Making HubSpot Work Better by Understanding How People Work Best

If you've ever launched a beautifully-built HubSpot portal that started falling apart in the real world, this one's for you.

In this episode of SmartBug on Tap, SmartBug's Director of Channel Sales Casey Peddicord sits down with Strategy Team Leader Sam St-Amour to explore how building a great HubSpot system isn't just about the tools — it’s about the people who use them. Together, they unpack how mapping your processes around the way your team works (instead of forcing them into rigid systems) is the key to long-term HubSpot success.

Table of Contents

• Why HubSpot Systems Lose Steam
• Duration of a CRM Migration
• Preventing People & Platform Misalignment
• Slowing Down to Speed Up
• What Human-Centered Design Really Means in HubSpot
• Sam’s Framework: Mapping Processes Around People
• Enablement That Actually Sticks
• Training & Evolution Over Time
• Signs Your System is Too Complex
• Final Thoughts & Parting Advice
  
  

Why HubSpot Systems Lose Steam

Casey kicks off the session by asking Sam about the reasoning behind HubSpot implementations that may start strong, but eventually start to break down. Sam points to the issue of time pressure: leaders often don’t plan enough time for the HubSpot migration, their teams are rushed into a new CRM, and the initiative quickly loses steam. Organizations must establish a realistic timeline for the migration, including adequate preparation of infrastructure and staff onboarding. 

Duration of a CRM Migration

So how long should a CRM migration in HubSpot take? Naturally, this duration varies wildly across the board and depends on certain factors, including data volume, legacy systems, and company size. Casey and Sam’s general consensus, however, is that the process should take anywhere from three to six months. 

Sam notes that although in many cases a HubSpot migration can be executed in as quickly as a few weeks, it's not ideal. He and Casey agree that the more time you can allow for full implementation, the better. 

Preventing People & Platform Misalignment

Most commonly when implementing a new CRM, the worst areas of friction lie between the user and the system. General business concepts aren’t always perceived the same way by every person. For example, terms like “workflow” and “campaign” have various meanings when it comes to their applications within a CRM. To avoid misalignment, leaders need to get everyone on the same page by defining and understanding the tools and terminology employed by HubSpot. Users need to know precisely what they’re looking at, how to use it, and why it’s important before jumping in headfirst.

Which brings Sam to the next common reason for people and platform misalignment: unmanaged expectations. “When teams are coming off from other [legacy] systems, they expect that when they get into that new system, they're going to do things in the same exact way,” he states. He stresses that you’ve “got to be ready to change a few things [about] how you work” in order to maximize use of a new CRM. It’s up to leaders and managers to set and maintain those expectations.

Slowing Down to Speed Up

In short, sometimes you have to slow down to speed up so that you’re not going too fast in the wrong direction. Sam offers this piece of advice: resist the temptation to overbuild.

There’s a lot of exciting potential behind updating your CRM, which often tempts project managers to overbuild. In other words, they get carried away with the possibilities behind implementing automations and developing reports and applying rules in the aim of creating the most powerful portal possible. The result, however, is a rigid system that lacks flexibility for its users. HubSpot is known to offer numerous approaches to fulfilling the same tasks, and finding the appropriate route is crucial for peak operability within the system. Since it’s easy to get carried away with customization in HubSpot, Sam suggests beginning by focusing on the basics. “Start simple, do it well. People will jump in and then build on top of that."

What Human-Centered Design Means in HubSpot

“Even the best workflows or automations will fail if they're not aligned with how people actually work,” Sam advises. This is the essence of human-centered process design. Before implementing any new platform or system, it’s important to actually sit down with the team and learn specifically what each person will be using the program for, their priorities, and their limitations. By understanding how they work, their visualization needs, and the ideal inputs and outputs, you’re in a much better position to develop a platform that makes sense for them.

Sam’s Framework: Mapping Processes Around People

Sam continues by detailing what this type of research usually looks like in context. He explains that the key is taking your insights from a user or rep level and translating them into suitable next steps. “It doesn’t have to be this over-engineered, beautiful work of art,” he offers. Once again, start with small, simple processes — “just get your folks in there and let them start working, and then give them the flexibility to work…that goes a long way.”

In short, developers need the time to actually sit down with clients and understand how they work in order to help their users work better. To gain these essential insights, Sam recommends holding workshops with relevant stakeholders using collaborative applications (he mentions one of his favorites, Miro, several times throughout the episode) or even just taking notes with pen and paper. These in-depth mapping sessions will help to align the processes with the tool itself.

Enablement That Actually Sticks

Even if a system is designed with the user at top of mind, getting teams to adopt a new tool can be tricky. Casey asks Sam, what are some of the ways that companies can improve adoption of HubSpot without overwhelming the users? Sam says the secret to making change work is to show value from the get-go. “There's typically a lot of little things that are very simple, very direct, very straightforward that we can do to show value immediately for users.” For example, connecting their email or calendar is a quick and simple value-add. When you start with these little things, and users immediately see the value, then they want more, or they're at least more open to changing or adjusting.

Additionally, users can easily get overwhelmed with all of HubSpot’s capabilities because so many menus and options exist within the interface for various purposes. Here, Sam and Casey emphasize the importance of hiding the sections you don’t need or don’t use to avoid getting overwhelmed.

Lastly, Sam stresses system admins to set aside time for regular office hours. Be available to your team so they have the opportunity to share what they like and don't like about the platform, ask questions, or make suggestions on how to make the system more effective.

Training & Evolution Over Time

Of course, your CRM system and the corresponding processes will inevitably change as your teams adopt more and more HubSpot functionalities. As users become more confident in their proficiency, they may get excited about all the integration and customization possibilities. Sam’s advice is to leverage HubSpot’s built-in tools as much as possible and trust the native capabilities. Then, where necessary, integrate and connect additional tools to strengthen those capabilities.

Here, Sam speaks to the importance of using set properties and variables in workflows over specific users in the organizations, as titles and roles are subject to change. As long as the data is entered accurately, the workflows will adjust themselves when these changes ultimately occur. 

As Casey says, “Your CRM is always evolving, always changing.” Speaking to the importance of system maintenance, he compares implementing a new CRM to building a new house. You don’t just build a house and you’re finished — you must also keep it clean, regularly upgrade appliances, and tend to all of the other tasks necessary for maintaining a liveable home. The same goes for your CRM — you need to give the platform and its data the attention it deserves, consistently, or risk it becoming unsustainable.

Signs Your System is Too Complex

Sam speaks a lot about avoiding systems that are overly-complex or overengineered, so Casey asks, “How do you spot when a system is becoming too complex?” Sam offers a few tell-tale signs:

• Frequent workflow exceptions or long manipulations
• Extensive documents for CRM onboarding
• Inability to accommodate new system updates 
• Visibly frustrated users
• Numerous ignored notifications or overdue tasks

Final Thoughts & Parting Advice

When it comes to making HubSpot work for your people, this statement from Sam sums up his point perfectly:

“System usage is not just about optimization, but about empathy, communication, and strategic restraint… Start slow, know what you want to do, and then build on top of that to go further… Be open, be ready to adjust a few things, then keep learning, keep listening, and evolve from there.”

And there you have it folks! Thanks for joining us for another episode of SmartBug on Tap, and don’t hesitate to reach out for expert help with unlocking more value from your HubSpot investment.