A HubSpot implementation can become a real growth driver - or a frustrating project with a burnt budget and internal resistance. The difference is almost never in the technology, but in the preparation.
In this episode of CIXON Boosts Your Business, Dominik Enzler and Marvin Lang, Solution Architect at CIXON, talk about what really matters before a CRM project starts - and what mistakes we unfortunately still see too often in practice.
This article summarizes the most important learnings for you.
Many companies start using the tool too early - without knowing exactly what they want to achieve.
HubSpot can do an incredible amount - but it also increases chaos if the target picture is missing.
What needs to be answered before the project starts:
Do we want to improve lead generation?
Shorten the sales cycle?
Professionalize service?
Create stakeholder transparency?
Or everything - but in a clear order?
Without prioritization = guaranteed disappointed expectations later on.
"Garbage in, garbage out" - this is especially true for HubSpot.
At the latest when AI agents come into play, unclean data no longer works "halfway okay" - it doesn't work at all.
What you should look out for:
Recognize & clean up duplicates
Standardized industry, role or segment logic
GDPR-clean setup (subscriptions, DOI, consent tracking)
No 12 Excel sources with different structures
HubSpot gets better the cleaner your data is. Point.
A common mistake: You simply map "the old sales process" into HubSpot.
But HubSpot forces you to be clear - and that's a good thing.
Before the technical setup, you should know
How do we define "lead", "MQL", "SQL"?
When is a deal qualified?
What are the handover points between marketing, sales and service?
What does a structured hand-off look like?
HubSpot is not a digital filing cabinet, but a process system.
CRM is not a software project, but a change project.
If only one team champions HubSpot - its use will die in everyday life at the latest.
That's why it belongs in the core team:
Marketing, Sales & Service (at least as input providers)
One person from the management (sponsorship)
Project managers with a decision-making mandate
CRM only works if everyone wants to use it, not just should use it.
"Let's do it on the side" is one of the surest paths to failure.
Successful implementation requires focus and deliberately freed-up capacity.
Tried and tested process at CIXON:
Plan - Build - Test - Use
Plan → Goals, data, process logic, scope
Build → Setup, migration, automations, pilot
Test → 1 real team, 1 real process, 1 real lead flow
Use → Rollout + enablement + feedback loops
Launch is not the goal. Adoption is the goal.
The technology is not the risk - the internal preparation is.
A good CRM project is strategically managed, collaboratively structured and data-aware. And that is precisely why the most successful implementations are always team efforts.
Do you have specific use cases or questions about a successful HubSpot implementation? Then don't hesitate to book a free appointment with us. We will look at your use case together and show you how you can make the best use of it for your business.
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