The 5 Biggest Mistakes Businesses Make When Implementing HubSpot (and How to Fix Them)

Many businesses invest in HubSpot with the expectation that it will transform their marketing, sales, and customer operations. However, between 50-70% of CRM implementations fail due to poor adoption. The root cause? The Adoption Gap—the disconnect between HubSpot’s potential and how it is used within the organisation.

Through our research and experience, we've identified five major mistakes businesses make when implementing HubSpot, leading to this gap. More importantly, we’ve developed a Management-Led Adoption approach to fix them.

1. Delegating Implementation Instead of Leading It

(Lack of Management Ownership)

The Mistake:

Many businesses treat HubSpot as a departmental tool rather than a core business system. This leads to delegation—HubSpot adoption is handed off to Marketing, Sales Ops, or IT instead of being driven by senior leadership.

Why It’s a Problem:

• HubSpot fails to align with strategic business goals.
• Teams see it as a functional tool rather than a company-wide system.
• Without leadership buy-in, adoption becomes inconsistent and fragmented.

The Fix:

Adopt a Management-Led Adoption approach where senior leaders:

• Define how HubSpot will drive business strategy.
• Set clear expectations for usage and accountability.
• Ensure cross-functional adoption beyond just sales or marketing.

2. Building the System Without a Clear Strategy

(Poor Initial Setup)

The Mistake:

Businesses rush into HubSpot without a structured plan, resulting in:

• Overcomplicated setups with redundant properties and disconnected pipelines.
• Poorly designed automation that doesn’t support real processes.
• Inconsistent data structures, making reporting unreliable.

Why It’s a Problem:

• Teams struggle with usability, leading to low adoption.
• Data becomes messy, making decision-making difficult.
• HubSpot doesn’t align with actual business workflows.

The Fix:

Start with a structured "Where to Start" strategy phase, which includes:

• Defining business objectives before system setup.
• Mapping key processes to HubSpot functionality.
• Building a scalable CRM framework that supports long-term growth.

3. Treating HubSpot as Just a Marketing or Sales Tool

(Failure to Integrate Across Departments)

The Mistake:

Many companies limit HubSpot to only marketing or sales rather than integrating it across customer service, operations, and leadership.

Why It’s a Problem:

• Data silos form, making collaboration between teams difficult.
• Customer experience becomes inconsistent.
• HubSpot is underutilised, reducing ROI.

The Fix:

Create a CRM Management Control System (MCS) that:

• Integrates HubSpot across all customer-facing teams.
• Establishes clear workflows between departments.
• Ensures leadership has access to unified reporting for data-driven decisions.

4. Expecting Teams to Adopt HubSpot Without a Change Management Plan

The Mistake:

Many businesses assume teams will naturally adopt HubSpot without structured onboarding, training, or support.

Why It’s a Problem:

• Employees resist change and revert to old systems (e.g., spreadsheets, legacy CRMs).
• Teams don’t understand how to use HubSpot effectively.
• Adoption rates drop, leading to wasted investment.

The Fix:

Implement a structured Change Management Plan that includes:

• Tailored training for different user roles.
• Coaching and reinforcement programs to drive habit formation.
• Internal HubSpot champions who ensure adoption within teams.

5. Measuring Success by System Implementation Instead of Business Outcomes

The Mistake:

Companies consider HubSpot ‘live’ once the setup is complete, rather than continuously tracking adoption, usage, and business impact.

Why It’s a Problem:

• Businesses don’t realise when usage drops off.
• Poor adoption leads to missed opportunities and inefficiencies.
• HubSpot doesn’t contribute to revenue growth as expected.

The Fix:

Shift the focus from system setup to business outcomes by:

• Benchmarking tools like Sidekick are used to track adoption metrics.
• Set up regular HubSpot audits to monitor usage.
• Defining clear success metrics tied to revenue, efficiency, and customer satisfaction.

By addressing these mistakes, businesses can close the Adoption Gap and transform HubSpot from a tool into a true growth engine. The key is implementing HubSpot and ensuring it becomes a fully integrated, management-led system that drives strategic business outcomes.

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