your work. You should familiarize yourself with:
- Who your customer is and what they do
- How large they are
- How many people are expected to use the interface
- The business’ overall objectives
- Their budget
- Their current software and/or processes
Taking the time to lay out this groundwork will help you complete the rest of the HubSpot onboarding process from a more informed perspective. Is your client currently using a sales or marketing CRM? Perhaps HubSpot Marketing or HubSpot Sales Hub is the way to go. Comparing your clients’ current needs and ineffective solutions with what’s available in the HubSpot portal.
Step 2: Set Up Goals
Based on the foundation created in the first step, you’ll have come to a set of HubSpot solutions that are compatible. From here, you can help set up a list of objectives with the customer. These objectives should highlight the business’ key goals with emphasis on how HubSpot will assist in accomplishing said goals. You should find out:
- How the company measures its success (key metrics and associated goals)
- What the company wants to accomplish (in a month, 6 months, a year, etc.)
- Current problems and how HubSpot can offer solutions
Step 3: Identify the Target Audience(s)
This step also expands on some of the foundational work completed in the first step. Once you learn who your client’s target audience is, you can better understand the types of plans to create for each platform they are going to be using. For example, you’ll be able to create more informed marketing strategies for HubSpot’s marketing CRM or identify key sales tools in HubSpot Sales Hub.
Step 4: HubSpot Onboarding Starts With a Welcome!
It’s time– make your client feel a warm welcome! You can start simple, such as a personalized email. Let them know that they’ve made the right decision, thank them for opting for your services, and share your excitement for their HubSpot onboarding.
Take things a step further and add an in-application welcome message that they’ll see as soon as they begin their HubSpot onboarding in the HubSpot portal. To keep things simple, only include one actionable item (such as personalizing their profile, resetting a password, or another easy task). This will welcome the user onto the app while keeping them from feeling overwhelmed. You should include a video to guide them through this process, too.
Step 5: Make Sure Set Up Is a Breeze
The HubSpot portal can be confusing, especially if your client is using a marketing CRM, HubSpot Sales Hub, or other interfaces that are different and new. Do your part to ensure this setup is intuitive. This could mean installing a set-up wizard, video guide, or other useful tool to guide your client through applicable tools. This should be optional for your client to complete, but having the option is necessary.
Step 6: Integrate In-App Guidance
Take additional measures to make this new interface user friendly for your customer. In-app guidance goes a long way. If there are any empty slots where future data will be input, you can provide examples of what types of information will be stored in them. This way, your client will have models of how to properly utilize the features.
Step 7: Follow-Up with Tips
On the note of being user-friendly via in-app guidance, don’t stop with providing models. You can build on this type of subtle guidance by integrating tip banners for necessary features. If it’s their first time interacting with a specific tool, the tip banner will explain the tool’s function and how to access it. Essentially, this will be your client’s brief introduction to the app’s features when actually using the interface. You should also provide a more in-depth walkthrough that explains how to use the application while the user is accessing it. This will be a more hand-on approach to your initial set-up video.
Step 8: Develop a Resource Center
Designate an area for an FAQ to tackle some anticipated questions your client will have about their new interface. This will proactively offer support for quick problem solving. Having a resource center offers autonomy to the client, and you can accompany this tool with a chatbot to make the experience more personal.
Step 9: Keep Up with Your Clients
Don’t just forget about your customer after setup is complete. Check in with them to make sure that they aren’t having any issues. Track their progress towards their goals, and offer support as necessary. It’s better that you reach out to your customer instead of the other way around. This shows that you care about their business and success.
Continue Your Engagement After Onboarding
Even after HubSpot onboarding is completed, you should still keep up with your customers. What better way to do that than to congratulate them on their successes? Make sure to celebrate milestones with your clients! Regardless of how you choose to communicate your excitement, it’s another way to demonstrate your continued involvement and appreciation for their business. Even after onboarding is complete, the process continues through this type of engagement.
Ready to get started? Ask about 245TECH’s HubSpot services to get started with onboarding today!
