WEBVTT NOTE This file was generated by Descript 00:00:01.290 --> 00:00:04.380 James: Hello, and welcome to another episode of behind the madness. 00:00:04.770 --> 00:00:07.710 We've reached number 10 double figures. 00:00:08.070 --> 00:00:11.970 I never thought when we started out that we'd even get two or three in 00:00:11.970 --> 00:00:16.271 the bag, but here we are almost a year later, I think With number 10. 00:00:22.795 --> 00:00:26.855 I'm your host, James Roberts owner, and founder of method. 00:00:26.895 --> 00:00:33.255 We are a growth agency whose mission is to unlock company's potential. 00:00:34.975 --> 00:00:37.795 Before we jump into this episode, I wanted to take a minute 00:00:37.795 --> 00:00:39.461 to talk about the podcast. 00:00:39.461 --> 00:00:42.119 We've obviously hit number 10, which is brilliant for us. 00:00:42.121 --> 00:00:43.741 It's taken a while to get here. 00:00:43.888 --> 00:00:48.328 It's tough being a small organization and having to do a number of 00:00:48.328 --> 00:00:52.198 different things, which is a big reason about this podcast as well. 00:00:52.618 --> 00:00:55.768 You know, being a small organization, we have to think about the tools and 00:00:55.918 --> 00:01:00.333 the implications that, that putting those tools into into motion is 00:01:00.333 --> 00:01:01.803 going to have on the, on our company. 00:01:02.643 --> 00:01:03.603 That said we are small. 00:01:03.603 --> 00:01:06.273 So we are able to pivot very, very quickly. 00:01:06.273 --> 00:01:09.213 We don't need multiple meetings to be able to do it. 00:01:09.213 --> 00:01:12.393 We can almost do it and decide on a very quick team meeting. 00:01:14.373 --> 00:01:15.483 But running a podcast. 00:01:15.993 --> 00:01:16.563 It's tough. 00:01:16.566 --> 00:01:17.635 We have to come up with the content. 00:01:18.205 --> 00:01:21.925 Which is interesting today, you may gather I'm doing this all off the cuff. 00:01:21.982 --> 00:01:23.422 We needed to get another one out. 00:01:23.932 --> 00:01:25.492 I had a really good subject in mind. 00:01:25.732 --> 00:01:28.762 And I thought I'd just talked to a mic for about 30 minutes. 00:01:28.982 --> 00:01:31.172 We're getting some great feedback from clients. 00:01:31.172 --> 00:01:35.492 We're getting great feedback from new leads and people who are coming to us. 00:01:35.498 --> 00:01:38.438 Who were in the same field, even, saying how much they're enjoying 00:01:38.438 --> 00:01:39.668 the content that we are putting out. 00:01:40.028 --> 00:01:42.518 So we're doing the right things, but we need to get bigger. 00:01:42.518 --> 00:01:44.108 We need to help more people. 00:01:44.618 --> 00:01:50.288 As I said, our mission is to help unlock companies potentials 00:01:50.288 --> 00:01:52.748 and to be able to do that. 00:01:53.228 --> 00:01:55.478 We need to get this podcast out to more people. 00:01:55.838 --> 00:02:00.918 This is my plea before we get into today's subject, in kind of a Peter 00:02:00.918 --> 00:02:05.268 Crouch podcast style, we're inviting you guys to, to pass the pod. 00:02:05.538 --> 00:02:08.928 To share this podcast to at least one person. 00:02:09.768 --> 00:02:15.018 Hopefully 10, hopefully 50 people that you think might be interested in it. 00:02:15.104 --> 00:02:18.194 But also let us know, let us know what you are enjoying about it. 00:02:19.214 --> 00:02:22.454 Talk to us, we're here to be talked to and we're nice people. 00:02:22.724 --> 00:02:26.954 So let us know what you want to hear and that's how we can change the pod 00:02:27.014 --> 00:02:29.853 into something that is useful for you. 00:02:30.453 --> 00:02:32.583 That's probably enough begging, for one pod. 00:02:32.943 --> 00:02:35.283 Let's move on with today's subject. 00:02:43.795 --> 00:02:46.705 In this episode, we're going to look at HubSpot and why we 00:02:46.705 --> 00:02:48.415 chose it as a small agency. 