How to Properly Onboard New Users to HubSpot
Introduction This guide walks you through the key steps to ensure new users are set up for success.
1. Define User Roles and Permissions
Before adding new users, it’s essential to define what access and permissions they will need based on their roles within your organization.
•Determine roles: HubSpot allows you to assign specific roles (e.g., Marketing, Sales, Service, Admin) to users. Decide which tools and features they need access to.
•Set permissions: HubSpot provides granular permission controls. You can manage permissions related to contacts, deals, reports, marketing tools, and more.
•Team configuration: It's important that the team review the capabilities of creating and assigning teams. This can be important for workflows, visibility, and conditional cards that they may want to assign. Please note, that although they are a part of a team they can have a primary and a secondary team. This will be apply if they need to be cross-functional on both teams.
It's important to note that teams or custom objects will only allow you specific functionalities such as their teams companies, their companies, or none. Each visibility set can be noted as view only, edit or delete, or none.
*Hubspot doesn't currently have functionality to allow account based ownership such as pods or specific companies visible to specific members. In order to achieve this, it will be required to create a team per company if that's the solution you're looking for. This will be a manual process and will require upkeep from the client if required.*
Property configuration: Properties can be assigned to teams as well and can be granular to what teams need access to specific properties and this will apply the same rules of being able to edit, view, delete as required.
How to Assign Roles and Permissions:
1.Go to Settings > Users & Teams.
2.Click Create User and follow the prompts to assign roles and set permissions.
2. Provide a Platform Overview
Once users are added, it’s helpful to give them a guided tour of the HubSpot platform, covering the basics:
•HubSpot Dashboard: Highlight where they can view key metrics and dashboards.
•Navigation Overview: Show them how to navigate between Marketing, Sales, and Service Hubs, and where to find contacts, deals, tasks, and settings.
•Basic Terminology: Explain key HubSpot terms like Contacts, Deals, Pipelines, Tickets, Campaigns, etc.
Pro Tip: Use HubSpot’s Guided Walkthroughs to help new users explore key features directly within the platform.
3. Train Users on Core Tools
Depending on the user’s role, different tools will be more relevant. Provide tailored training for each of the core tools they will use.
•For Sales Teams: Focus on CRM management, Deals, Pipelines, Sequences, and Meetings.
•For Marketing Teams: Cover Contact Management, Campaigns, Email Marketing, Landing Pages, and Workflows.
•For Service Teams: Train on the Ticketing System, Knowledge Base, and Feedback Tools.
Tip: Take advantage of HubSpot Academy’s free courses, which provide structured lessons for users at any level.
4. Set Up Custom Dashboards and Reports
Help new users get familiar with HubSpot’s reporting features by setting up personalized dashboards. Dashboards provide quick access to key metrics and help users track their performance.
•Custom Dashboards: Show how to create dashboards tailored to the user’s role.
•Reports: Teach them how to create and interpret reports, such as contact conversion rates, sales performance, or marketing campaign analytics.
How to Create a Dashboard:
1.Go to Reports > Dashboards > Create Dashboard.
2.Customize the layout, add relevant reports, and share it with the team.
5. Automate Workflows for Efficiency
HubSpot’s Workflows feature helps automate repetitive tasks and communications. Teach users how to set up workflows to streamline processes like lead nurturing, follow-ups, and internal task assignments.
•For Sales: Automate lead follow-ups and task reminders.
•For Marketing: Set up automated email campaigns or contact segmentation.
•For Service: Automate ticket follow-ups or satisfaction surveys.
6. Provide Continuous Support and Resources
Onboarding doesn’t stop after the first few sessions. Make sure to provide ongoing support:
•Live Help & Chat: Let new users know how to access HubSpot’s live support or chat features.
•HubSpot Academy: Direct them to HubSpot Academy for more in-depth training.
•Knowledge Base: Encourage users to explore the HubSpot Knowledge Base for troubleshooting and advanced feature guides.
7. Measure Adoption and User Progress
Finally, track user engagement and progress by monitoring tool usage and adoption. Regularly check in with new users to see if they’re facing any challenges or need additional training.
•Use HubSpot’s User Activity Logs to track how frequently users engage with different tools.
•Schedule monthly check-ins or offer periodic training refreshers based on user feedback.
Conclusion
By following this step-by-step onboarding process, you’ll ensure your new users are empowered to take full advantage of HubSpot’s capabilities. Effective onboarding will reduce the learning curve, increase tool adoption, and ultimately lead to more productive and satisfied team members.