HubSpot is one of the leading inbound marketing, sales, service & operation software solutions for all sized businesses. The software has a ton of features and can do a lot of things. But there's always a question of whether or not you're using it to its full potential and how what is the ROI. We'll cover what you should do during your 2-week Free Trial, How to get the most out of it and also provide some tips for after your free trial ends.

Hubspot can transform your business in significant ways. It's a single effective software that takes care of everything from automating emails, tracking deals, hosting pages and providing all the relevant data you need to make the best business decisions.

While these capabilities promise to do so much for you, how do you tell if Hubspot is the ideal platform for your business? Because once you embrace full Hubspot adoption, opting out can be complicated, so there's little room for trial and error.

Again, you signed up for Hubspot, or it offered you a free 14-day trial, you need to understand how you will benefit from the platform and take advantage of everything. This article discusses how to go about this.

What Is Hubspot?

Hubspot revolves around inbound. Inbound is a strategic method of growing and establishing your organisation. It entails building lasting relationships with your customers and potential customers through impactful content and experience by empowering individuals to achieve different goals at various stages of your collective journey. This is because you and your customers need each other to succeed. That is where the Hubspot CRM platform comes in. Hubspot CRM is an all-around software designed to power this inbound technique to enable you and your customers to achieve your full potential.

With Hubspot CRM, you gain access to various tools necessary for building and growing a robust customer experience that helps accelerate sales and drive the business forward. Even better is that Hubspot CRM is powered within the same database meaning anyone within your organisation can access it. 

From the marketing department, sales, services and operations, everyone can work off the same record. These teams in marketing, sales services and operations collaborate seamlessly to smoothen the buyer's journey and support a better inbound experience. 

However, process inefficiencies often result in friction and a negative customer experience which is an everyday reality. That presents you with new opportunities to improve, and you must be keen to identify those opportunities as they come. The main areas of your business that you'd improve with Hubspot CRM include:

Marketing

• Generate better, qualified leads
• Create and manage valuable content;
• Capture more leads and walk with them down the sales funnel until they are sales-ready;

Sales

• Turn new and existing leads into customers;
• Engage prospects;
• Demonstrate the value your or services bring;
• Close more deals;

Service

• Turn customers into indirect marketers;
• Solve customer issues as they come and deliver exceptional results that automatically turn customers into promoters;

Operations

• Improve the performance of your systems;
• Connect several applications;
• Automate various processes;
• Bring your teams together into one source of customer data;

With careful and advanced planning, Hubspot can transform your business in powerful ways. To see how this is possible, you can experiment with the 14-day free trial offer. Follow these steps to learn how.

Before Your HubSpot Trial Starts

First things first. You need to understand that the free trial is specifically for the Marketing Hub Pro-level. If, after the free trial, you decide to upgrade to the pro tier, you'll be investing around $1,150 per month, plus a separate contacts fee. 

As such, there's a huge chance you'll be overwhelmed by its robust features and functions, which you may not have known existed. That's why you need to prepare ahead to get value for your money. And that's what this article will focus on: helping you prepare to make the most of the free trial. But first, acquire some virtual knowledge.

Get Certified with Hubspot

Having some professional and certified knowledge about this powerful software is the key to preparing for this new CRM experience. According to Hubspot experts, you should start planning ahead of the two-week free trial even before it begins. 

Hubspot Academy is the global leader in free online training resources for marketing, sales and customer services professionals. It specialises in singular topics, mid-level sessions and comprehensive certifications for sales and marketing specialists looking to ace their skills and business goals. 

From quick and practical training sessions to more in-depth courses and certifications, you get to learn everything you need to know about top-level business topics and best practices. Hubspot Academy focuses on educating users about its software so they can thrive in an inbound business model. Why get certified with Hubspot Academy:

• You get to advance your career: Ace your skills and enhance your career by staying knowledgeable in the latest digital marketing trends, customer support, sales and more;
• Demonstrate your capabilities: Hubspot Academy is a globally recognised online certification program. By taking up the free online course, you can show off your skills on professional platforms like LinkedIn, where your employer or prospective employer can see your expertise. This helps boost your resume;
• Develop your business: Build your business on the inbound marketing technique, excel at lead generation, and impress your customers;

Because the business world is constantly changing, each Hubspot Academy certification comprises on-demand courses administered by inbound experts ready to elevate you to the next level of your career. The certification process requires you to:

• Complete all courses
• Watch all videos and take straightforward exams to round up each lesson
• Pass the certification test and complete practical questions
• Earn your certification

The platform is a free online resource available to all users, with the only requirement being your time. 

