How to Get Your Sales Reps to Use the HubSpot CRM

For those of us who understand how critical proper CRM adoption is, it can be frustrating when we have members on the sales team, especially reps, who either push back or fail to use it properly. 

In some ways, a CRM that's used inconsistently is worse than no CRM at all — as any business leader can attest who's tried to look up pipeline information and found it incomplete.

Companies live and die by their CRM. The bigger the company, the more essential the CRM is for day to day success. 

But you don't need to be a large company to be stymied by poor CRM use.

In fact, most of the companies we work with are small to mid-sized businesses, and we've seen first-hand the steps that absolutely must be followed if you want your sales team to embrace the tools you’re making a substantial investment in.

We’ve helped hundreds of sales teams, both large and small, either switch to the HubSpot CRM or implement a CRM for the first time using HubSpot and Sales Hub. We’ve seen companies succeed and we’ve seen companies fail. 

That puts us in the unique position: to definitively teach the steps you need to follow.

In this article, we’re going to cover:

1. How to train your sales team on the HubSpot CRM and Sales Hub
2. How to hold sales reps accountable for proper CRM management
3. What to do if sales reps continue to fail to use the CRM properly

Let’s get started.

How to train your sales team on the HubSpot CRM and Sales Hub

Before you jump into getting your sales team to use HubSpot, you need to address the question they’re asking that causes most sales associates to resist the process: What’s in it for me? 

Any successful saleperson has the skills that got them to where they are today. They're good at what they do. So, why do they need a new system, a new tool, a new way of doing things? How will this help them be more successful?

You'll need an answer for the 'what's in it for me' question. 

Sure, once your team understands how powerful the HubSpot platform is, they’re far more likely to see the promise. But still, you'll need an answer. 

Here's how we suggest you do. 

Step 1: Explain the why behind the importance of the HubSpot CRM for your business

First thing’s first: If you’re going to get your sales team to use the HubSpot CRM platform, you need to teach them all about what’s in it for them (aka, the why). 

To do this, spend the first onboarding session explaining the ways HubSpot can save them time and help them get more sales by:

• streamlining communication
• centralizing the sales project pipeline and correspondence with qualified leads
• automating and tracking phone calls and emails
• creating custom dashboards to track metrics, data, and sales reports (such as open and won deals by rep, what clients are engaging with your content most, revenue channels and pipeline data, and closing rates)
• providing call summaries to quickly refresh your memory as you prepare for your next meeting. 

That’s a lot of functionality in a single tool — and that’s not everything! 

With so much information at your sales team’s fingertips, they can access what they need without constantly having to ask each other for it, dig through email chains, and update spreadsheets. 

This means more time, more clarity, and more selling.

Step 2: Organize a learning session or workshop

Next, organize a workshop for your team where experts can weigh in on the ways you can use the HubSpot CRM.

This allows your sales team to ask questions and get answers, which can help zero in on your team’s reservations and clear up any other issues that could be standing in the way.

HubSpot Academy's free course on Sales Hub onboarding 

It’s also a great opportunity to stop telling your sales team how much HubSpot helps them and start showing them concrete examples of sales associates who have seen sales success with the tool, which can be far more powerful in motivating your team.

You can also utilize HubSpot Academy's free courses to help your team see what's possible. 

Step 3: Get everyone’s commitment

After educating your sales team on all the ways HubSpot can help them sell even better, get your team to commit to learning and using HubSpot tools. 

Explain that they don’t need to know everything at once. The quickest way for the initiative to fail is if you expect it to happen overnight.

You can get a Starter account for $20 per user per month. Or even start with the free to learn the ropes. You can add functionality as they learn (this way you’re not bombarding them with a lot of information at once). Build a roadmap and make it clear that by a certain date they will be fully adapted, and how they’re going to get there.

You can do this by picking one area to focus on at a time (such as leaving notes, then adding deals), but at the end of the day, they need to commit to the program and understand it isn’t an option — while also knowing they'll have plenty of time to do it.

How to hold sales reps accountable for proper CRM management

If you want to hold sales reps accountable for using the HubSpot CRM properly, designate one person to be in charge of the process. Having someone who is familiar with HubSpot be accountable for getting everyone else up and running will help the transition go more smoothly.

This could be a sales manager or an outside expert.

Have this person provide your team with support in the starting phases, as well as ongoing, so any issues that might hinder the process can be addressed. 

Be sure to also reward your team members for modeling great behavior, and provide lots of incentives for reaching milestones (prizes, celebrations, etc.).

What to do if sales reps continue to fail at using the CRM properly

If your sales reps still aren’t willing to use the HubSpot CRM after taking these measures, the reality is you need to let them go. 

CRM tools such as HubSpot are powerful in their ability to help your sales teams, but they’re also a significant investment. When your sales reps don’t want to use them, for whatever reasons they might have, they're showing they're not willing to be part of your future.

You want to cultivate a sales team that understands that using CRM software is a win for the whole organization. Resistance hurts the entire team.

Get your sales team on the right track

A tool is only good if it gets used. A CRM can powerfully improve your sales performance, but only if the team is on board. 

What we've gone through above are the steps we lead our own clients through, and we believe they can help you overcome obstacles.

But know, too, that there is so much more to selling than having the right CRM.

You also need a great sales process, pitch-perfect sales enablement content, a culture of feedback and roleplaying. 

To learn more about how we help businesses improve they way they sell, talk to one of our coaches so you can start building a sales team for the future.