What Is The Total Cost Of Owning Sales Hub?

Business growth is no longer just about hiring more people, investing more money, or increasing productivity per employee.

According to a recent report from BCG, focusing only on generating higher revenues in sales and marketing efforts could result in wasting a staggering $2 trillion.

Clearly, there is a need for a more effective approach.

Simply hiring more employees or using more tools won't significantly improve the time it takes for new hires to get up to speed or for your products to be adopted. To truly accelerate growth, you need to streamline your systems and reduce overall costs.

Think of it like clearing a path for smoother sailing that not only brings greater efficiency but also gets rid of unnecessary complexities in your products.

With HubSpot, you can leverage a streamlined tech stack that is highly adopted CRM and required less duct tape. 

What is Total Cost of Ownership?

The total cost of ownership refers to all the financial implications associated with buying, using, and managing software solutions throughout their lifecycle. Think of it like the cost of owning a car. It's not just the purchase price, but also the additional expenses like insurance, fuel, servicing, and repairs.

When you're evaluating the total cost of ownership for software solutions like HubSpot Sales Hub, it's important to consider all the expenses involved. This includes the upfront investment to buy the software, as well as any costs for customisation, implementation, and integrating it with your existing systems. And don't forget about ongoing expenses like licensing fees, maintenance, and technical support.

You'll also need to factor in operational costs, such as training your employees, managing the software, and ensuring it runs smoothly. This might mean hiring specialised staff or allocating resources to handle the software, and perhaps even making changes to your infrastructure.

By considering both the direct and indirect costs of software ownership, you can make informed decisions and determine the true value of your investment. It's not just about the initial price – it's about the long-term benefits, efficiencies, and potential returns on investment.

In the case of HubSpot Sales Hub, understanding the total cost of ownership helps you see the full range of features and benefits it offers. By taking a holistic view of the financial implications, you can decide if this investment aligns with your goals. This approach ensures you make the most of the software's capabilities to boost your sales and marketing efforts.

Ultimately, a thorough evaluation of the total cost of ownership allows you to make strategic decisions that fit your budget, business objectives, and growth plans. When you understand the complete financial picture, you can make informed choices that contribute to your overall success and drive sustainable growth.

The Importance of Calculating Total Cost of Ownership

Understanding the total cost of ownership (TCO) is crucial, as it directly impacts your return on investment (ROI). Think of it as peeling back the layers to reveal hidden costs of software ownership. These costs can often exceed the original purchase price by 5-8 times!

By conducting a thorough TCO analysis, you gain the power to make informed decisions when selecting software that offers the best ROI. It's like knowing the long-term expenses associated with your software investment, which helps you maximize its value and make strategic buying choices.

Sales Hub Total Cost of Ownership

When it comes to assessing the true cost of ownership for HubSpot Sales Hub, there are a few key factors to consider. Firstly, this comprehensive sales hub offers a range of powerful features and tools that can greatly enhance your sales and marketing efforts. From CRM integration to email tracking and automation, it provides a one-stop solution for managing and optimising your sales pipeline.

However, it's important to delve deeper into the total cost of ownership to fully understand the value and benefits it brings. While the initial investment may seem significant, it's crucial to consider the long-term impact and return on investment. With streamlined systems and enhanced efficiencies, HubSpot Sales Hub Professional can help reduce operational costs and improve overall productivity.

Acquisition Costs:

When considering the acquisition costs, it's essential to take into account not only the initial investment required to purchase HubSpot but also any additional expenses associated with implementing and integrating it into your existing systems.

1. The Software

HubSpot offers an all-in-one tool. Unlike other CRM platforms in the market, there are limited add-on fees for additional functionality or tools. 

You can choose from a select number of packages including:

• Free
• Starter
• Professional
• Enterprise
  
  

HubSpot has built an offering so that you don't have to purchase multiple point solutions to run your sales team. Some notable features include:

• Predictive lead scoring,
• Conversation intelligence,
• Custom objects,
• Enhanced playbooks,
• Enhanced sequences,
• Sandboxes,
• Field level permissions,
• Recurring revenue tracking,
• Single sign-on,
• Sales analytics,
• Forecasting,
• Product library,
• Quotes,
• Pipeline management,
• Lead management,
• Call transcription & coaching,
• and more. 

2. Implementation and Onboarding:

HubSpot offers two approaches to implementation and onboarding: Direct onboarding and HubSpot Partner Agency Onboarding. With both options, you'll get up and running instantly with logins and access to the appropriate
tools. 

Depending on the plan you purchase from HubSpot, your onboarding experience will be a little different. Across the board, you'll get paired up with an Implementation Specialist (who will stick with you for your first 90 days), advice on setting up your portal, guidance on what integrations could be a good fit for you, assistance with launching your first campaign, and ongoing support resources from their support and customer success teams. 

