Solutions Partner Credentials
For validating partners with advanced expertise and sophisticated skills.
About Credentials
A credential is something that you earn from HubSpot, such as a certification or accreditation, that validates a certain area and level of expertise.
Individuals earn certifications, while organizations can earn both certifications and accreditations. Any qualified individual can earn a certification, and today an organization must be a HubSpot solutions partner in good standing in order to apply for accreditation.
When we know what expert knowledge and skills you or your organization has, we can better connect you with the right customers through our matching programs, like the Solutions Partner Directory and new programs we’re piloting like Partner Scaled Onboarding.
What is a Certification?
HubSpot certifications are for individuals and tell the market what type of knowledge a person has.
Individuals must take training and pass an assessment to demonstrate that they have learned the relevant material to a high degree of proficiency.
We have generally available certifications, as well as ones available for partners and providers only.
What is an Accreditation?
HubSpot accreditations are for solutions partner organizations that support the success of HubSpot customers at the highest levels of quality, service, and strategic insight.
Organizations must demonstrate that they have the expertise, capacity, and practical experience needed to serve customers with complex technical and business needs.
Accreditations are more rigorous than certifications — they have a set of prerequisites and often require practical application, like a role play exercise.
Available Accreditations
Today, we offer two accreditations and about 100 partners piloting them — on an invite-only basis.
As announced at Partner Kickoff 2022, we’ll be expanding availability of the HubSpot CRM Implementation and HubSpot Onboarding accreditations to all diamond and elite partners in mid-2022 and to all platinum partners by the end of 2022. We’re still in the evaluation phase of the Customer Training and CMS accreditations.
Below, you'll find more details about all six accreditations and the status of each, which we’ll update as we begin rolling them out to more partners.
| Accreditation | Description | Status |
|---|---|---|
|
Accredited partners have proven experience successfully onboarding new customers on our HubSpot Pro and Enterprise Suite products |
Open |
|
|
Accredited partners have proven experience successfully delivering large scale, complex implementations of the HubSpot CRM platform |
Open |
|
|
Accredited partners have proven experience successfully extending the HubSpot CRM platform through integrations and custom development |
Open |
|
|
Accredited partners have proven experience driving high user adoption rates through customized training and change management engagements |
Currently Closed |
|
|
HubSpot Customer Training Accreditation |
Partners are accredited to deliver HubSpot customer training. |
Permanently closed as of August 2022. Partners with classroom training experience should apply for the Platform Enablement accreditation. |
*Effective February 17, 2023, platinum, diamond, and elite partners that achieve the HubSpot CRM Implementation Accreditation are eligible for the HubSpot Upmarket Referred Service Program. See Sales Rules for more information about eligibility for qualifying deals.
Which Accreditation is right for you?
| Skills/Differentiators | CRM Implementation | Onboarding | Platform Enablement | Custom Integration |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Customer Lifecycle Stage (pre-sale/sale, handoff, discovery, implementation, onboarding, go-live/support) |
All
(pre-sale through go-live)
|
Onboarding
|
Live
|
Any
|
| Ideal Customer Size |
300+ customer users, 30+ Sales users from two different departments
|
n/a
|
Teams 20+ users
|
n/a
|
|
Communication (stakeholder management, relationships, rapport-building) |
Moderate Importance
|
Moderate Importance
|
High Importance
|
Less Importance
|
| Strategy & Planning (long-term success planning, preparing for scale) |
High Importance
|
Less Importance
|
Moderate Importance
|
Less Importance
|
| Process & Change Management (defining & streamlining processes, automating workstreams) |
High Importance
|
Moderate Importance
|
Moderate Importance
|
Moderate Importance
|
| Training & Adoption (tailored enablement, front-end user adoption) |
Moderate Importance
|
High Importance
|
High Importance
|
Less Importance
|
| Data & Architecture (migration, integration options, product expertise) |
High Importance
|
Moderate Importance
|
Less Importance
|
High Importance
|
| Custom Development (custom integrations, APIs, web app development) |
Less Importance
|
Less Importance
|
Less Importance
|
High Importance
|
Prerequisites
The list of accreditation prerequisite certifications represents the standard list of certifications a solutions partner must achieve if they wish to apply for an accreditation. These certifications validate the baseline knowledge and foundational skills solutions partners need to own in order to be qualified candidates for the accreditation process.
- Before applying, partners should verify that they have at least 3 certified users for each of the prerequisite certifications, selected from a team of no more than 5 people.
- For accreditation specific prerequisites, we require 2x certifications awarded across a team of up to 5 people.
- Be an approved HubSpot Solutions Partner in good standing with HubSpot
- In some cases, meet a specific tier requirement (ex: platinum or above)
Credentials FAQ
To apply for accreditation, your team must first be at the Platinum, Diamond, or Elite tiers. They must also review the coursework and casework requirements before submitting their application. Check out the links below to learn more:
Each Accreditation requirements are determined based on an in-depth capacity and capability modeling to ensure the highest standards of service delivery.
For instance, when working with upmarket or enterprise-level customers, we would expect to see a team managing their implementation or onboarding processes just to handle the scope and complexity appropriately.
The certification prerequisites must be met by a group of 1-5 people at the partner organization. You can divide the prerequisites among this group to meet the total requirements, but please be sure to not include more than 5 individuals. Here are some examples of how you can split the prereqs among your team:
- Persons 1, 2, and 3 complete the Marketing Hub Implementation certification
- Persons 3, 4,and 5 complete the Sales Hub Implementation certification
- Persons 2, 3, and 5 complete the Marketing Hub Software certification
Accreditations are available in English to partners regardless of region; localization is on our roadmap for 2023 and more information will be available soon.
Please note: Applications and any supporting documents must be submitted in English to be considered.
The learning path site estimates that it takes approximately 35 hours to complete the prerequisites if you haven’t yet completed any of the certifications prior to applying.
If you’ve already completed a certification, you can subtract the total number of hours it took to complete from the estimated 35. Check out the website linked above to learn how many hours each certification is estimated to take.
Please note: Because we ask for artifacts that you should’ve already produced for customer engagements, it's our hope that it will take you less time to assemble. For example, you may only need to tweak an existing project plan or integration doc to include the required data points (size of company, etc.).
No. At this time, solutions providers aren’t eligible to apply or participate in accreditations.
Please note: The HubSpot Solutions Partner Program has two levels: solutions provider and solutions partner. Be sure to use these links to learn more about each.Have additional questions? Be sure to check in with your Channel Account Manager (CAM) or Channel Consultant (CC), or send an email to accreditations@hubspot.com.