However, it's important to note that you must access the Marketing Pro to complete the practical aspects of the Marketing Software certification. You can take up the theoretical part of the course before you begin the free trial and finish up the practical portions during the free trial for the entire two weeks.

Build Your Team

Once you sign up for Hubspot CRM, you're not the only person who will be using it. That's why we recommend rounding up your cohort to help you explore the free trial. This doesn't mean rounding up everyone in the company—instead, select a team of professionals who will be in charge of the overall rollout—for example, department leaders who will roll out the program to their respective teams. The more conversant they are with the software, the more effectively they will be able to onboard their teams. 

Check Out The App Marketplace

The Hubspot app marketplace contains hundreds of applications that you can use to expand Hubspot's capabilities, such as syncing and integration tools. We're talking about massive software with unlimited inbound features.

Check the marketplace to see how your technology can align with each application. There are unlimited options, with new ones being added constantly, so you should ensure you select what will work for you. 

During The Two-week Trial

With all the initial preparations made, you're now set to get started with your free trial. Remember that 14 days is a short time and can go by in a blur. Here's how to maximise the free trial:

Be Sure You're Focused On Relevant Things

Distractions are inevitable, and there are so many things that can take away your attention, such as the never-ending Hubspot notifications of new offerings. To ensure you remain focused on your goal and experiment with features that add value to your business. No need to try out new features like administration, number of users per team, personalising contact records, etc.

If you've made a decision to invest in Hubspot but you don't know which tier to go for, make a list of offerings found in the Pro version that you can't find in the starter pack. This will help you decide if you need to upgrade or simply stick with the starter pack.

Bring In Data To Experiment With A Top Rated Application

In the starter tier, Hubspot provides you with sample data. However, you don't need to transfer all contacts to Hubspot. But you should know what it's like to upload all contacts to the platform.

This gives you an idea of how the portal works and helps you identify what you need to customise. With the Pro version, you gain access to unlimited custom properties and depending on your data needs, this is beneficial.

Check Out The Pro Tier

Whether you're already using a different version of Hubspot or a totally different CRM platform, you can still try out the functionalities of the Hubspot  Pro version.

The Hubspot Marketing Hub Pro is best known for its automation and reporting. You'll want to see how you can use it to automate lead nurturing or internal functions. This is the main difference between the Starter and the Pro tier.

Experiment with the drag-and-drop email editor and discover how to blog staging works. Experiment with all the tools at your disposal and see how useful they are.

Finally, Ask Questions 

The free trial allows you unlimited access to the HubSpot live-call support, enabling you to receive quick, real-time answers.

Therefore, you should be ready to ask questions about the platform, participate in community discussions on boards and other forums and post your inquiries and concerns on the HubSpot community forum for expert feedback.

After The Two-week Trial Ends

At the end of the two-week free trial, you'll have to make a decision. However, the decision should not be hurried. It would be best if you got together with other company leaders or cohort members to:

Deliberate on how many Hubspot functionalities your business needs.  

Hubspot comes with a suite of unlimited options for Sales, Service and Marketing solutions and each of these comes with multiple tiers. There's also the price factor to consider. For example, in the Sales Hub, you pay per user or seat. However, in the Marketing Hub, you need to meet specific requirements for your contact list to pay. The pricing options for each solution vary.

So, before you decide to pay for a particular Hubspot CRM, be sure to consider the price and seat factors and go for what your business needs. It's advisable to analyse your database to determine how much you'll pay on top of your average monthly fee.

Settle for the most affordable option

Although all Hubspot pricing options are available on its website, there's always some form of wiggle room. For example, a more extended contract gets you a discount, especially if you sign up for a year with an upfront payment.

Final Thoughts

A two-week trial can be beneficial, but only if you plan ahead. Hubspot is a worthy investment for most companies, and we would recommend it to any business of any size. We also recommend starting with the Sales Starter while purchasing the Marketing Pro because this combination provides the ideal balance in terms of price and tools. From there, you can upgrade to Sales Pro.

The secret is understanding your business needs and finding ways to meet them. The trial gives you access to features you'd otherwise not see, thereby broadening your understanding of how beneficial the platform can be to your business. Contact Digikat to learn more about maximising the Hubspot trial.

Once you are ready to go, DigiKat can help you get set up and train your team on how to get the most out of the tool.