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The Challenge
No consistency or connections
HR Connect has an extensive footprint in the UK. Yet after more than two decades of serving a wide range of education and public companies, the organisation still struggled to streamline sales and marketing. The sales team used one set of spreadsheets. Operational teams used another. And data was scattered across multiple brands using multiple systems.
“From the marketing point of view it was very difficult,” says Marketing Manager Jon Raeside. “We didn’t have any kind of mailing lists — I had to wait for the operations team to send me an updated list of who our customers were.”
At the same time, there was no consistency in communications. Because the team used different systems to deliver different messages, customers got a disjointed experience each time they heard about a maintenance update or product upgrade. Plus, a lack of reporting meant the team couldn’t see when or how customers were growing and changing. And none of it is integrated with the website.
“Our website was very basic,” Jon says. “We had only 12 pages, and didn’t even have pages for products, which made sales very difficult. Our sales team couldn’t say things like ‘You want to know more about our employment check product? Go and have a look at the website.’ There was nothing there.”
Needless to say, it was time for a change. So HR Connect set out to find a system capable of uniting all those processes into one cohesive customer experience.
The Solution
One integrated, easy-to-use platform
When HR Connect’s marketing team set out to replace outdated tools, just one platform filled every need. “Before going to our investment committee to request the funds to invest in a new solution, I have to be absolutely sure the technology will address our challenges,” Jon says. “HubSpot was one of the largest providers with CRM and CMS tools all integrated into one, and it tackled all of them.”
The organisation moved to Marketing Hub and Sales Hub, and created a new robust website using Content Hub. They haven’t looked back since.
Though Jon considered several other CRMs and CMS systems, the decision to adopt HubSpot was easy. The reason? It quickly became clear HubSpot’s Customer Platform would continue to grow and change alongside HR Connect. Throughout his research Jon was drawn to HubSpot’s transparency, exploring demo videos that provided depth and insight other vendors couldn’t match. He spent time in the HubSpot Community and HubSpot Academy, and watched YouTube videos from HubSpot evangelists. Everywhere he looked, there was more proof the platform is constantly adapting to customer needs as they evolve and change.
“It’s not like I have to wait six months for something new to come out,” Jon says. “Even in the time I was researching, I was overwhelmed with how much change there was. I feel like I'm part of HubSpot's journey instead of just my own.”
Of course, HubSpot’s product roadmap wasn’t the only consideration. HR Connect also needed a system that would be very easy to use.
"I'm not an expert coder,” says Jon. “I'm not an expert developer. I just want to be able to point, click and it does what I need it to do. And I really got that sense from HubSpot."
With HubSpot, everything is integrated. And updated. And working as it should — all without requiring HR Connect to lift a finger. Instead of using endless APIs, the team simply flips a switch to turn on native integrations. When it’s time for updates or fixes, HubSpot takes care of them behind the scenes. There’s no going back and forth with WordPress and no need to “mess with code.” Just one intuitive, easy-to-learn experience that frees HR Connect to focus on sales and marketing.
“It’s literally point, click, change, and save,” Jon says. “I change the text and that's it, whereas with some other systems it's really convoluted. You either need to know HTML or it gets really complex — and I didn't want any of that."
Plus, it makes regulatory compliance easy. “Because we’re owned by a public sector organisation, compliance and following GDPR policies is absolutely crucial,” Jon says. “We would not have been able to develop a website or move to a new CRM if it didn't follow GDPR policies. And with HubSpot’s Smart CRM, I have the security of knowing I’m not spamming or in breach of GDPR."
HubSpot’s cookie policy is so compliant, he adds, that HR Connect’s IT team asked to speak to his account manager to learn how they did it. "It just shows that HubSpot really understands how legislation is important, and it's so easy," he says.
It all came together in a way other platforms just couldn’t match.
Transformation
Connecting with customers in half the time
Switching to HubSpot turned out to be the start of a full-scale digital transformation at HR Connect. The sales team experienced major benefits from day one, before the deals section was even built out. They can now see which customers are visiting which pages, and get marketing metrics that hadn’t been available before.
Meanwhile, the marketing team replaced a cumbersome form-building process — the old mix of Google Forms and Microsoft Forms required a lot of exporting — with a new system that revolutionised the company’s renewal process. Now, requests are captured and shared instantaneously, allowing the sales team to follow up with quotes in real-time. And when it’s time to cleanse customer data, one click is all it takes to merge duplicate contacts and companies.
It all resulted in massive time savings.
“HubSpot’s Smart CRM halved the time it takes us to build lists and create and send emails,” says Jon. “The drag-and-drop experience is so easy, and I don’t have to constantly export into CVS and then re-import. And we can add more people to a pre-existing email list so I don’t have to create lots of clones, which has saved us so much time.”
Meanwhile, the sales team spends 25% less time on conversions. Because everything’s integrated, leads now go straight into the sales funnel and are immediately actionable. And when someone has a question, sales reps can send them to detailed product pages.
The process has been so transformative, the team quickly decided to upgrade their original subscriptions for enterprise-level features. With HubSpot, HR Connect is positioned to strengthen customer relationships for years to come.
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