Understanding HubSpot's Seat-Based Pricing Model

Having the right tools and access levels for your team is more crucial than ever in the modern business landscape. HubSpot's recent update to a seat-based pricing model across all Hubs and subscription tiers offers unprecedented flexibility and control over your CRM investment.

Let's explore HubSpot's seat-based model, empowering you to make informed decisions about the right seat types for your team members.

Understanding the Essence of HubSpot Seats

At its core, a "seat" in HubSpot represents the level and type of access a user has to the subscription services. Think of it as a virtual chair at the HubSpot table, determining which features and tools each team member can utilize. HubSpot now offers a range of seat types, each tailored to different roles and needs within your organization.

Here are the details of each seat type and how they can benefit your team.

Core Seats: The Foundation of Your HubSpot Experience

Core Seats form the backbone of HubSpot's new pricing model. They provide access to the features and tools in the subscription services you've purchased, including Marketing Hub, Content Hub, Operations Hub, Sales Hub, and Service Hub.

Core Seats are available in three tiers, each offering increasingly sophisticated functionality:

1. Core Seats (Starter): Ideal for small teams just getting started with HubSpot, these seats provide access to essential CRM features and basic marketing tools.
2. Core Seats (Professional): Perfect for growing businesses needing more advanced features, these seats offer enhanced automation capabilities and deeper analytics.
3. Core Seats (Enterprise): Designed for large organizations requiring enterprise-grade functionality, these seats provide the highest level of customization and advanced features.

Core Seats give edit access to purchased Hubs, grant access to HubSpot's cross-platform AI products and features, and connect teams to HubSpot's Smart CRM. They're best suited for marketers, administrators, developers, and operations professionals who need a comprehensive view of your organization's data and processes.

It's important to note that while Core Seats (Professional) and Core Seats (Enterprise) provide access to some of the functionality of Sales Hub and Service Hub, full access to all features and limits requires an additional paid seat on top of your Core Seat. This distinction is crucial when determining the correct seat type for each team member.

Paid Sales Seats: Turbocharging Your Sales Team

Paid Sales Seats are designed to empower your sales representatives, providing full access to Sales Hub and advanced features for Sales Hub Professional and Enterprise. Let's explore the key capabilities that Sales Seat holders can leverage:

• Prospecting Tools: Sales Seats unlock powerful prospecting features, including the prospecting workspace and automatic lead rotation (Enterprise). These tools allow your team to identify and engage potential customers more effectively.
• Sequences: Create and manage personalized, multi-touch outreach campaigns to more efficiently nurture leads and close deals. Enterprise seats access higher limits of sequencing.
• Forecasting Functionality: Available in Professional and Enterprise tiers, forecasting tools help your team predict future sales trends and make data-driven decisions.
• Playbooks: Access and manage sales enablement resources to ensure consistent and effective sales practices across your team. Enterprise seats get higher limits.
• Account Overview: Gain a comprehensive view of your accounts, helping you manage relationships more effectively.
• Advanced Booking Capabilities: Book meetings on behalf of others, streamlining the scheduling process.
• E-Signature: In the Enterprise tier, facilitate secure and efficient document signing processes.
• Conversation Intelligence: In the Enterprise tier, analyze sales calls and meetings to identify best practices and areas for improvement.
• Custom Goals: Enterprise users can set and track custom goals tailored to their specific sales strategies.
• Recurring Revenue Tracking: Enterprise seats can effectively monitor and manage recurring revenue streams.

Equipping your sales team with Sales Seats provides them with a powerful toolkit designed to accelerate revenue growth and improve overall sales effectiveness.

Paid Service Seats: Elevating Your Customer Support

Paid Service Seats are tailored to meet the unique needs of your customer service team, offering full access to Service Hub and advanced features for Professional and Enterprise editions. Here's a closer look at the capabilities Service Seat holders can utilize:

• Knowledge Base Management: Create and maintain a comprehensive knowledge base to empower customers with self-service options and reduce support ticket volume. Enterprise users can access Multiple Knowledge Bases.
• Customer Feedback Surveys: Gather valuable customer insights to improve products, services, and overall customer experience.
• Account Overview: Get a holistic view of customer accounts for more personalized service.
• Forecasting: Use data-driven insights to predict future service trends and resource needs.
• Sequences: Create and manage multi-step communication flows for efficient customer outreach. Enterprise seats access higher limits.
• Help Desk Automation: Streamline support processes with robust automation tools, ensuring timely and consistent customer service.
• Playbooks: Access and create service playbooks to standardize best practices. Enterprise seats get higher limits.
• Conversation Intelligence: In the Enterprise tier, analyze customer interactions to improve service quality and identify trends.
• Custom Goals: Enterprise users can set and track custom goals specific to their service objectives.
• Recurring Revenue Tracking: Enterprise seats can monitor and manage recurring revenue related to service contracts or subscriptions.

Investing in Service Seats equips your support team with the tools they need to deliver exceptional customer experiences and drive long-term retention.

View-Only Seats: Keeping Everyone Informed

View-Only Seats play a crucial role in maintaining transparency and alignment across your organization. These seats allow users to view the subscription services without making changes to the account. Here's why View-Only Seats are invaluable:

• Executive Oversight: Business leaders can monitor KPIs and track progress without the risk of inadvertently altering data or settings.
• Cross-Functional Visibility: Team members from various departments can access relevant reports and dashboards, fostering collaboration and informed decision-making.
• Stakeholder Engagement: External stakeholders or consultants can be granted limited access to specific data and insights without compromising security.

