“How can I save money on my HubSpot subscription?”

This is something that many businesses considering HubSpot for the first time or customers that have been with HubSpot for a while find themselves asking. HubSpot is one of the most robust marketing automation and process management tools on the market. There are very few pieces of software that do what HubSpot does or integrate as deeply into your business processes. All that functionality comes with a price tag. 

Because HubSpot isn’t a cheap product, many companies go directly to the source, thinking that will yield them the best price. While it can be good to go directly to HubSpot to get your HubSpot subscription or receive bundle pricing for multiple Hubs, it’s not the way to get the best value. HubSpot’s direct reps don’t have any more information than a certified HubSpot Partner. In fact, few of them are qualified to make deep consulting decisions like how your data should be configured in HubSpot and which Hubs are ideal for you based on your organization's infrastructure. And? You can’t always guarantee the best price when going direct. All HubSpot Partners have channel account managers (CAMs) whose job it is to play the middleman and make sure that we can get our clients the best deal for our customers on that monthly or annual subscription price that they pay. 

It’s worthwhile to note, the most important way to save money on HubSpot isn’t on your software subscription itself - the way to save money is by purchasing the right products, leveraging all their features and optimizing what you have so that you can make the most of what you’re paying for. Maybe we’re talking value over purchase price, but ultimately - it all matters for the bottom line.

Here’s why we think you can save the most on your HubSpot subscription by working with a technical partner:

Your interests are most considered with a Technical HubSpot Partner. 

For any agency, but particularly a specialized technical HubSpot Partner, we want to make the most of your budget. Every dollar you save on your HubSpot subscription is another dollar you can invest in your marketing, reporting and technology strategy. For that reason, an agency has much more vested interest in making sure that you get the best deal than a HubSpot representative does - particularly because the higher the contract value, the more the HubSpot sales representative gets paid. But using a Technical Partner with an on-staff HubSpot architect stands to ensure you save the most money. How?

When HubSpot reps sell HubSpot, their biggest focus is on the number of deals and value of those deals that they can get by the end of the month or quarter. I don’t think this is anything that we need to hide at this point, as HubSpot has made it clear in how they’ve restructured partner tiers and shifted the availability to certain perks so that new account sales are HubSpot’s focus when it comes to their reps and even agency partners. 

The culture that this focus on sales fosters is competitive and garners results, but isn’t always what every customer needs. There have been many times when a customer wasn’t ready to close the deal with HubSpot, but we’ve seen pressure come from direct reps to make sure that the deal is closed. Last month, for example, we received an e-mail on June 30th at 5:03pm from a HubSpot rep, asking if they should kill a deal because a prospective customer was sitting on the contract for a few days. Needless to say, it was both frustrating and shocking, and while we were able to insulate the client from the pressure of that experience, it created an awareness that the best interest of the customer isn’t the biggest priority for everyone.

Additionally, bundling Hubs that sometimes won’t be leveraged properly, or are simply not needed is another way that customers can get the perception of savings without the actual benefit. For an organization getting started on HubSpot, it can be valuable to purchase multiple hubs to fully integrate your business processes into HubSpot and get the most detailed reporting, but properly integrating those departments can take time, training, custom integration builds and a lot of patience and company wide adoption, which is not something that is easy to garner. Purchasing these bundles without first consulting a Technical HubSpot Partner and HubSpot Architect can set you up for failure, frustration and a ton of wasted money because of the perceived deal that was marketed to you without taking a deep dive into your data, processes and business structure. 

You’ll get set up properly from the start and avoid costly delays. 

One of the biggest complaints that we get from HubSpot customers that are engaging our assistance is that they’ve been paying for HubSpot for months, but they haven’t fully completed onboarding or been set up in a way that really makes sense for their goals. This is usually a symptom of being sold too quickly before your organization has the time to break down their timelines, goals, data structure and other elements of how your business will best integrate with HubSpot. It can also be a symptom of investing in the wrong company and not paying for a comprehensive implementation versus a basic HubSpot Onboarding. (You can learn about the difference here.)

You may want to get setup on HubSpot quickly, but how quickly your onboarding is completed is less important than what is included in that onboarding. A basic HubSpot setup is nothing like a comprehensive implementation and it pays companies back tenfold to invest in a HubSpot architect. Going beyond the basics and understanding not only how HubSpot’s robust features can help your workflow, but how they can help you learn (through more customized reporting configuration) what elements of your marketing and business processes are most successful is invaluable from a cost savings perspective.

According to Userlane.com, organizations worldwide waste $1.4 Trillion annually on digital transformation projects that have no actual impact on business operations and the bottom line. The article goes on to say that, “Low digital adoption derives from lack of continuous training and performance support.”

Don’t get caught up in a quick setup and onboarding to get started quickly, take the time to hire a HubSpot Architect and Technical Partner before you even purchase HubSpot so that you can implement training across departments, get your reporting and custom objects configured properly and make sure you have the data you need to make the decisions that will help you scale in the long term. It’s part of why you’re paying for HubSpot in the first place, right?

Related: Signs your HubSpot configuration isn’t helping you scale 

You have a full on consultant at your disposal to help you hone in your budget.

Over time in your journey with HubSpot, you’ll start to realize that where you started is not where you’ll need to end up. Purchasing HubSpot (even if you purchase multiple Hubs from the outset) and starting your journey into the analytics of marketing automation isn’t even close to the final iteration of what your marketing, sales, operations and services processes will look like over time. 

Ideally, you’ll be successful in optimizing all your departments and need to scale over time. You might need to complete integrations with your accounting software or find that an external line of business project management software is no longer suited for your team as it grows. You might need ongoing technical consulting and find that you want to do more with HubSpot, but aren’t sure how to configure it. 

By partnering with a technical partner that has your best interests in mind from the start, you make sure that you’re setup properly so that when it comes time to work together on scaling, integrations, and big picture business decisions, your foundation is solid and your HubSpot Architect and Technical Partner can act in a more informed way.

Think of partnering with a Technical Partner from the start like an extension of your company. We’re a full on technology department that isn’t just there for fire drills and one-time projects, but the long haul. The fact that we’ll already have a deep understanding of your data management and processes only means that we can make faster, more informed decisions on your behalf when it comes time for your organization to scale. 

Working with a technical partner long term means that you save money on the front end with HubSpot, ensure that you have the right Hubs to get started with and configure everything properly the first time. It means that you have the ability to regularly consult with and grow with a partner that has laid your foundation and really understands your everyday challenges and goals. It means that you’ll be set up on HubSpot properly and not pay for months of your subscription license totally unused because you’re not configured properly. It means that you’ll have better adoption across all departments because you’ve paid someone to give you the expertise, training and support that you need.
 
Saving money on your HubSpot subscription matters, but you’ll save exponentially more when you engage a HubSpot Architect and Technical Partner to work in tandem towards your goals.