Sales Leaders

HubSpot is a powerful tool that can be used by sales teams to solve these challenges in numerous ways. 

“In particular, HubSpot Sales Hub is packed with benefits that, once unlocked, enable your sales team to prioritise its activity, understand your prospects, automate repetitive work, and spend more time speaking to active buyers who are a good fit for what you sell,” explains Chris Grant, the sales services and CRM implementation consultant at BabelQuest.

With its comprehensive set of features and user-friendly interface, HubSpot empowers sales teams to work smarter, close deals, and supercharge revenue growth. Let’s look at how:

All-in-one sales platform

HubSpot provides an all-in-one platform that allows sales professionals to effectively manage their customer relationships. This includes the HubSpot CRM, a centralised system where all your customer data can be safely stored, organised, and utilised by the rest of your HubSpot suite. 

As well as making it easier than ever for your sales team to access and update information, this ensures everyone across your team is working from the most up-to-date data, improving collaboration and communication. 

From tracking leads and managing contacts to automating follow-ups and nurturing relationships, HubSpot streamlines the entire sales process, saving time and increasing productivity. 

Advanced sales analytics and reporting

Additionally, HubSpot offers robust analytics and reporting features, providing valuable insights into sales performance and allowing sales teams to make data-driven decisions. HubSpot's advanced analytics provide in-depth metrics on sales activities, such as:

• lead generation
• deal pipeline
• revenue growth 

This allows sales teams to track their progress towards goals, measure the effectiveness of their sales strategies, and create visually appealing reports that can be easily shared with stakeholders for a comprehensive overview of sales performance.

Integration capabilities

HubSpot's integration capabilities with other tools and systems further enhance its usefulness for sales teams, enabling seamless data flow.

HubSpot allows for the integration of various tools and platforms, such as third-party CRM systems, email marketing software, and social media platforms. This integration ensures that all customer data is centralised, making it easier for you and your team to track and manage leads as well as to maintain a more complete picture of the prospects you’re nurturing.

Built-in sales automation

HubSpot's integration capabilities also enable your team to automate repetitive tasks, such as data entry and follow-up emails, freeing up valuable time that can be used for the higher-value, more strategic activities that actually close deals and generate revenue.

Take sequences. “These are made up of email templates and tasks, allowing you to automate your sales outreach, supercharge your BDR/SDRs and have complete control over your sales cadence,” Chris explains. “A sequence is a series of emails and tasks that can be triggered one at a time or in batches of 50. As with your templates, you can see full analytics in real-time, allowing you to optimise your sequence for maximum impact.”

Another example is sales chatbots. "As an individual contributor working with over 100 reps, I was receiving and having to respond to many high-frequency, low-value questions that needed a templated response," said Ben Cotton, HubSpot’s former principal marketing manager, Sales Enablement. "A human doesn't necessarily need to answer those support-type questions. If HubSpot’s sales chatbot took care of those templated questions, that would free up my time for lower frequency but higher value work such as deal strategy."

With functionality like this at their fingertips, your team will be able to better nurture their prospects and create tasks to remind them to follow up with their contacts, all of which will help them to build relationships with your buyers — and move them towards closing.

Our CRM scoping guide will help you to:

• clearly define what you and your team need so you can streamline the implementation process
• reduce the number of bumps (and their associated costs) along the way
• tidy up or maintain the accuracy of your CRM data 
• identify if you need a standard or tailored approach to create the perfect platform
• pinpoint previous issues so you can prevent them from happening in the future 

After completing our guide, you can provide internal stakeholders with one document containing only the essential information to understand what the business needs from a new CRM. And, when you’re ready, you can hand it over to your implementation partner of choice, who’ll have everything they need to efficiently scope your new CRM project.

An inbound approach to your marketing aligns your operations to this change in buyer behaviour by positioning your business in such a way that it helps, supports, and provides value to your prospects.

Unlocking real-time sales tracking and reporting

How to create a custom sales dashboard

Creating a sales dashboard in HubSpot is a quick and relatively straightforward process. 

1. To begin, log in to your HubSpot account and navigate to the dashboard section. 
2. Click on the "Create Dashboard" button and select the "Sales" option. 
3. Next, choose the type of dashboard you want to create, such as a funnel, pipeline, or revenue dashboard. 
4. Customise the layout by adding or removing widgets that display key sales metrics, such as deals closed, revenue generated, or sales team performance. 
5. You can also set filters to focus on specific sales data or time periods. 
6. Once the dashboard is set up, you can save it and share it with your team for real-time visibility into sales performance. 

HubSpot's powerful analytics provide detailed insights into key metrics such as calls made, meetings scheduled, and deals closed, enabling sales leaders to measure the effectiveness of their team's efforts. 

