Salesforce or HubSpot: which is the better CRM?

Choosing the best CRM is a decision that directly affects the success of sales operations and the efficiency of a company's customer relationships. With the growing use of automation and the pressing need to better manage internal and customer data, choosing the right CRM ensures consistency and business visibility. 

According to Statista, global Customer Relationship Management (CRM) market revenue is projected to reach more than US$89 billion in 2024. Therefore, the expected Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) is 10.35% between 2024 and 2029, resulting in revenue of approximately US$146 billion. 

Investment growth in the sector is remarkable, showing that companies are increasingly concerned with customer and prospect data, processes, and streamlining day-to-day operations. In this context, choosing the right CRM for your company is essential to keep pace with market growth and ensure effective sales management.  

The world's best CRMs  

The CRM market is dominated by global tools such as Salesforce, HubSpot, Oracle, IBM, and even Microsoft. But it also offers options for different segments, niches, and company sizes, including RD Station, Zoho, Mailchimp, and ActiveCampaign.  

In any case, these systems are widely recognized for their robustness, scalability, and ability to meet the needs of different types of companies.  

For example, the market leader today is Salesforce, a tool widely used by large corporations, especially because it enables the development of large projects and automation across different departments, such as Sales, Marketing, Support, and Customer Success.  

How do I determine the best CRM for my company? 

Determining the best CRM for your company depends on several factors, including the size of the business, the type of product or service offered, and the specific needs of the sales team and related departments.  

In this section, we will examine the three fundamental steps to help you identify the ideal tool for your business.  

How large is your business? 

The first step in choosing the right CRM is to consider the size of your company. For small businesses, which may have less complex sales processes and lean teams, an easy-to-use CRM is more suitable, as it will offer straightforward implementation and a feature set that can be expanded—or replaced—as the company grows.  

On the other hand, for mid-sized to large companies, tools such as Salesforce may be a better choice due to their customization capabilities and ability to integrate multiple systems and data sources — essential for more complex operations.  

Sit down with the departments that most need a CRM and understand their pain points, needs, and the complexity of their internal processes. List priorities and determine whether your business is at an early stage, maturing, or robust enough for a more comprehensive CRM.  

How does the sales pipeline organization tool work?  

To choose a CRM that serves the company's objectives, sales pipeline organization is a capability that should be evaluated. In short, a quality tool should allow the sales team to fully view each lead's progress and the performance of sales, marketing, and service.  

Tools that enable pipeline customization have an edge because they allow companies to adapt process stages to their specific needs.  

If the interface for making these changes is more intuitive and easier to configure, that is even better for new teams or companies without an IT team to handle technical matters—unless they have support from a specialist consultancy.  

Building and nurturing the sales funnel  

Another consideration for the sales pipeline is how the tool works when a sales funnel needs to be maintained — another important aspect of choosing a CRM. A good CRM should offer tools that help capture, nurture, and convert leads throughout the sales funnel.  

If your sales process is simple and the sale itself is not complex, a CRM with a friendlier, easier-to-use interface is recommended. For example, Salesforce offers robust pipeline-management features, enabling detailed customisation, which is ideal for companies with complex processes.  

Data and tool integration  

The ability to integrate the CRM with other tools and external systems already used by the company is an important part of a functional operation.  

CRM software typically works with APIs or partnerships with other companies. For example, TOTVS acquired RD Station and integrated it with other products, or Salesforce with Slack.  

In any case, integrations make it easier to connect with various IT platforms, which is ideal for companies that need more than one tool to carry out routine activities — which is usually the case.  

For example, the sales team reports its data to the entire company, but it directly affects marketing, operations, and customer-service projects and tasks. A CRM focused on sales management that also integrates with systems from other departments is preferable.   

Between HubSpot and Salesforce, which should I choose? 

The HubSpot vs. Salesforce decision should be guided by your company's specific needs. HubSpot is ideal for companies seeking an easy-to-use solution, with strong marketing integration and features that support business growth. It can be a good fit for small and mid-sized companies that need an intuitive CRM.  

On the other hand, Salesforce is more suitable for companies that need a highly customizable platform capable of supporting complex sales processes and a wide range of integrations with other enterprise systems, such as Marketing Cloud, Data Cloud, and Service Cloud. 

Salesforce is the preferred choice for large organisations that need a solution tailored to their specific requirements. It also supports large volumes of data and sales operations, since Sales Cloud supports a great deal of information.  

There is also another factor in deciding between the two: investment value. Because Salesforce is an extremely complete and robust CRM, it is also more expensive.

If your business is just starting out, other software may be more suitable from a cost-benefit perspective. Once your processes mature, transitioning to Salesforce in the future will be more beneficial. 

What are the differences between Salesforce and HubSpot implementation? 

CRM implementation can vary significantly in complexity depending on the platform chosen, plan, systems purchased, and company needs.  

Salesforce, for example, generally requires specialist support or an in-house IT team for configuration and customisation. This process may include dashboard customisation, the creation of automated workflows, and integration with other business systems. We explain it in greater detail in another article, where we discuss using Salesforce. 

HubSpot allows companies to configure the system relatively easily, without major investment in technical support. The implementation process is streamlined, making it an attractive choice for companies. Even so, the platform does not offer as many features as Salesforce.

Another point is that, depending on the amount of data your company collects and processes, HubSpot implementation can also take time.  

Maximizing my Salesforce CRM 

Once Salesforce is implemented, there are several ways to maximize the platform's potential. Investing in customization and integration with other business tools can significantly improve operational efficiency.  

Salesforce offers several hubs and clouds that can be tailored to the team's needs. This enables more effective sales management and a better customer experience.  

In addition, Salesforce offers extensions and additional applications that are integrated to further expand core management operations.

Choosing the right CRM is not simple; you need to consider many factors, from requirements and how readily the team can adopt the tool to implementation time, price, and technical expertise.  

However, choosing Salesforce certainly brings a significant competitive advantage. To use it, count on WeeNow's help to drive your business growth.