Picture this: you’ve purchased HubSpot, hired a HubSpot partner agency for the implementation process, and your entire team is excited and asking when they can start using the tools. They’re ready to get in the account and begin training sessions with the partner agency, and stakeholders at your company are eager to see results from their investment, well, yesterday.
Let’s pump the brakes.
As a HubSpot partner agency that regularly implements HubSpot for our clients, we want all of those things, too. We take great pride in helping companies maximize their marketing and sales outcomes through this robust software. But, just like anything worthwhile, HubSpot implementations take time to do right. We want to set reasonable expectations in the minds of our clients before we get started, as well as make it clear who is responsible for key deliverables during an implementation.
Unfortunately, it’s not as easy as simply passing the reins off to your implementation partner and letting them do everything for you. Fortunately, we’re here to guide you through the entire process in order to get you set up quickly and successfully. But, like any worthwhile relationship, success is a two-way street.
Benefits of working with a HubSpot partner agency
We’ve talked quite a bit about the benefits of working with a partner agency for HubSpot onboarding. It saves time, money, and stress; ensures all tools are set up correctly; and gives your team access to expert training sessions. Starting with the discovery phase of implementation, the partner agency will take time to uncover the business’s specific needs and use cases in HubSpot. Thanks to this customized approach, your HubSpot account will be set up with all of the tools you need for success.
All of this adds up to value for your business, your team, and your customers.
Finally, but certainly not least, a partner agency will help create accountability for various team members who are involved in the process. From the outset, all key deliverables will have specific team member(s) responsible for completing them by a predetermined due date. This keeps everyone on track and the implementation process running smoothly from start to finish.
What to expect during the discovery phase
Before any SOW or contract is signed, the HubSpot partner will set up a discovery call with your team. Ahead of this call, they will likely send a questionnaire for the team to complete in order to guide the direction of the conversation. Questions you can expect include things like:
- What are your top three business goals?
- How are you currently capturing leads on your website?
- How do you qualify your leads?
- What does your sales process look like?
The goal is to get a complete picture of where your business stands currently, identify specific needs, and uncover areas of opportunity where you might currently be lacking. This helps your HubSpot partner prioritize key items in the onboarding process and ensures you have all the tools you need for success.
The discovery call is also where expectations are set for deliverables to be included in the SOW. You’ll have the chance to review the SOW and make sure it meets your expectations for onboarding. From there, the implementation process can begin!
What you will be responsible for during implementation
After all the i’s are dotted, and t’s are crossed, the implementation will officially begin. One of the very first things you’ll be responsible for is providing your partner agency with all of the login credentials they need to start setting up your account:
- Social logins
- Integration logins
- Advertising account logins
There are a lot of simple tasks—such as connecting social accounts to HubSpot—that can get waylaid because a HubSpot partner agency can’t access your accounts. Preparing this information ahead of time can save a lot of frustration for both parties once the implementation begins. Tools like One Time Secret allow you to securely share login information with your partner agency, which they’ll need to get going.
You may also be asked to provide access to your existing CRM or share the properties you store in there. Understanding how data is currently organized and stored will help a partner agency determine how to best integrate or transfer that information to HubSpot.
Another key piece of the puzzle is providing feedback on deliverables. Without feedback, your partner agency won’t be able to move forward in a timely manner. Try to stick to firm deadlines when your team is reviewing copy, templates, and other deliverables.
As a HubSpot partner agency, our goal is to help implementation clients get onboarded as quickly and efficiently as possible. To deliver a successful implementation, we work hand-in-hand with our clients as they get up and running on the software—even providing training sessions so they feel confident using the tools at hand. All of this drives value for a company looking to get the most out of the HubSpot platform.
