Ainhoa Rodriguez-Muguruza
LIVE FROM INBOUND22
It is here! It is happening! Today, at 10:30AM in Boston, US, we joined the HubSpot Spotlight on the INBOUND Main Stage to hear from Yamini Rangan, HubSpot CEO, Dharmesh Shah, co-founder and CTO, and Steph Cuthbertson CPO, all the new features and tools that the platform is releasing for 2023. The clear message was focused in connection or, rather, the lack of thereof, and we were all welcomed with a simple question that left us speechless.
How are you?
Despite being one of the most common questions to ask and to be asked, it is rare to find a genuine answer to this. And, personally, if I had to, it would take me a few couple of hours to explain how I feel, so we may want to get some coffee and a few snacks! Yet, we owe that care and interest to all our customers! They deserve to feel connected, supported, and enabled, so they trust more than ever that they are there to grow,
And, for that, if you were wondering, connection is power!
The Age of The Connected Customer
Pivoting throughout the pandemic, all companies have experienced a 180-degree change and, chances are, you are doing things in a totally different way than you were doing them a few years ago. Transformation is here to stay, and there is no slowing it down. Yet, the momentum seems to be stalling, and companies have started feeling that, after investing and going the extra mile to adapt to the new normal, results are yet to come…
Truth is, reaching customers has become harder than ever. As ironic as it might seem, with the vast number of tools available, the sense of disconnection grows stronger and stronger among customers, search engine users, and, simply, human beings. HubSpot went on research mode and tried to answer this question but found that It was hard to figure out what really was in the way to the customer, in the way to the other.
What is holding the customer back?
What is holding you back?
What is holding us back?
We are not connecting; we are not there for each other. And the current environment is not making it any easier. So, these are the questions that we are trying to answer in INBOUND22 and that will help us better understand how to better help each other and regain the trust that human beings have seen over and over breached. And the journey starts asking yourself another deceptively simple question: what can you do to drive that connection?
Swimming Through A Crisis of Disconnection
We are in a crisis of disconnection, and it requires companies to stand up to the challenge. We are not talking about customer management anymore, but customer connection. For this connection to be deep and genuine, it is key for companies to go the extra mile and understand the challenges that are not allowing people regain the trust that so strongly characterise human beings. And Yamini heled us better understand those challenges.
Companies are struggling with disconnected systems
The main pain point for businesses todays are disconnected systems and data. During the pandemic, companies had to go fully digital overnight, and it was not plausible to get solutions that would solve all problems. There were apps for everything! The average company has 242 SaaS apps today. And that is not really the problem. The problem is that they are disconnected.
People are feeling disconnected from each other
The pandemic has made it really hard to connect as humans. 45% of workers say that they have fewer interactions at work and 57% are engaged in fewer social activities than before. Humans are drawn towards communities where they learn together, improve together, and inspire each other. People crave community in good times and not-so-good times, and we are, unfortunately, little by little, losing that.
Companies are disconnected from their customers
Companies are finding it hard to connect genuinely with their customers. We all feel like we are not cutting through, like we cannot get through. And the answer to this is something that we can all relate too. Digital fatigue and distrust are at an all-times-high. We are in overload mode! Span, advertisement… We are digitally drained…
A shift Is happening and we need to pay attention
Customer preferences have completely changed and what once worked is just not working anymore! Teams are struggling and customer experience is suffering. Companies has seen their time drained by cleaning data, with very slow performance, Disconnected point solutions are not the solutions, we do not need a solution for every department, for every challenge, we need to connect the dots! And the first kind of cooperation that we need to see is between each other.
We rely and should rely on each other for support.
- We need more than data, we need context.
- We need more than content, we need value.
- We need more than contacts, we need community.
And, most importantly, we need strategies to drive those connections! A key component of this is to fully understand where your customers are at every single moment, making sure that you are offering them the right message, at the right time, and through the right channel.
