HubSpot recently announced during its Spring Spotlight platform release that “customer experience is broken.” This bold declaration highlighted the shortcomings of the traditional reactive approach to customer experience (CX), where companies only interact with customers post-purchase when issues arise. In response, HubSpot unveiled the “all-new” Service Hub, a revolutionary solution designed to transform the status quo by enabling a more proactive management of customer journeys.

This revamped platform equips customer support leaders with advanced tools to work more closely with other customer-facing functions. It enhances collaboration, data sharing, and proactive customer journey management. The Service Hub 2.0 addresses the challenges CX leaders face, from handling urgent customer issues to enabling success teams to anticipate potential problems. Traditionally, businesses had to navigate customer support and success as separate entities, but the integration within Service Hub centralizes these functions in one comprehensive tool.

One of the standout features of the new integration is the Customer Success Workspace, now available in beta. For the first time, customer success managers (CSMs) have a dedicated hub within HubSpot, designed to improve the management of their portfolios. This workspace allows CSMs to efficiently track tasks, create custom segments and views, and monitor key account pipelines.

Migrating from Zendesk to HubSpot Service Hub is a strategic move for organizations looking to boost their customer service capabilities and streamline operations. As customer expectations continue to escalate, it’s crucial for businesses to harness all available tools to ensure seamless service delivery. This migration not only unifies marketing, sales, and support into a single platform but also enriches the overall customer service experience.

Why Choose HubSpot Service Hub?

HubSpot Service Hub is designed to integrate deeply with your front-office operations, providing a comprehensive view of customer engagements across marketing, sales, and service. This integration allows teams to deliver proactive and connected customer experiences, a critical advantage in today’s competitive landscape. HubSpot centralizes data, making it accessible across departments, thereby enabling a more coordinated and efficient response to customer needs.

A standout feature of HubSpot is its ability to deliver immediate responses — a crucial factor as, according to the HubSpot Annual State of Service Report, 90% of customers rate an immediate response (10 minutes or less) as important or very important. This responsiveness is facilitated by HubSpot’s streamlined processes and integrated communication tools, ensuring that customer interactions are swift and effective.

Key Differences Between HubSpot and Zendesk

Service Desk Configuration:

Zendesk operates with a basic ticket inbox that displays tickets in a list view, whereas HubSpot offers a customizable ticketing pipeline. This pipeline visualization in HubSpot not only enhances the management of customer issues but also improves the workflow by allowing teams to see the status of each ticket at a glance.

Customer Feedback Tools:

Feedback is vital for any service-oriented business. Zendesk provides Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) surveys, but HubSpot takes it further by offering a broader range of surveys, including Net Promoter Score (NPS), Customer Effort Score (CES), and custom survey capabilities. This variety allows businesses to gain a holistic understanding of customer satisfaction and more effectively tailor their service strategies.

User Access and Collaboration:

HubSpot excels in user accessibility. Unlike Zendesk, which limits the number of light access licenses based on the purchased plan, HubSpot allows an unlimited number of free users who can respond to customer conversations and access essential service tools. This feature is particularly beneficial for scaling businesses that require flexibility in team size and access without worrying about escalating costs.

Cross-Team Functionality:

Perhaps the most significant advantage of HubSpot over Zendesk is its seamless cross-team functionality. HubSpot enables not just the service team but also marketing and sales teams to engage effectively based on customer interactions logged in the service hub. This capability allows for more coordinated upsell and cross-sell strategies based on real-time data, driving higher customer satisfaction and increased revenue.

Pricing Structure:

HubSpot’s pricing model is designed to grow with your business. It includes a set number of service seats in each plan, and additional seats can be added as needed without significant cost penalties. This approach contrasts with Zendesk’s model, where each additional full-access user incurs more expense.

Planning Your Migration

A successful migration to HubSpot requires careful planning and execution. Start by establishing a migration timeline that avoids your peak business periods. Engage stakeholders from across your organization early in the process to align goals and expectations. Training and configuring the new system are pivotal—HubSpot offers extensive resources through HubSpot Academy to aid in these areas.

Migrating data is a critical step that should not be overlooked. Ensure your data is clean and organized before transfer to make the most of HubSpot’s robust analytics and reporting tools. Consider using professional migration services to streamline this process, especially when dealing with large datasets or complex configurations.

Conclusion

Migrating from Zendesk to HubSpot Service Hub is more than a mere shift in software; it’s a strategic move towards a more integrated and proactive customer service approach. By leveraging HubSpot’s comprehensive tools and unified platform, businesses can expect not only to meet but exceed the modern customer’s expectations, ensuring loyalty and driving growth. As you embark on this migration journey, remember that the goal is to enhance both your team’s efficiency and your customer’s satisfaction—two pivotal drivers of long-term business success.