How To Use HubSpot: A Practical Guide to Transforming Your Business

HubSpot is more than just a CRM. It’s a strategic growth platform that, when used correctly, can transform how you generate leads, manage deals, delight customers, and ultimately grow your business. But to get the most out of it, you need more than a software subscription — you need a plan, a clear vision, and a change management approach that brings your people along for the journey.

In this guide, we'll explore how to use HubSpot effectively, the steps to prepare your business for success, and why change management is critical to achieving your goals.

Review Your Current Systems and Processes

The first step in using HubSpot effectively is to thoroughly review your existing systems. This means looking at every stage of your customer journey:

• Website and digital presence: How are you attracting visitors? Is your website optimised for lead generation?
• Marketing and lead generation: How are you nurturing potential customers? Which channels work best?
• Lead hand-off to sales: How seamless is the transition from marketing to sales? Where do leads fall through the cracks?
• Deal creation and management: Are deals tracked properly? Do you have visibility on pipeline health?
• Sales training and enablement: Do your sales teams have the tools and training they need to close deals?
• Account-based marketing and targeting: Are you engaging high-value accounts strategically?
• Forecasting and reporting: How accurate is your data? Can you confidently forecast revenue?
• Customer management and satisfaction: How are you supporting and delighting existing customers?

By taking a holistic view, you’ll uncover gaps and inefficiencies that HubSpot can help you address.

Identify Gaps and Define Your Objectives

Once you’ve mapped out your current state, it’s time to define where you want to go.

Ask yourself:

• What are the biggest problems we need to fix?
• What does success look like?
• Which metrics will prove we’ve achieved it?

Perhaps you want to reduce manual data entry, improve lead conversion rates, or provide better after-sales support. Whatever your objectives, they must be clear and aligned with your wider business strategy.

Only when you understand your desired outcomes can you engage a HubSpot partner to help design and implement the right solution. This is a crucial step — HubSpot is a flexible tool, but without clear goals, it’s easy to lose focus and underuse its capabilities.

Establish Strong Leadership and Executive Buy-In

A successful HubSpot implementation isn’t an IT project; it’s a business transformation. To signal its importance, you need strong leadership and clear executive sponsorship.

Appoint someone at the executive level — ideally a senior leader with sales responsibility — to champion the project. This leader sets the tone, communicates why the change matters, and ensures everyone understands it’s not optional.

In change management, this is critical. People follow people, not software. A respected, visible leader gives credibility to the initiative and helps overcome resistance.

Engage Your Teams at Every Level

While leadership is crucial, equally important is involving your wider team early and often.

Talk to staff in every department. Understand their day-to-day frustrations and where processes break down. Frontline insights are invaluable — they highlight operational speed bumps that aren’t always obvious from the top down.

Engaging staff fosters a sense of ownership. When people feel heard and included, they’re more likely to support the change and adopt new systems enthusiastically.

This is a core principle of change management: involving stakeholders to create buy-in and reduce resistance.

Practical First Steps to Get Started

Ready to take the plunge? Here’s a practical summary to get started with HubSpot:

1. Audit your current processes: Map your customer journey and internal workflows.

2. Define goals and gaps: Understand where you want to improve and what success looks like.

3. Get leadership buy-in: Appoint a strong executive sponsor to lead the project.

4. Engage your people: Listen to your teams and involve them early.

5. Plan your rollout: Start small, achieve early wins, and expand gradually.

6. Set metrics: Define benchmarks and track progress continuously.

7. Iterate and improve: Embrace a mindset of continuous improvement.

8. Think big: Set ambitious goals that push your business forward.

Final Thoughts: HubSpot as a Catalyst for Growth

HubSpot has the potential to be a true game-changer for your business — but only if you approach it strategically. With clear objectives, strong leadership, team engagement, and a solid change management plan, you’ll transform not just your software stack but your entire business culture.

The journey to mastering how to use HubSpot isn’t just about adopting a tool. It’s about building a more agile, aligned, and customer-centric organisation — one that’s ready to grow and thrive in today’s competitive market.

Looking for expert guidance on your HubSpot journey? Get in touch with us at Cogent Connective — we’d love to help you unlock your full potential.