00:02:49.195 --> 00:02:51.835 Obviously HubSpot comes with a price tag. 00:02:52.075 --> 00:02:54.505 It's a tool that is doing a lot of things. 00:02:54.505 --> 00:02:58.285 So we had to really think about why we were going to 00:02:58.285 --> 00:03:00.745 implement it as a, as a company. 00:03:01.915 --> 00:03:06.445 We're obviously HubSpot partners, but we still have to pay for HubSpot as well. 00:03:06.445 --> 00:03:08.785 In fact, sometimes we get even better discounts for our 00:03:08.785 --> 00:03:10.225 clients than we do ourselves. 00:03:10.825 --> 00:03:16.285 So we had to really look at why we were going to use HubSpot and now five years 00:03:16.285 --> 00:03:21.865 on, we can, we can look back and see how much it has changed our organization. 00:03:22.415 --> 00:03:24.935 The early days, why did we pick HubSpot? 00:03:25.025 --> 00:03:26.945 Well, we're a small agency. 00:03:27.095 --> 00:03:30.185 There's a handful of us here who do a number of different jobs. 00:03:30.185 --> 00:03:35.858 We all wear different hats and we have to kind of be very very quick to change. 00:03:36.308 --> 00:03:40.178 We have to understand what's going on and quickly fix those problems. 00:03:40.178 --> 00:03:44.528 We might have a client phone up one morning and need us to get something into 00:03:44.528 --> 00:03:49.238 a magazine for them that afternoon, we could be halfway through our day and our 00:03:49.238 --> 00:03:53.018 website has some issues that we need to jump on, or a client wants to make changes 00:03:53.018 --> 00:03:56.738 urgently on a website because they've spotted that there pricing is wrong. 00:03:57.458 --> 00:04:00.548 So we're constantly being pulled into different directions. 00:04:00.638 --> 00:04:04.928 And yet, because we're small, we still need to think about our marketing. 00:04:05.298 --> 00:04:08.168 our social media, our sales pipeline. 00:04:08.748 --> 00:04:14.348 and keep that ticking over as well, because, to be able to grow, to be able 00:04:14.348 --> 00:04:19.778 to take a business to the next level you have to get those foundations right. 00:04:21.948 --> 00:04:25.008 For us to be able to do that, we needed tools. 00:04:25.488 --> 00:04:28.128 We couldn't keep it all locked up in our head. 00:04:28.848 --> 00:04:31.488 I have to do the majority of everything and that's the way 00:04:31.488 --> 00:04:32.958 the business has been set up. 00:04:33.348 --> 00:04:37.788 I can do a number of roles, but the guys we have working for us can 00:04:37.788 --> 00:04:39.588 do those roles better than I can. 00:04:39.618 --> 00:04:41.079 That's why we employ them. 00:04:41.799 --> 00:04:47.169 That said, the marketing, the sales, the client's communication 00:04:47.169 --> 00:04:49.149 comes down to me as the owner. 00:04:49.179 --> 00:04:53.379 I have to make sure clients are happy, but I also have to make 00:04:53.379 --> 00:04:55.059 sure there's new clients coming in. 00:04:56.139 --> 00:04:59.079 If I'm being pulled in that many different directions. 00:04:59.499 --> 00:05:04.139 How can I keep an eye on, on marketing. 00:05:04.139 --> 00:05:05.999 How can I keep an eye on sales? 00:05:06.659 --> 00:05:11.489 Well, that's where HubSpot needed to come in and solve those problems. 00:05:11.539 --> 00:05:13.369 Now let's put price to one side. 00:05:13.819 --> 00:05:18.559 It usually puts off the majority of small to medium businesses. 00:05:19.609 --> 00:05:22.699 It's an expensive outlay. 00:05:24.139 --> 00:05:27.739 But let's ignore cost and think about what it's actually doing for us. 00:05:29.539 --> 00:05:33.019 I need to be able to be told when to do things. 00:05:33.529 --> 00:05:38.719 Because my day, as I said, is being pulled apart and I am being pulled 00:05:38.719 --> 00:05:40.749 into multiple different directions. 