RESEARCH APPROACH + IMPACT

Our primary research objective was to identify the key customer pain points and high-impact opportunities within the HubSpot Starter experience for very small businesses (vSBs).

This understanding is essential for crafting a prioritized strategy and resource plan to enhance engagement and value. More specifically, we sought to:

• Understand the primary goals and objectives of vSB users and how they attempt to translate high-level business goals into actionable targets within a CRM.

• Uncover the specific barriers that prevent vSBs from effectively using HubSpot,

• Explore existing habits and tools vSBs use for goal tracking and identify pain points in their current goal management processes.

• Define the "Business Builder" profile, focusing on both the business type (digital-first, growth-oriented B2B) and the individual persona within it (digitizing manual processes, creating new ones).

• Understanding Customer Expectations: To determine customer expectations regarding ease of use and speed of setup during onboarding.

• Evaluating Current Onboarding Strategies: To assess the effectiveness of existing onboarding frameworks and identify what works and what is missing in achieving quicker setup.

• Identifying Tier-Specific Needs: To understand the differences and similarities in onboarding needs across Free, Starter, and Professional customer segments.

• Determining Drivers of effective setup: To pinpoint the factors that contribute to faster time to achieving primary use cases within the platform.

• Optimizing Guidance: To understand when and how users need guidance during onboarding and identify the most effective formats and delivery methods.

• Developing an Onboarding Framework: To create a comprehensive onboarding framework that addresses the identified needs and accelerates setup.

• Improving Key Metrics: To identify opportunities within the onboarding experience to increase activation rates and encourage long-term retention.

This research employed a mixed-methods approach, combining both quantitative and qualitative data collection to gain a comprehensive understanding of vSB behavior and challenges.

Approach

We conducted a deep dive into the Business Type and End-User persona within the vSB segment (1-5 employees, soon to be 1-10). Our research aimed to support HubSpot's strategic shift towards a BiModal approach, focusing on distinct customer segments.

Data Collection

• Quantitative Survey: A survey was distributed to 50 Starter customers (though with a low response rate) to understand goal setting, tool usage, and pain points. Separately, the "Driving Sustained Starter Engagement Research" analyzed data from 458 vSB respondents out of 577 total.

• Qualitative Interviews:

  • Goal-Setting Research: 10 Starter customers were interviewed, including 5 founders from 2-member teams (startups) and 5 from businesses with 5+ employees. Screen concepts were used as prompts to explore ideas around goal setting, global home, and email tracking.

  • Driving Sustained Starter Engagement Research: 24 vSB customers participated in interviews, specifically segmented by their sentiment (high/low) and engagement (high/low) with the tool. Their responses were analyzed against their actual product behavior.

Procedure

The research involved defining key terms, establishing success metrics, assessing the current state of vSB engagement, identifying barriers, and ultimately developing recommendations. The typical vSB customer journey for setup—which often involves learning independently, attempting HubSpot implementation, seeking external tools, and creating internal SOPs—was also thoroughly analyzed to understand where friction occurs.

This research has provided actionable insights with significant implications for HubSpot's strategy and product development, directly impacting the vSB segment:

• Clarified the "Business Builder" Profile: We now have a clear understanding of the vSBs most likely to succeed with HubSpot—digital-first, B2B, growth-oriented businesses where individuals are actively digitizing processes.

• Identified Critical Engagement Blockers: Time and Expertise were confirmed as primary constraints, preventing vSBs from fully utilizing front-office tools and consuming in-depth learning materials. The "Franken-system" (multiple disconnected point solutions) was also identified as a major source of frustration and a barrier to adopting all-in-one solutions due to perceived risk and high switching costs.

• Highlighted Goal-Setting Difficulties: For vSBs, goal setting is a major challenge due to aspirational targets, lack of resources, and issues with tracking, automation, and unclear metrics.

• Provided Specific Design and Strategic Recommendations:

  • Focus on Foundational Use Cases: HubSpot should prioritize helping vSBs successfully implement their primary use case, as this directly correlates with perceived value and ROI.

  • Address Time and Expertise Constraints: This means offering reduced/focused setup tasks, providing quick and digestible learning experiences beyond traditional tutorials, and developing features that "do more with less."

  • Guide Goal Setting: HubSpot needs to provide recommendations and guidance for goal setting, rather than just customizable options, and integrate more robust goal-setting and task management features.

  • Emphasize ROI and Support: Show ROI quicker, provide support for process digitization, and recognize the importance of business buy-in and a HubSpot "champion" within the vSB.

  • Redefine Engagement Metrics: Move towards metrics like Time To Value (TTV) for the primary use case and breadth of adoption, rather than just raw usage.

By understanding these nuances, HubSpot can strategically adapt its offerings and support mechanisms to better serve vSBs, transforming an "unhealthy" install base into a thriving community of engaged and successful customers.