HubSpot Setup Guide for Irish SMEs

Step 1: Initial Account Setup (30 minutes)

Actions:

1. Sign up at hubspot.com (choose "CRM Suite" → Free tier)
2. Set company details:
   • Company name
   • Currency: EUR (€)
   • Country: Ireland
   • Time zone: Europe/Dublin (GMT/IST)
3. Invite team members (Settings → Users & Teams)
4. Set your company logo (Settings → Account Defaults → Branding)

Irish-specific: Make sure currency is set to EUR. This affects quotes, deals, and reporting. Cannot be changed later without losing data.

Step 2: Email & Calendar Integration (20 minutes)

Actions:

1. Connect email: Settings → Integrations → Email (supports Gmail, Outlook, any IMAP)
2. Enable email tracking (see when prospects open emails and click links)
3. Connect calendar: Settings → Integrations → Calendar (Google Calendar or Outlook)
4. Install HubSpot browser extension (Chrome/Edge) for Gmail/Outlook sidebar

What this does:

• All emails with contacts auto-log in HubSpot
• You can send tracked emails directly from Gmail/Outlook
• Meeting links (like Calendly) auto-add to calendar and HubSpot timeline

Step 3: Contact & Company Import (1-2 hours)

Actions:

1. Export contacts from current system (Excel, old CRM, email contacts, etc.)
2. Clean data:
   • Remove duplicates
   • Standardize phone numbers (+353 format)
   • Fix email addresses
3. Import to HubSpot: Contacts → Import → Upload CSV
4. Map fields (First Name, Last Name, Email, Phone, Company, etc.)
5. Review and confirm import

Pro Tip: HubSpot auto-enriches company data (industry, size, revenue) for Irish and international companies. Wait 24 hours after import and check—it saves manual research.

Common Irish Import Issues:

• Phone numbers: Use +353 followed by number (no leading zero). Example: +353871234567
• Duplicates: HubSpot matches on email. If importing from multiple sources, dedupe first.
• Company matching: HubSpot uses company domain to match. Ensure websites are included.

Step 4: Deal Pipeline Configuration (1 hour)

Actions:

1. Go to Settings → Objects → Deals → Pipelines
2. Create your sales pipeline stages. Example for Irish consultancy:
   • Lead In (unqualified)
   • Discovery Call Booked
   • Proposal Sent
   • Negotiation
   • Closed Won
   • Closed Lost
3. Set stage probabilities (helps with forecasting):
   • Lead In: 10%
   • Discovery Call: 20%
   • Proposal Sent: 50%
   • Negotiation: 75%
   • Closed Won: 100%
4. Add required properties (e.g., "Expected Close Date" for Proposal Sent stage)

Irish Example Pipelines:

• B2B Services: Lead → Qualification → Proposal → Negotiation → Won
• E-commerce: Abandoned Cart → Reminder Sent → Discount Offered → Purchased
• Recruitment: Application → Phone Screen → Interview → Offer → Placed

Step 5: Irish VAT Configuration (30 minutes)

Actions:

1. Go to Settings → Objects → Quotes → Configure Tax
2. Add Irish VAT rates:
   • Standard VAT: 23%
   • Reduced VAT: 13.5%
   • Second Reduced VAT: 9%
   • Zero-rated: 0%
3. Set default VAT rate (usually 23% for most Irish services/products)
4. Add your Irish VAT number to company settings
5. Configure quote template to display VAT breakdown

What this enables:

• Quotes show price + VAT automatically
• Deal values can be tracked ex-VAT or inc-VAT (set preference)
• Proper invoicing if using HubSpot payments

Irish VAT Rules Reminder:

• Irish B2C: Charge 23% VAT (standard rate for most services)
• Irish B2B: Charge 23% VAT (unless reverse charge applies for construction/property services)
• EU B2B (with VAT number): 0% (reverse charge—customer pays VAT in their country)
• Non-EU: 0% (export)

Step 6: Core Automations Setup (2-3 hours)

5 Must-Have Workflows for Irish SMEs:

Workflow 1: Lead Assignment

• Trigger: New contact created (from form, import, or manual)
• Actions:
  • If company size > 50 employees → Assign to senior sales rep
  • If company size < 50 → Assign to junior sales rep
  • Send internal notification to assigned rep

Workflow 2: Welcome Email Sequence

• Trigger: Contact submits "Download Guide" form
• Actions:
  • Send guide immediately
  • Wait 2 days → Send email: "Did you find this useful?"
  • Wait 5 days → Send email: "Here's how we can help"
  • Wait 7 days → Assign to sales for follow-up

Workflow 3: Deal Stage Automation

• Trigger: Deal moves to "Proposal Sent"
• Actions:
  • Create task: "Follow up in 3 days"
  • Send proposal follow-up email after 3 days (if no response)
  • Notify sales manager if deal sits in Proposal stage > 7 days

Workflow 4: Closed Won Automation

• Trigger: Deal marked "Closed Won"
• Actions:
  • Send "Welcome to [Company]" email to client
  • Create invoice in Xero (if integrated)
  • Notify delivery team in Slack
  • Add client to "Active Clients" list

Workflow 5: Re-engagement for Inactive Contacts

• Trigger: Contact hasn't engaged (opened email, visited website, replied) in 90 days
• Actions:
  • Send re-engagement email: "Are you still interested?"
  • If no response in 14 days → Remove from active marketing list
  • If they click → Re-add to nurture sequence

Step 7: Integrations (1-2 hours)

Essential Integrations for Irish SMEs:

Step 8: Reporting Dashboards (1 hour)

4 Essential Dashboards for Irish SMEs:

1. Sales Dashboard
   • Deals closed this month (€ value)
   • Pipeline value by stage
   • Average deal size
   • Average time to close
   • Deals by rep (if team)
2. Marketing Dashboard
   • New contacts this month
   • Email open/click rates
   • Top converting landing pages
   • Lead sources (website, referral, LinkedIn, etc.)
3. Revenue Dashboard
   • Monthly recurring revenue (MRR) if applicable
   • Revenue by client segment
   • Revenue forecast (based on pipeline probability)
4. Activity Dashboard
   • Emails sent by rep
   • Calls logged
   • Meetings held
   • Tasks completed vs. overdue

How to build: Reports → Dashboards → Create Dashboard → Add reports (drag and drop)