The Simple Guide to HubSpot Agency Onboarding

You already know that HubSpot is the best tool to run your business smoothly and help it grow. You’re ready to get started with implementing best practices, but where to begin? 

This guide is the answer! In this, we will help you understand a HubSpot onboarding and potential onboarding plan. Armed with this understanding, you are fully prepared for your implementation and the execution of your content strategy. 

We’ll cover: 

• The intricacies of HubSpot agency onboarding
• The value of an onboarding program
• The ins and outs of the onboarding process
• The reason you should choose a partner agency to aid in your HubSpot implementation

If you’re curious about what a platinum HubSpot partner like Bridges could do for your organization, we’d love to chat with you. Get your free, no-obligation consultation with one of our HubSpot onboarding experts today! 

What is HubSpot Agency Onboarding?

HubSpot agency onboarding refers to a partner agency that is HubSpot certified that takes the client through training sessions. These training sessions are designed to help users like you learn how to navigate and use all of the hubs that are part of your plan. Your onboarding specialist will help you through this process, ensuring you get the best use of all your hubs.

Customized for you, your onboarding plan will get you through your setup tasks, establish your email templates, and can even provide continual training if you need it. The onboarding can take between 4 to 12 weeks, depending on you. Based on that onboarding timetable, you can expect to spend between 1 to 5 hours learning how to use HubSpot with your onboarding specialist. This is your time to ask questions to get the one-on-one training you need. 

The best part about the customer onboarding process is that it can be adapted to your needs. If you find you need more support, you can easily add additional onboarding services. Later, if the time comes that you need a refresher on the specific hub, you can do that, too. It’s designed for you, so if you want more or less, it’s easily manageable. 

Is HubSpot Agency Onboarding worth it? 

There are many factors to consider when determining the value of a HubSpot agency onboarding. As with most things, consider the benefits, potential obstacles that may arise, and the cost and time spent on implementing your new tech ecosystem.

If any of these sounds like your situation, it’s likely worth checking out a HubSpot partner agency onboarding: 

• You require guidance: Throughout your onboarding program, you’ll have access to someone who can show you the ropes. They can demonstrate the best way to use the hubs. 
• You require urgency: You need to get started right away. The customized setup option ensures you’re not wasting any time on hubs you don’t need or training you’re disinterested in.
• You require one-on-one attention:  If you, your sales and your marketing team are new to HubSpot, you may find one-on-one attention most helpful to speed up the learning curve. This could increase the time spent, increasing the cost of the onboarding fee, but you’ll find the ROI worth it. 
• You require migration insight: It can be difficult to transfer your information from an old system to a new one. Working with a HubSpot partner agency for onboarding can make that process much easier on you. 

What's the HubSpot Agency Onboarding process like?

There’s no one-size-fits-all onboarding process. Every process is different, and your training sessions will change depending on your project’s needs. Most HubSpot partner agencies use an objective-based onboarding process, which means that your goals will determine the layout of your training sessions and their cost. 

Your experience with a HubSpot agency partner is designed based on your current needs. From then, it can be developed into an ongoing training series for continual assistance. With this, your marketing and sales teams can make the most of your implementation with access to help when needed. 

The onboarding services are designed for us to get to know you, your teams, your business, and your plans for the hubs you’ve chosen. We offer a variety of onboarding plans, but the customer onboarding process breaks down into several steps. 

1. Discovery

During the discovery process, here are the typical things that happen.

• Your onboarding specialist learns what you want from the HubSpot platform. This enables you and your onboarding specialist to create a set of onboarding plans to follow. 
• In some onboarding customer processes, your onboarding specialist will consult you, plus your sales and marketing teams to develop an onboarding checklist for your teams to utilize. 

The discovery phase is a great time to ask questions about integrations. Some common integrations we get asked about include: 

• Salesforce
• Google Search Console
• Slack 
• Stripe

2. Goal Setting

Implementation can make or break your goals. Even our more basic HubSpot onboarding plans require starting goal-setting discussions. We take the time during the first week to learn about your key goals. This helps us design your customized onboarding program. Depending on the services you selected, you may loop in your sales reps too. 

Later, around week six, we check in with you to review those goals and ensure you’re on track. We never leave you in the dark during the interim weeks, but we like to carve out a specific time to check in on your goals. 

3. Resources

We’re not here to make square pegs fit into round holes, so the resources we provide are curated specifically with needs in mind. We give you everything you need to successfully navigate HubSpot, no matter which plans you choose. 

Should you decide that you need a more hands-on approach, as opposed to a guided one, we offer a premium service in which we set everything up for you. 

4. Technical Setup

The technical setup of onboarding doesn’t have to be scary. As a HubSpot partner agency, we’ve made the process simple. For most of our implementations, our team can cover some setup tasks for you. Whether that’s the technical side of things like your defaults, dashboards, and third-party integrations, there are all sorts of technical nitty-gritty our HubSpot-certified team can handle for you. 

Our onboarding services will perform an audit and in-depth report of your current systems before we ever begin the technical side of onboarding. From there, we will discuss what we recommend to improve how things operate. 

Why choose a Partner Agency instead of HubSpot? 

HubSpot requires all Professional and Enterprise-level Hubs to receive onboarding from HubSpot for a one-time fee. You also have the option of using a HubSpot Agency Partner, like Bridges. If you choose to do this, HubSpot waves your onboarding fee. 

Working with a HubSpot Agency Partner can be faster than working with HubSpot directly. During peak seasons (e.g. the end of a quarter, the end of a year, or HubSpot’s annual conference INBOUND in September) HubSpot’s onboarding team experiences delays during crunch times.

Here's an overview of what HubSpot's onboarding looks like versus working with a partner: 

If you meet any of the criteria we mentioned earlier (new to HubSpot, quick turn-around, need more attentiveness), having a partner like Bridges can only help you make the most of your HubSpot tools. Quite a few things can go wrong, and a knowing partner will be sure you avoid the common missteps. It can be a time and cost-intensive endeavor, but with Bridges by your side you have an entire team at your disposal to ensure you’re working efficiently and staying on top of your goals. 

HubSpot Heroes Ready to Help

If you’re ready to get help with your HubSpot onboarding process, the HubSpot Heroes of Bridges are ready to help you regardless of whether you’re a prolific DIYer (we salute you!) or need a little more help (we are here for you!). We have an onboarding process that fits your needs.

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