Cashbook's 50 Day Migration from Salesforce to HubSpot

Cashbook originally adopted Salesforce through it’s promise of efficiency and customisation. Overtime, the team fell into the feature overload trap. New add-ons added complexity, and resulted in time wasted on data and reporting, delivering marketing campaigns, and added additional costs that hindered operations.

The added complexities of the tools reinforced the need for a user-friendly and cohesive solution that could be embraced by the entire team while maximising functionality.

Integrated with Salesforce, Pardot was intended to facilitate seamless email campaigns. However, overtime, the Cashbook team experience bottlenecks in their email campaigns and marketing-sales handover.

Prior to adopting HubSpot, Cashbook was experiencing:

• Incomplete data
• Lower quality leads
• Outdated lead nurturing templates
• Struggled to make data-driven decisions
• Poor handoff from Marketing to Sales
• Frequent context switching

The decision to migrate from Salesforce to HubSpot wasn't made lightly; it was driven by a strong desire to fully leverage features aligned with Cashbook's needs, avoid unnecessary complexity, and foster seamless integration between their sales and marketing teams.

One of the key goals we had for the migration was to complete it within a tight window of just 50 days. This timeframe was essential as Cashbook required the new system foundations in place before the impending decommissioning of Salesforce and Pardot. The focus was primarily on migrating the core functionality from Salesforce to HubSpot, utilising the HubSpot data sync for a seamless transition.

Property Mapping from Salesforce to HubSpot

We collaborated closely with the Cashbook team to identify specific Salesforce properties and map corresponding ones inside HubSpot. Operating under a stringent timeline, our focus remained on a straightforward 1:1 migration. This approach meant that every identified property in Salesforce had an equivalent property created and mapped in the HubSpot system, thereby maintaining the integrity of the data and facilitating a smooth transition.

Marketing Hub & Sales Hub Implementation

Following the data migration, we then worked with Cashbook to transfer various types of content, including emails, landing pages, forms, and blog posts, from Salesforce to HubSpot.

Simultaneously, our team orchestrated sample drip campaigns to demonstrate the power and efficiency of HubSpot's automated marketing functions. These campaigns served as a blueprint for Cashbook's marketing team, outlining how to effectively nurture leads and convert them into loyal customers using HubSpot.

Parallel to these marketing efforts, we implemented sales sequences in HubSpot to streamline the transition further. The implementation of these sales sequences was aimed at enhancing the productivity of the sales team by automating follow-up emails and tasks. This strategic move not only accelerated the transition but also enabled Cashbook to fully utilise HubSpot's enhanced features, propelling them towards their goal of operational efficiency and growth.

Implementation Approach: Parallel Running of Salesforce and HubSpot

To ensure a seamless transition and zero disruption in operations, we adopted an approach of parallel running of Salesforce and HubSpot. This dual-system operation allowed Cashbook to continue utilising Salesforce for ongoing requirements while simultaneously setting up and familiarising themselves with HubSpot's functionalities.

By mid-October, with Cashbook confident in their ability to navigate HubSpot's functionalities, Salesforce was officially discontinued, marking the successful completion of the migration process.

The transition to HubSpot has led to significant improvements across all areas of Cashbook's operations, from CRM and marketing to sales.

One of the immediate benefits was the refinement of Cashbook's mailing list.

Dave explained how his marketing team successfully shared an email campaign using the HubSpot Marketing Email tool. Interestingly, they noticed a significant increase in bounces when using Pardot, highlighting how Pardot was not mitigating bounce rates.

"We were emailing people in Pardot that essentially were just going into a black hole. But with HubSpot, we're getting those bounces back and marking them as such. This has significantly cleaned our list from the first few campaigns," explained Ewing.

He further highlighted how the migration to HubSpot facilitated additional in-depth cleaning of their list. "The first campaign we conducted through HubSpot, we performed an extra cleaning exercise. We inspected auto-responder emails, such as out-of-office replies, and manually updated our records for contacts no longer with their respective companies," he stated.

This thorough manual exercise resulted in a highly refined and active mailing list that Cashbook could reliably work with.

"Now that we have a clean and active mailing list, one of my next tasks is to set up drip campaigns for new contacts. We aim to provide them with more information about Cashbook, including case studies and white papers, as part of an email sequence."

Streamlining Content Creation and Enhancing Campaign Quality

The migration to HubSpot has not only resolved prior issues but also presented opportunities for further advancements. The recent campaigns curated using HubSpot exhibited superior aesthetics and significantly enhanced content quality compared to their previous Pardot facilitated initiatives. The user-friendly interface of HubSpot has streamlined the content creation process, particularly with the introduction of new team members who have quickly adapted to the system.

As the Cashbook team becomes more adept using HubSpot, there is a palpable sense of excitement around the exploration of more advanced features and the potential to earn HubSpot certifications. The team is looking forward to significant developments in Cashbook's social media operations.

Now, with HubSpot, Cashbook:

• Has migrated 12K contacts and set up dozens of workflows / email templates in 2 months.
• Is leveraging Six & Flow's training resources and HubSpot Academy
• It has had its most successful year to date in terms of marketing email performance.

HubSpot's clutter-free interface stood in stark contrast to the complexities introduced by Salesforce. HubSpot's modular approach was particularly attractive to Cashbook, allowing users to customise their experience and pay only for what they needed.

The challenges encountered with Salesforce's intricate system were shared among several team members, each facing their own set of difficulties. Navigating through Salesforce's complex design often led to frustration and hours spent trying to overcome obstacles.

"We transitioned from Salesforce to HubSpot to improve tool usage, avoid feature overload, and achieve seamless sales and marketing integration. Our decision was guided by familiarity, a commitment to embrace change and ensure our brand's identity was reflected in our go-to-market efforts."