00:05:41.349 --> 00:05:45.369 And I have to go to those they're they're emergencies they're 00:05:45.369 --> 00:05:46.989 fires that need to be put out. 00:05:48.459 --> 00:05:52.039 I can't put aside time generally for, sales all the time. 00:05:53.509 --> 00:05:55.819 So if I've sent an email or a quote to somebody. 00:05:56.599 --> 00:06:00.769 The chances are, and this is the same with the majority of small 00:06:00.769 --> 00:06:03.199 businesses is it's off their desk. 00:06:03.199 --> 00:06:03.979 I forgotten about it. 00:06:04.219 --> 00:06:04.969 I've sent my quote. 00:06:05.119 --> 00:06:05.479 Great. 00:06:05.629 --> 00:06:06.679 I've got it back to the client. 00:06:06.829 --> 00:06:07.129 Great. 00:06:07.399 --> 00:06:08.959 Let's hope they come back to me. 00:06:09.949 --> 00:06:10.369 Now. 00:06:10.789 --> 00:06:11.959 A lot of the time they don't. 00:06:12.799 --> 00:06:16.639 So without a tool or a system in place to remind me to go and follow up. 00:06:17.539 --> 00:06:19.189 I just wouldn't do it. 00:06:20.089 --> 00:06:22.894 And that is one of the first things we look at. 00:06:22.934 --> 00:06:26.114 To unlock company's potentials by looking at what they're wasting. 00:06:27.284 --> 00:06:28.574 Now it could be time. 00:06:28.964 --> 00:06:31.334 Or it could be, as I said, those quotes that you're sending 00:06:31.334 --> 00:06:32.564 up and not following up on. 00:06:34.544 --> 00:06:37.244 Or the leads that are coming in that you're not following up on. 00:06:37.904 --> 00:06:40.394 So for us automation. 00:06:40.994 --> 00:06:43.394 Has to be a big part of what we do. 00:06:44.684 --> 00:06:46.574 We could employ somebody else. 00:06:47.054 --> 00:06:50.024 But again, being a small company, we have to then find the time 00:06:50.024 --> 00:06:51.194 to train those people up. 00:06:51.704 --> 00:06:57.785 Or to get them oh, Fe with the systems or spend time teaching them the processes. 00:06:58.745 --> 00:07:02.075 And they're not going to work 24 hours a day. 00:07:03.455 --> 00:07:07.685 A tool that you can get into place which gives you those foundations. 00:07:08.255 --> 00:07:09.935 Is going to work 24 hours a day. 00:07:11.135 --> 00:07:12.935 Is going to remind you like. 00:07:12.965 --> 00:07:16.368 Brilliant PA would have when things need to be done. 00:07:17.368 --> 00:07:20.398 It's also not going to need holiday time, and it's also not going to 00:07:20.398 --> 00:07:21.778 be, need to be paid a pension. 00:07:21.778 --> 00:07:24.718 So for us as a small agency, this was brilliant. 00:07:25.168 --> 00:07:29.458 This is going to solve a lot of problems and help optimize 00:07:29.788 --> 00:07:32.038 our really precious time. 00:07:34.898 --> 00:07:37.818 That was really why we needed at tool. 00:07:38.408 --> 00:07:41.468 Was to make us better to make us. 00:07:41.858 --> 00:07:43.338 More optimised. 00:07:44.358 --> 00:07:45.897 Five years on how's it fared? 00:07:45.947 --> 00:07:48.137 Has it met our expectations. 00:07:48.197 --> 00:07:53.567 Has it been this PA that I needed and the rest of the team needed to be able to 00:07:53.597 --> 00:07:58.277 prompt us to do the jobs when we needed to do them in terms of sales and marketing. 00:07:59.207 --> 00:08:03.257 Has it improved our, our blogging. 00:08:03.587 --> 00:08:05.027 Has it improved our marketing. 00:08:05.267 --> 00:08:06.617 Can we research on that? 00:08:06.617 --> 00:08:09.677 Can we actually find out the data of how it may have improved? 00:08:10.487 --> 00:08:12.947 Well, I've got good news. 00:08:13.817 --> 00:08:15.767 It has improved how we work. 00:08:16.187 --> 00:08:20.957 To the degree where if somebody tomorrow was to tell us we couldn't 00:08:20.957 --> 00:08:23.576 use HubSpot I might, I might quit. 00:08:24.446 --> 00:08:25.136 We. 00:08:25.826 --> 00:08:27.326 Rely on it heavily. 00:08:27.326 --> 00:08:30.956 Now it is reminding us of overdue deals. 