Overcoming 5 Salesforce Implementation Challenges with HubSpot Fixes

After onboarding Salesforce, most companies are eager to start maximizing its usability. But then, many times, the excitement fades. A survey conducted by Nucleus Research in April 2022 uncovered that over half of Salesforce users would switch to another CRM solution if given the opportunity. Furthermore, it showed that 23% of Salesforce users believed the value being delivered was diminishing relative to its cost.

Salesforce is indisputably a leading CRM platform, offering its customers extensive and sophisticated capabilities. However, fully harnessing its power isn’t always easy, with users frequently encountering frustrating “Salesforce issues” that hinder complete adoption.

Thankfully, in today’s tech-savvy, highly competitive world, Salesforce isn’t the sole player in the marketing automation and CRM arena. Companies can leverage their liberty to explore alternatives, and one compelling option is HubSpot.

With that spirit, this article outlines five common challenges companies face with Salesforce implementation, and how HubSpot solves them.

Customization Challenge with Salesforce Implementation » Suboptimal Utilization

Customization is one of the most upsetting challenges in Salesforce implementation. Salesforce is a comprehensive and highly customizable CRM platform, designed to cater to businesses of all sizes and meet any business need. Ironically, the very strength of this robustness can make it challenging for companies to tailor Salesforce to their specific requirements and business objectives. This is particularly true of small and mid-sized businesses that may lack technical expertise.

Since customization is intrinsic to fully maximizing Salesforce’s potential, companies are unwilling to forgo it, even though it can be time-consuming and require technical know-how. Consequently, companies often hire costly administrators with technical knowledge to customize Salesforce according to their needs.

How Does HubSpot Solve this Salesforce Issue?

HubSpot provides easy drag-and-drop customization features that don’t require technical skills. Its templated architecture allows businesses to modify and customize without coding. HubSpot is also designed for specific user roles out-of-the-box, making it more tailored to individual needs.

Poor User Adoption » Decreased Productivity

Piggybacking on the previous challenge—Salesforce’s extensive capabilities are a double-edge sword. Specifically, while Salesforce is a powerful tool, its vast array of features, add-ons, and customization options can be overwhelming. With the steep learning curve that comes with full Salesforce implementation, users may feel lost, unsure of how to create specific workflows or update CRM records. Amid this complexity, employees may be disinclined to delve deeper into the system’s operation, leading to frustration and potential disengagement from the platform.

Practically speaking, these sentiments could lead to decreased productivity, limit the platform’s effectiveness, and prevent companies from realizing their full potential. Without broad adoption across the organization, Salesforce cannot provide a true 360-degree view of customer interactions.

How Does HubSpot Solve this Salesforce Issue?

HubSpot addresses these challenges of poor user adoption by offering a platform that stands out for its ease of use. HubSpot’s user-friendly, straightforward interface minimizes the learning curve, ensuring employees can quickly adapt to the system without encountering the typical frustrations associated with complex CRM platforms. This streamlined onboarding process facilitates a swift, hassle-free, and full user adoption geared towards increased productivity from the outset.

Data Integrity Challenges » Impaired Decision-Making

Another challenge with Salesforce implementation stemming from its all-encompassing nature, is the compromise of data integrity (can also be referred to as marketing data quality). Harvard Business School defines data integrity as the accuracy, completeness, and quality of data as it’s maintained over time and across formats. Preserving the integrity of your company’s data is a constant process.

As already established (and discussed in detail in the post comparing HubSpot vs Salesforce), Salesforce’s sophistication and comprehensiveness bring a steep learning curve. When the day-to-day use of the platform becomes intricate and frustrating, it’s no surprise that users often struggle to operate and maintain it optimally. This puts data integrity at risk.

Over time, your Salesforce database can become cluttered with inaccurate and outdated data, which can permeate your reports and analytics. So, not only are reports challenging to generate and understand, but their inaccuracy also makes them misleading and ineffective. When business decisions are made based upon these reports… you can already see the problem.

How Does HubSpot Solve this Salesforce Issue?

HubSpot’s user-friendly and easy-to-use system eliminates the data integrity challenge. The intuitive interface makes it easy for users to work with HubSpot effectively and maintain data integrity continuously, reducing the risk of data inaccuracies. Moreover, HubSpot proactively alerts users on potential data issues, such as duplicate entries. Thus, the database remains clean and up-to-date, maintaining the reliability of reports for informed decision-making.

Getting started with HubSpot reporting? Check out five HubSpot sales reports we recommend for every client.

Insufficient Salesforce Support » Operational Disruptions

As you can probably already tell, complexity in utilization and steep learning curve are some of the most pressing challenges in Salesforce implementation. Moreover, on top of these Salesforce issues, users often find themselves even more frustrated due to a lack of sufficient training and customer support from Salesforce.

The truth is that Salesforce does offer several support channels—a free online training platform (known as Trailhead), user guides, a community forum, and even a free “support plan” (with around a 2-day response time focused on guidance rather than actually solving a problem). Nevertheless, when it comes to complex and critical issues, many businesses have no choice but to pursue dedicated support from experts with specialized training and experience.

In the time it takes to solve an issue, businesses risk disrupting their ongoing operations, leading to backlogs and delays in project completion. In the same Nucleus Research’s survey mentioned above, users reported on Salesforce questions that had remained unanswered for weeks or months: “Our Salesforce admins have spent hours with Salesforce support, but we have not yet found a way to resolve this seemingly simple issue”.

How Does HubSpot Solve this Salesforce Issue?

HubSpot provides unlimited 24/7 customer support, included at HubSpot’s Professional and HubSpot Enterprise Tiers. Users get access to live chat, email ticketing, and phone support with one business day response time. This level of support goes beyond mere guidance, delivering concrete solutions to businesses’ pain points.

Unforeseen Expenses in Salesforce Implementation » Budget Overruns

Last but not least, let’s talk about your investment in Salesforce implementation. Salesforce comes with a relatively high initial cost to start with, and its tiered pricing model doesn’t make it “cheaper”. Put differently, since there is no single fixed price for Salesforce, accurate budgeting is almost impossible.

What frequently occurs is that companies don’t anticipate the hidden costs that can arise after subscribing to Salesforce initially. For instance, they might discover too late that accessing certain features requires upgrading to a costlier tier, or that popular add-ons are recurring monthly charges per user rather than one-time fees. Expenses like implementing new products, technical support, data limits, and more can also surprise companies down the line. As a result, the recurring costs tend to snowball over time as the business expands, spiraling out of control.

How Does HubSpot Solve this Salesforce Issue?

The transparent pricing model (which is only one of HubSpot benefits for businesses’ ROI) provides visibility and predictability, allowing companies to forecast and control costs effectively in line with scalability. With transparent pricing, organizations can anticipate future financial commitments and avoid surprise expenses or budget overruns. The clarity of HubSpot’s cost structure empowers businesses to confidently allocate resources to value-driving activities. This predictable approach facilitates budgeting and strategic direction rather than introducing financial uncertainty.

Take A Step to Overcome These Challenges

Salesforce proves to be a fantastic tool, despite the financial investment, time required for implementation, and technical expertise. Its wide-ranging features offer immense potential, but it requires ongoing maintenance to ensure smooth and effective operation.

For businesses currently utilizing Salesforce and seeking a more user-friendly and straightforward solution, a Salesforce to HubSpot migration or a HubSpot Salesforce integration are two options worth exploring. Our experienced team at Waypost Marketing can help you compare HubSpot & Salesforce and assess the most advantageous course of action. Call us at (864) 288-6162 or contact us online—we’re here to help every step of the way.