Optimise Your Customer Journey for Customer Connection
Companies are trying to map the journey of your customers, but it seems more complex like that. Anyone that is familiar with HubSpot will know their flywheel model and how it has helped thousands of companies understand the unknows about their audience and their customers. With a clear understanding of the different stages customers go through, it is much easier to identify how to get through to them and connect.
So, we are making the winning formula a little more complex.
Attract
Customers a becoming more and more careful with their data and they do not want to give their details away without a good reason. That might led to some companies relying more on third-party data, but that would take them in a direction not so recommendable. The right answer is to be the trusted advisor that customers go to when having a question, allowing you to gather first-party data.
To achieve that, you might need to think about diversifying and spicing up the way that you do things. This might involve distributing content through different channels, tapping on different ways of reaching out such as influencer marketing, emerging social media platforms, etc. Be the first to the party! Innovate and make sure that you are at the top of the wave, not trying to chase it.
Engage
Earn your open rate and make it relevant, make it valuable. Your emails should offer access to an expert or to compelling resources. Emails that are not relevant have a one-way ticket to the spam folder. For it to be relevant, you need to bring context to your conversation and have a real meaningful conversation. Your sales reps should be powered with that type of data and your CRM should allow you to record that.
Delight
Once they are engaged with you, the transaction process, be it product-based or service-based, should be as easy as possible, making sure that everything that they need is there for them. This is not limited only to resources, but it should include channels. Give customers channel choice for them to be able to make that purchase or agree to that quote in the way that they feel most comfortable.
How is HubSpot helping?
The combination that has transformed into an all-encompassing platform. HubSpot is the only CRM that was never designed to be a silo, but to connect marketing, sales, service, website, and operations. To make sure HubSpot is ticking all the boxes, they have ensured that their app ecosystem has done nothing but growing since they first launched it, allowing for more accurate reporting, automation, and payment experiences.
But this connection would not work if it was not because of the community that is behind it. This community brings best in class so all HubSpot users can grow together. HubSpot is a creative and energised platform powered by those that make it possible and that inspire each other over and over again. And the HubSpot team has been working on different tools throughout the last year to make sure this shift is being addressed and reflected.
Marketing Campaigns Tools
All campaign-related information can now be recorded, gathered, and reported on the very same screen, making sure that you know where your leads are coming from, what is making them convert, how that is changing your business, and when you should be able to give that next step and make your business go to the next level. This tool is meant to maximise your understanding of how effective your efforts are.
Customer Journey Analytics
Announced for the first time at INBOUND22, HubSpot has launched accurate, compelling, and detailed analytics for every asset your customers touch to help users establish meaning. This tool will help users create better insights. Customer journey analytics will be available for Public BETA in October 2022.
Crafted Approach to Data Management
Did you know that…
- 60% of CRM data goes unused
- 40% of all ops time is spent cleaning and preparing data
- 30% of companies have data that meets basic quality standards
HubSpot has improved their data modelling to make sure that the connections on your platform are connected in a way that works for the users. Through the popular tool of Customer Object, released in 2021, and the new feature of Property validation, the control users have on the data that not only they input on their database, but that they import on their database. Data control is now a reality through the data analytics that HubSpot has released and that has enabled algorithms and machine learning to suggest that solutions that truly work for you and the way you do things.
A More Customisable CRM
To guarantee that that data is found and visualised clearly, HubSpot has released in a Public BETA the capacity to fully customise the feel, look, and layout of the company, contact, deal, and ticket record on your database.
But something is missing…
What is the golden rule of inbound marketing? To listen and to bring value to those that are looking for a solution, or an answer. As humans, we have a need to connect, to support, and cooperate, and believe or not, we do not do well on our own! You are not alone; you belong, you have value, you matter. And you can grow, together with others, through that value, through a community that welcomes everyone that wants to be part of it.
That is how HubSpot grew, but it was not always like that! HubSpot’s growth was first driven through sales, later by marketing, recently by product, and, as of recently, through community! This community has the five elements that are crucial for it to work and be recognised anywhere a HubSpot user goes. The HubSpot community has identity, diversity, engagement, action, and learning, resulting in an IDEAL community.
Are you part of the HubSpot community? What are you waiting for?