00:08:30.956 --> 00:08:34.466 It's reminding us of quotes that we've sent out, that we forgotten about. 00:08:34.976 --> 00:08:35.456 It's. 00:08:36.026 --> 00:08:39.446 Helping us follow up with sales calls that we may have hit 00:08:39.550 --> 00:08:44.230 answer phones, or we may have hit secretaries or just not got through. 00:08:44.740 --> 00:08:48.730 It's reminding us to follow up on just emails that we're sending out that 00:08:48.820 --> 00:08:50.890 might've otherwise been forgotten. 00:08:51.760 --> 00:08:53.500 But it's doing a lot more than that. 00:08:53.500 --> 00:08:57.580 It's also helping us understand what is working and what's not working. 00:08:58.030 --> 00:09:02.110 What blog posts are coming through and where they're coming through 00:09:02.110 --> 00:09:04.000 from where people are finding them. 00:09:04.660 --> 00:09:08.080 How many people are clicking some of our call to actions, how well 00:09:08.140 --> 00:09:10.150 our email campaigns are doing. 00:09:10.900 --> 00:09:11.860 It's giving us. 00:09:12.250 --> 00:09:17.110 All of these stats around our digital presence. 00:09:17.770 --> 00:09:23.200 But in one place we were disjointed before we used a number of different tools. 00:09:23.560 --> 00:09:28.930 HubSpot, I've got a very good post around Franken spot, which is using a 00:09:28.960 --> 00:09:34.930 number of different tools to accomplish what really one should be doing now, 00:09:35.620 --> 00:09:39.430 it probably isn't cheaper either. 00:09:40.210 --> 00:09:46.120 But in our heads, we feel that it is, but the data's disjointed and 00:09:46.150 --> 00:09:50.260 we can't pull all of that into one place and truly understand what. 00:09:50.830 --> 00:09:56.230 Our leads or our prospects are going through and where they're contacting us. 00:09:56.680 --> 00:10:01.600 We will know that they've looked at an email over on a MailChimp. 00:10:01.930 --> 00:10:06.190 We will know that they've maybe engaged with us on social media, through some of 00:10:06.190 --> 00:10:08.050 the platform like buffer or Hootsuite. 00:10:09.430 --> 00:10:12.790 We might even know that they're on our website through some Google analytics, 00:10:12.820 --> 00:10:14.950 but it's not all in the one place. 00:10:14.950 --> 00:10:19.510 We don't know that that John has done this, that, and this. 00:10:20.320 --> 00:10:25.300 And if it's all in one place we can start to, we can start to weight our leads. 00:10:25.360 --> 00:10:28.960 We can start to add points if we wanted to against them. 00:10:29.200 --> 00:10:32.200 So we know who we should be contacting and when. 00:10:32.800 --> 00:10:37.360 We can even be alerted when certain prospects at a certain lifecycle stage 00:10:37.690 --> 00:10:39.340 are coming back on to our website. 00:10:39.850 --> 00:10:42.840 So we know that coming back, which probably means we should reach 00:10:42.840 --> 00:10:44.070 out and give them a phone call. 00:10:46.210 --> 00:10:48.880 As you can see the benefits are huge. 00:10:49.300 --> 00:10:51.590 It is optimising how we work. 00:10:51.590 --> 00:10:52.353 But also. 00:10:53.223 --> 00:10:56.433 Letting us know when we should be doing stuff. 00:10:56.463 --> 00:10:58.713 We don't have to constantly have that. 00:10:59.503 --> 00:11:02.173 I forgot to do the newsletter or anything along those lines. 00:11:02.173 --> 00:11:05.893 We've either got our newsletters going out automatically when we publish our blogs. 00:11:06.283 --> 00:11:10.153 Or we're being reminded when we should do other things in terms of 00:11:10.153 --> 00:11:12.103 sales, in terms of chasing leads. 00:11:13.543 --> 00:11:15.433 So that brings us round to costs. 00:11:15.463 --> 00:11:19.663 This is probably the biggest sticking point with a lot of SMEs. 00:11:20.263 --> 00:11:21.463 It's a. 00:11:22.333 --> 00:11:25.633 It's a big charge each month. 