A custom plastic sheet manufacturer based in Missouri had previously attempted to use two different customer relationship management (CRM) tools to streamline sales and business processes. But without company-wide user buy-in and adoption, efforts fell flat.
The manufacturer hoped to achieve the following:
The manufacturer partnered with Unlimited Tech Solutions to migrate to HubSpot and implement a sales process that worked for new and existing sales reps and gathered the information they needed all in one place.
“We did not have a formal sales process until our Unlimited Tech Solutions HubSpot implementation. For a business of our size and revenue, their expertise was necessary for us to move into the next phase of growth. Unlimited's customization of our HubSpot portal is exactly what we needed.”
When the client signed on with Unlimited Tech Solutions we noticed three challenges:
Let’s dig into each instance.
The client did not have a well-defined sales process when entering this engagement. This raised the risk of building a half-baked solution, created ad hoc solely to change platforms.
The client struggled to manage two primary issues with their employees: utilization and compliance. Data was often entered after the fact (sometimes incorrectly) or not according to instructions.
A lack of utilization and compliance had the following effect:
The client had several systems and processes that were created with good intentions but conflicted with one another. This posed a risk to the integrity of their HubSpot configuration in the form of a system that generated recurring and unanticipated side effects like repeated, missing, or erroneous data, and more. Integrating with older ERP systems like SAP added complexity to the project.
The client anticipated some resistance from their sales reps when migrating to HubSpot. This posed a risk of diminishing, rather than enhancing, the sales team’s performance by transitioning to HubSpot.
Additionally, key decision-makers requested to delay the SAP integration until December, despite other stakeholders wanting to proceed earlier. This decision could’ve had a large impact on the client’s critical systems as well as project pacing.
The client was running an older version of SAP ECC, which required a custom integration to ensure smooth data flow between SAP and HubSpot. This was a critical piece for full system alignment and usability post-implementation.
After our initial discovery process, Unlimited Tech Solutions came up with a process that achieved user buy-in, user compliance, and line of sight into the entire sales process. We also executed a sprint at the end of the project to complete the SAP integration efficiently.
To mitigate this risk of creating a half-baked solution, we helped the client articulate a formal sales process so that our implemented solution would be built on a process that suited their business's needs and their teams' working styles.
Tools used:
The client has been able to build out numerous reports and dashboards that are aligned to Individual, Industry, and Company. The level of detail available in the HubSpot reports is something the client lacked in their other CRMs.
To ensure that the HubSpot configuration we built did not have conflicting parts, we needed to manage their transition into a system that required an integrated and holistic system of processes that supported rather than conflicted with one another. This was primarily achieved by using a workflow mapping tool to understand the entire deals process.
The workflow map acted as a collaboration tool for the client to better articulate their sales process (which needed to be innovated and modified as inefficiencies became clear) and as a visual aid in training sessions with their leadership and sales teams.
With this information, Unlimited used playbooks and workflows to build an automation system for their sales reps. When certain values are entered at different stages, workflows would trigger to perform certain actions, such as:
This combination of playbooks and workflows provided not only an automated system that required sales reps to focus on the task at hand, but also liberated them from the task of managing all of the information about a deal throughout the deal’s lifecycle.
To overcome this risk, Unlimited was diligent about building a system that was simple to understand and use and we took the time in training to answer any questions that users had when they were confused.
Some training participants entered the training with criticisms, but by demonstrating the answer in HubSpot (rather than merely telling), we were able to achieve user understanding and increased willingness to adopt the system.
We also:
And now, the client’s use of HubSpot is a condition of employment and 100% higher in user adoption compared to when a different CRM was in place.
HubSpot Playbooks were an enormous win for this client. They were created to support the sales process and reduce redundancy in reporting and the sharing of information, but they also drove accountability and improved visibility into all areas of the business.
This process better validates the quality of deals in the client’s pipeline, drives a sense of urgency to close among the sales team, and allows the team to focus more on real selling activities rather than manual data entry.
They experienced:
“We architected a sales process and implemented a system that enabled our client to grow their revenue and improve sales team efficiency. HubSpot was the perfect tool to give them the process automation and performance visibility that they had survived without for too long. We are proud of our work product, but even more proud of the results we see in our client's system and business after implementing their HubSpot solution.”
Throughout this entire project, Unlimited Tech Solutions maintained flexibility and the ability to execute under tight timelines, ensuring the project was completed successfully, despite shifting priorities. Take HubSpot to the innovative edge with custom extensions, applications, and other advanced solutions.
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