Having started out as an email marketing platform for small companies, HubSpot has rapidly transformed into a full CRM platform with a market valuation of over $30bn and customers including the likes of Revolut and Skyscanner. Now, the company has announced a physical expansion of its presence into the UK, with a commitment to creating 70 new jobs across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
In an exclusive interview, CX Today welcomes Christian Kinnear, SVP of International Sales and Managing Director EMEA at HubSpot, to discuss the move and the broader lessons HubSpot has learned from its continuing growth.
Expanding in the UK
The opening of a London office is informed both by the changing requirements of its customers and its history in the UK. “HubSpot has been helping businesses in the UK for almost ten years, but our needs and those of our customers are changing,” says Kinnear. “According to our research, more accessibility and face-to-face interaction have proved increasingly important for UK business leaders as the nation recovers from the pandemic, with 72% of CX professionals claiming that they plan to invest in more human customer interactions going forward.
“We're at a point where most UK businesses are planning for growth again, and getting the[caption id="attachment_41248" align="alignright" width="200"]
Christian Kinnear[/caption]
customer experience right at scale is essential to that. There's often still a need for human engagement within the customer journey, and our approach to the UK market is very aligned to this insight. While our presence in Dublin has supported our growth in the UK well, we are now ready and excited to take the step through local presence and more face-to-face customer engagement.”
With the UK having become HubSpot’s second-largest market globally, the country’s business landscape provides a unique opportunity for the company. “As a company and business leader, it’s very fulfilling to see that more than 10,000 UK companies rely on HubSpot to help their growth and scaling efforts, from emerging start-ups and accelerating scale-ups to market-leading organisations,” says Kinnear. “The UK is a hugely attractive market with a thriving business scene buoyant with tech-savvy companies that are early adopters of technology. UK business leaders realise the importance of investing in technology to delight today's demanding customers, and our CRM platform is designed to help these ambitious businesses realise their growth potential. As such, we're going all-in on the UK market and will look to position more CRM platform solutions, support larger businesses and commit to deeper partner deals and integrations.”
So too is HubSpot planning to make use of the UK’s extensive talent pool, many of whom have used the pandemic as an opportunity to relocate. “Our new formalised hybrid working model means we're able to offer opportunities for the right talent based on their potential, not on their postcode, and we are excited to tap into the UK’s outstanding talent pool to continue helping thousands of UK businesses grow better.”
The Keys to Growth
Kinnear identifies three key learnings from its rapid growth, the first being the importance of being customer-obsessed over just customer-centric. “The main reason HubSpot has experienced this level of success is that we are hyper-focused on building a customer-centric business strategy,” says Kinnear. “We help businesses grow by building better customer experiences, which requires gaining insight into and supporting every part of the customer journey. As such, we have been adjusting and evolving our technology to cover the full customer lifecycle based on the needs and demands of our customers as well as those of theirs. We believe that having a system of record (our CRM) integrated with systems of engagement (Marketing/Sales/Service/CMS Hubs, APIs, integrations) provides the best foundation for businesses to scale. It’s impossible to make customer-centric decisions unless each customer-facing team has the same, complete view of a customer’s history of interactions with your company.”