00:11:27.193 --> 00:11:32.473 But if you were going to hire somebody to help you optimise how you work. 00:11:33.343 --> 00:11:38.923 You would be paying a big chunk of money for that staff member and you 00:11:38.923 --> 00:11:40.693 would have to go through training. 00:11:40.731 --> 00:11:41.646 Et cetera, et cetera. 00:11:43.446 --> 00:11:49.546 So having a system that is doing that for you, as I mentioned before, isn't. 00:11:50.236 --> 00:11:51.226 It's an off sick. 00:11:51.736 --> 00:11:53.836 Isn't taking holidays. 00:11:54.136 --> 00:11:56.776 And as long as you've got it set up correctly, in terms of 00:11:56.776 --> 00:11:58.596 automation, doesn't forget. 00:12:00.246 --> 00:12:00.906 So. 00:12:01.956 --> 00:12:09.816 We now take it as the charge that we pay for HubSpot is a better 00:12:10.386 --> 00:12:16.776 price than a member of staff and doing a lot more than just one 00:12:16.986 --> 00:12:18.606 additional member of staff could do. 00:12:19.356 --> 00:12:23.406 And as soon as you look at it, in those terms, It's really a bargain. 00:12:23.976 --> 00:12:25.776 It's optimising how we work. 00:12:25.776 --> 00:12:28.746 So it's saving me precious time. 00:12:29.196 --> 00:12:32.076 Which as we all know, time is money. 00:12:32.076 --> 00:12:34.806 If I can work better, if I can work smarter. 00:12:35.556 --> 00:12:38.826 I can do more, which in turn. 00:12:39.516 --> 00:12:42.016 Increases the capacity that we can do here. 00:12:42.826 --> 00:12:49.096 And the more capacity we have, the more we can do, the more we can turn over 00:12:49.096 --> 00:12:51.136 the more podcasts I've got time to do. 00:12:53.776 --> 00:12:54.796 So in summary. 00:12:55.456 --> 00:13:03.046 HubSpot's over the last four to five years has really transformed 00:13:03.166 --> 00:13:05.686 how we work for the better. 00:13:06.526 --> 00:13:11.256 It's learning curve to get it adopted because we are such a 00:13:11.256 --> 00:13:12.936 small company and fairly agile. 00:13:13.236 --> 00:13:14.346 Wasn't difficult. 00:13:15.006 --> 00:13:19.536 The price was a hurdle to start off with, but now we can appreciate 00:13:19.776 --> 00:13:22.896 that cost is money well spent. 00:13:25.516 --> 00:13:28.336 And bear in mind with HubSpot, you can scale it up. 00:13:28.726 --> 00:13:31.336 So you can start with just the CRM, which is free. 00:13:32.506 --> 00:13:37.606 And then slowly add in those tools, the automation, the kind of the sales. 00:13:38.026 --> 00:13:42.676 Ad-ons if you like the sales hubs, the marketing hubs, as you need them. 00:13:43.616 --> 00:13:44.846 So that wraps it up for today. 00:13:45.326 --> 00:13:47.816 If you have any questions on HubSpot. 00:13:48.181 --> 00:13:49.190 Maybe you want to demo. 00:13:49.239 --> 00:13:50.799 We offer a demo on our website. 00:13:50.859 --> 00:13:55.839 So go through to our growth tools on hello method.co.uk. 00:13:56.529 --> 00:13:59.839 Or drop me an email James@hellomethod.co.uk. 00:14:00.279 --> 00:14:01.839 And I will get back to you with any questions. 00:14:01.839 --> 00:14:06.999 You've got any kind of thoughts you might have as well about the podcast, drop them 00:14:06.999 --> 00:14:08.619 on there, drop them into the comments. 00:14:08.721 --> 00:14:09.891 How about things you want to hear again? 00:14:09.951 --> 00:14:10.671 Let's go back to that. 00:14:10.721 --> 00:14:13.796 If you've got any ideas or subjects that you want me to cover. 00:14:14.426 --> 00:14:15.446 Or any of the guys here? 00:14:15.716 --> 00:14:18.696 Let's get them behind the mic as well then, let me know. 00:14:19.458 --> 00:14:21.468 We're also on most social platforms. 00:14:21.468 --> 00:14:23.748 Like we should be as a growth agency. 00:14:24.108 --> 00:14:27.358 So go and give us a follow, we'd really appreciate it. 00:14:27.668 --> 00:14:30.768 I hope today was useful, until next time, take care.