HubSpot Partner Agency Onboarding encompasses a tailored experience and ensures your company has a CRM portal that is aligned cross-functionally. Agency's will also help with any integrations and customisations. 

It is initially more costly to navigate down the Partner Agency Onboarding Route in comparison to Direct Onboarding. That price varies from agency to agency and will also depend on the tier - Elite, Diamond, Platinum, Gold. This is because Elite partners will have a greater breadth of experience implementing more HubSpot projects that vary in complexity, needs, and goals. 

3. Integration

With over 1,250 ready-to-use integrations available in HubSpot's App Marketplace, seamlessly connecting HubSpot to your preferred tools is effortless and comes at no extra cost. This wide range of integrations ensures that you can easily sync HubSpot with popular platforms like Salesforce, Google Apps, and MailChimp, among others. Whether you use these tools for customer relationship management, email marketing, or data analytics, HubSpot has you covered.

However, if you are looking to suit a use case that is not directly offered by a ready-to-use integration, it's likely that a custom integration will be needed. This means that you may have to invest in development resources to create a tailored solution that fits your specific requirements.

Planning ahead for these costs is essential, and working with a HubSpot partner like Six & Flow can help you navigate the process. As an experienced agency, Six & Flow takes the time to understand your business needs and challenges. 

We carefully scope and research your project before providing a quote, ensuring that the custom integration solution we deliver is optimised to drive revenue growth for your business. Our team of experts will thoroughly analyse your business needs and goals, taking into consideration your existing systems and processes. We will then design a tailored integration plan that seamlessly connects HubSpot with your preferred tools, maximising efficiency and enhancing productivity.

4. Data Migration

You can migrate data using a CSV import or salesforce sync with ease. This approach is simplistic and thus quick and easy.

However, they'll be limitations with historical activity data - with CSV migration you cant do that - you can only bring object data. 

So if you want historical activity data to be brought it, you'll need to explore the data further and scope out exact requirements before using an API. By Working with a HubSpot partner agency, you'll be able to work with subject matter experts to explore your exact requirements and review a clear migration cost. 

5. External System Interface

Data sync by HubSpot provides two-way sync, custom field mappings, filtering, historical syncing with over 100 of the most popular business apps in an easy,

Should you choose to partner with a HubSpot Partner Agency, we will work with your team in a data mapping workshop. Our data mapping workshop focuses on mapping out your current user journey and identifying areas to amend, automate and align within the HubSpot CRM.

Following the workshop, we collate our findings and produce a step-by-step plan to implement or optimise your HubSpot portal. Recommendations might include the use of certain HubSpot tools, operational workflow builds and related reporting requirements.

This cost will be transparently communicated to you by our sales team.

6. Other Acquisition Costs

There are a number of add-ons available, mostly limit increases, however, most customers do not need them.

Operating Costs

1. Cost of additional Paid Seats

You only pay for users who need access to Sales Hub paid features. Everyone in your company gets access to HubSpot's extensive set of free features.

2. Training

Similar to onboarding, you can approach training either directly with HubSpot, or through a partner agency. 

With HubSpot, you get access to product training from HubSpot Academy, the HubSpot Community where you can source help from fellow customers, an extensive Knowledge Base of expert advice on HubSpot tools, and a dedicated Customer Success Manager. 

With an Elite HubSpot Partner, you will receive direct one-on-one training with each of your teams. Your teams will be equipped to handle current and future needs using HubSpot and have access to our HelpDesk. 

3. Software Maintenance 

Software maintenance is included in your contract at no additional cost. HubSpot also invests heavily in improving and adding software functionality on a regular basis.

Six & Flow is also a member of the HubSpot Partner Advisory Council and works with HubSpot to build out feature roadmaps. 

4. Customer Support

HubSpot offers 24/7 customer support accessed via live chat, email or phone included at no additional cost. Working with a HubSpot Elite Partner also enables you to tap into HubSpot and industry experience and in depth-support to guide you in managing and using HubSpot.

5. Other Operating Costs

Sales Hub includes tools that empower your teams to achieve compliance with confidence and security infrastructure that keeps your data safe.

Personnel

1. Number of Personnel

Most customers do not employ a dedicated HubSpot admin because the software is so intuitive and easy to use. In fact, more software end-users rate HubSpot as very easy to use compared to competitors. Typically whoever is already responsible for your sales activities will be able to leverage HubSpot.

This ease of use is one of the key advantages of HubSpot Sales Hub. With its user-friendly interface and intuitive features, anyone on your sales team can quickly adapt to using the software without the need for extensive training or technical expertise. This means that you don't need to hire a dedicated administrator to manage and navigate the system.