Additionally, customisable reports and performance dashboards allow managers to drill down into individual performance, providing valuable visibility into each team member's strengths and weaknesses. 

With HubSpot's user-friendly interface and robust analytics capabilities, creating a sales dashboard has never been easier. Start tracking your sales metrics and empowering your team to make data-driven decisions that drive business growth.

How to manage your sales pipeline in HubSpot CRM

Managing your pipeline is a crucial aspect of any sales function, and with HubSpot CRM the process becomes even more streamlined and efficient.

1. Firstly, create a clear and defined sales process that aligns with your business goals. This involves identifying the stages of your sales cycle and the actions required at each stage. If you already have a sales process, refer back to it, 
2. Next, review HubSpot CRM to track and manage your leads. This includes capturing lead information, assigning them to the relevant salespeople, and setting up automated follow-up sequences.
3. Additionally, you can use the CRM's reporting and analytics features to gain insights into your sales pipeline's performance and identify areas for improvement. 

By regularly reviewing and updating your pipeline, you can ensure that you’re effectively managing your sales process and maximising your chances of success.

With everything going on right now, being able to report on revenue closed and the health of your pipeline is more important than ever. If you’re fed up with the CEO breathing down your neck, build them a custom dashboard that answers all their sales and revenue questions before they ask.

Chris Grant, Sales Services and CRM Implementation Consultant, BabelQuest

'11 Reasons HubSpot Has the Best Sales Enablement Software'

How to set up lead scoring and nurturing automation   

There are two ways businesses use HubSpot to prioritise their leads: traditional lead scoring, where values are assigned to certain activities or contact/company characteristics, or predictive lead scoring, which uses machine learning to determine a contacts’ likelihood to result in a closed-won deal.

To take the traditional lead scoring route, follow these steps:

1. Start by defining your ideal customer profile and identifying the key characteristics that make a lead more likely to convert. 
2. Once you’ve established your criteria, assign values to each of these characteristics based on their importance. This could include factors such as job title, company size, or engagement with your website. 
3. Next, set up automation rules to track and score your leads based on their behaviour and interactions with your nurturing efforts. 
4. Regularly review and adjust your scoring criteria to ensure it aligns with your evolving business goals. 

To take advantage of HubSpot’s predictive lead scoring features, you just need to have a Marketing or Sales Hub Enterprise subscription. The properties ‘Likelihood to close’ and ‘Contact priority’ will be automatically populated based on analysis of various factors, which all happens behind the scenes. Get more information on how that works here.

Related read: How a Sales Enablement Strategy Will Help Your Reps Close More Deals

How to efficiently manage reps’ daily workload

Having heard the cries from sales managers everywhere, HubSpot  has come up with a simple yet effective solution to help salespeople manage their workload: the prospecting workspace (available with Sales Hub Pro and Enterprise subscriptions). This neat solution will become the go-to place for your sales team in HubSpot. 

In the prospecting workspace, they can view things like:

• Daily task lists (plus a report on task progress)
• Active sequence enrollments
• Activity from target accounts
• Their own daily schedule
• A personal activity stream
• Activity suggestions

This HubSpot feature has the ability to help reps to manage a busy workload, and makes it easier for sales managers to hold them to account.

Take a 6-minute tour of the prospecting tool with HubSpot Platform Consultant Chris Grant

How to automate sales funnel management

Are you looking to streamline your sales funnel management process? Look no further than HubSpot's automation capabilities. With HubSpot, you can automate your entire sales funnel, saving you time and effort. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to automate sales funnel management in HubSpot.

1. If you haven’t already, start by defining your sales funnel stages. Map out your sales funnel stages from lead generation to closing the deal. This will help you understand where automation can come into play.
2. Set up lead capture forms. Use HubSpot's form builder to create lead capture forms that automatically collect and store prospect information. This will ensure that no lead falls through the cracks.
3. Implement lead scoring. Assign scores to your leads based on their interactions with your website and content. HubSpot's lead scoring system can help you identify the most qualified leads and prioritise your efforts.
4. Nurture leads with automated emails. Use HubSpot's email marketing tools to create personalised email sequences that nurture leads throughout the sales funnel. Set triggers based on specific actions or time intervals to ensure timely and relevant communication.
5. Track and analyse. Utilise HubSpot's analytics dashboard to track the performance of your sales funnel. Identify bottlenecks, optimise your processes, and make data-driven decisions to improve your conversion rates.
6. Integrate with CRM. If you’re not using the HubSpot CRM, connect HubSpot with whichever CRM system you are using to seamlessly transfer leads and customer data. This integration will ensure that your sales team has all the information it needs to close deals effectively.