The best part? View-Only Seats are available to Starter, Professional, and Enterprise customers at no additional cost and are unlimited, allowing you to keep your entire organization informed without incurring extra expenses.

Scaling Your HubSpot Implementation

Wondering how much this costs now? HubSpot's pricing model is structured across different tiers and hubs, focusing on seat-based pricing. Let's break it down:

Note: HubSpot’s pricing model is subject to change. This is accurate as of this August 2024 publication date, but please visit HubSpot’s pricing page for any potential updates.

Free Tools:

• Yes, that's right! You don't have to pay for anything to access HubSpot's most basic functionality, like 1:1 email, landing pages, forms, contact management, email marketing, and more. HubSpot offers free tools like these with a limit of 5 free users.

Starter Tier:

• Each hub (Marketing, CMS, Operations, Sales, Service) is priced at $15 monthly and includes 1 Core Seat.
• Additional Starter Core Seats are $15 each.
• The Starter tier is effectively per-user with no base fees.

Professional & Enterprise Tiers:

• Marketing Hub: $890/month for Professional, $3,600/month for Enterprise
• CMS Hub: $400/month for Professional, $1,200/month for Enterprise
• Operations Hub: $800/month for Professional, $2,000/month for
• Enterprise
• Sales Hub and Service Hub: Priced per user, with no seat minimums

Core Seats:

• Additional Core Seats are $50/month for Professional tier
• Additional Core Seats are $75/month for Enterprise tier

Sales and Service Seats (Professional & Enterprise):

• Sales Seats: $100/month for Professional, $150/month for Enterprise
• Service Seats: $100/month for Professional, $150/month for Enterprise
• Both include Core Seat access and additional persona-specific features

CRM Suite (Professional & Enterprise):

• $4,000/month base fee, which includes:
• 5 Core Seats
• 1 Sales Seat
• 1 Service Seat

This pricing structure allows for flexibility, enabling businesses to choose the specific hubs and seat types they need while scaling their HubSpot implementation.

Choosing the Right Seats

Selecting the appropriate seat types for your team members is a critical decision that can significantly impact your HubSpot ROI. Consider these factors when making your selection:

1. Role-Specific Requirements: Analyze each team member's day-to-day responsibilities and the tools they need to perform effectively.
2. Feature Utilization: Assess which HubSpot features are essential for each role and match them to the appropriate seat type.
3. Growth Potential: Consider future needs and potential role expansions when allocating seats.
4. Budget Considerations: Balance the need for advanced features with your available budget to maximize value.

To illustrate this process, let's examine some common scenarios:

• A content marketer who primarily focuses on creating and managing marketing campaigns would be well-served by a Core Seat, which provides access to essential marketing tools and analytics.
• A sales representative who needs to manage deals, use sequences, and access advanced prospecting tools would require a paid Sales Seat to leverage the full power of Sales Hub.
• A customer support manager who oversees ticket resolution manages the knowledge base and analyzes support metrics would benefit from a paid Service Seat, unlocking the advanced features of Service Hub.
• A finance team member who needs to review sales forecasts and customer retention metrics could use a View-Only Seat, gaining access to crucial data without the ability to make changes.

Again, we want to point out, while Core Seats provide access to some Sales and Service Hub functionality, full access to advanced features requires paid Sales or Service Seats.

Implementing Your HubSpot Seat Strategy

Once you've decided on your seat allocation, it's crucial to implement your strategy effectively. Consider these best practices to ensure you're maximizing the value of your HubSpot investment:

1. Conduct Regular Needs Assessments: Review each team member's HubSpot usage and adjust seat types as needed. This ongoing evaluation ensures that your seat allocation aligns with your team's evolving needs.
2. Provide Comprehensive Training: Ensure all users understand the features and how to use them effectively. Invest in role-specific training sessions to maximize feature adoption and productivity.
3. Monitor Usage Patterns: Keep track of feature utilization to ensure you get the most out of your paid seats. Use HubSpot's built-in analytics to identify underutilized features and opportunities for optimization.
4. Maintain Flexibility: Remember that your seat allocation isn't set in stone. Be prepared to adjust your strategy as your business grows and your team's needs change. HubSpot's flexible model allows you to add or modify seats as required.
5. Leverage HubSpot Resources: Take advantage of HubSpot's extensive knowledge base, community forums, and support resources to stay informed about best practices and new features that can enhance your seat strategy.

Following these implementation best practices will create a dynamic and effective HubSpot ecosystem that adapts to your organization's needs and drives long-term success.

Empower Your Team for Success

HubSpot's new seat-based pricing model offers unprecedented flexibility and control over your CRM investment. By carefully considering each team member's role, responsibilities, and growth potential, you can provide them with the right level of access to maximize their productivity and effectiveness. With the right approach, you'll create a HubSpot ecosystem that meets your current needs and scales seamlessly with your organization's growth.

Have questions about optimizing your HubSpot seat strategy? Don't hesitate to reach out to us at Lynton. Our team of HubSpot experts is ready to help you navigate the complexities of seat allocation, ensuring you maximize the value of your HubSpot.

For more information and resources on HubSpot’s seat-based pricing, visit the HubSpot academy.