Getting started with workflow automation

There is so much more you can do with HubSpot’s sales automation,” Chris adds. “Workflows allow you to automate those irritating, time-consuming parts of the sales process that fall through the cracks, reducing the chance of human error and increasing efficiency.”

• For the lead that isn’t ready to buy, add them to a list or trigger a marketing nurture sequence.
• The deal that’s about to close, notify the client services team so they’re ahead of the game.
• Automate a reminder for that follow-up task you always forget to create and never miss it again.

Check out this demo sales workflow to see sales workflows in action.

With HubSpot's automation capabilities, you can streamline your sales funnel management process and drive more conversations with the right prospects at the right time.

AI Content Assistant for outreach 

HubSpot's Content Assistant tool can be an invaluable resource for creating effective content sales outreach and other forms of sales content quickly and easily.

1. To get started, first, open the tool and select the "Sales Outreach" option from the menu. 
2. Next, you will be prompted to enter the details of your outreach, such as the recipient's name, company, and the purpose of your email. This information helps the tool generate personalised and relevant content. 
3. Once you have provided the necessary details, the Content Assistant will generate a draft email for you. You can then use its suggestions and recommendations to fine-tune the email and make it more compelling. 
4. The tool offers valuable insights, such as word count, readability, and tone of voice, ensuring that your outreach is professional and engaging. 
5. Finally, proofread your email and make any necessary edits before sending it out. 

With HubSpot's Content Assistant, you can streamline your sales outreach process and create impactful emails that resonate with your target audience.

87% of salespeople say generative AI tools are effective for writing sales content and prospect outreach messages, and many use these tools for tasks like writing emails and social media messages.

‘How AI Helps with Sales Prospecting’, HubSpot

With HubSpot, you can easily tailor your outreach to each individual prospect, increasing your chances of turning leads into loyal customers.

1. First, use HubSpot's contact management system to organise and categorise your leads based on various criteria such as industry, job title, and location. This allows you to target your outreach to specific segments, ensuring that your message resonates with each prospect.
2. Next, utilise HubSpot's powerful email tools to personalise your campaigns. With the ability to dynamically insert contact properties into your emails, you can address each prospect by name and include relevant information tailored to their specific needs.
3. HubSpot's email tracking capabilities provide valuable insights into recipient engagement, allowing you to follow up at the right time and with the right message. 
4. Finally, leverage HubSpot's integration with social media platforms to further personalise your outreach. By monitoring and engaging with your prospects on social media, you can gain valuable insights into their preferences and interests, enabling you to craft targeted and personalised messages that truly resonate.

With HubSpot, the possibilities for personalising your sales outreach are endless. Try using it alongside AI Content Assistant to speed up your team’s content writing overnight.

Advanced sales analytics

When it comes to sales forecasting, HubSpot offers a range of powerful tools to assist sales teams in making accurate predictions. One such tool is the Sales Analytics dashboard, which provides an overview of key metrics and allows sales managers to track progress and identify trends.

1. To get started, log in to your HubSpot account and navigate to the "Reports" tab.
2. From there, select "Analytics Tools" and choose "Sales Analytics Dashboard."
3. Once you're in the dashboard, you'll see a variety of widgets and charts that provide valuable information about your sales pipeline, revenue, and performance metrics. You can customise the dashboard to focus on the specific metrics that matter most to your business. With just a few clicks, you can drill down into the data to identify trends, spot opportunities, and make data-driven decisions that drive your sales success.

With these tools, you can monitor your team’s performance, optimise your sales process, and set more realistic targets.

Detailed sales forecasting

Another useful feature is the Sales Forecasting tool, which uses historical data and current trends to forecast future sales revenue. 

1. To use this tool, log into your HubSpot account and navigate to the Sales tab.
2. From there, click on the Forecasting tool and select the desired time period for your forecast.
3. Next, input your historical sales data and any relevant factors that may impact your sales, such as marketing campaigns or industry trends. 
4. HubSpot's advanced algorithms will then analyse this data and generate an accurate sales forecast, which you can easily view and share with your team.
5. This tool also allows you to make adjustments to your forecast, such as accounting for seasonality or changing market conditions, ensuring that your predictions remain up to date and reliable. 

With HubSpot's Sales Forecasting tool, you can take the guesswork out of sales planning and make informed decisions to drive your business forward.

If any of these benefits sound appealing, don’t hesitate to get in touch. We'd be more than happy to take your questions and explain how you could use Sales Hub to hit your targets.

The current situation is putting huge amounts of pressure on sales teams around the world. While there isn't a magic solution, HubSpot comes pretty close, giving you all the tools and data you need to boost your bottom line and drive growth even through challenging times.