Look, if you’re reading this, you’re probably sick of hearing about 'digital transformation' and other corporate rubbish. You’ve got a business to run. You want more phone calls, more bookings, and a sales team that actually closes deals instead of fighting with software all day.
You know you need a CRM. You’ve narrowed it down to the two big dogs: HubSpot and Salesforce.
Most agencies will give you a list of features. I’m not going to do that. Features don't pay the bills. I’m going to tell you which one is going to help you grow and which one is going to become a second mortgage you never asked for.
I’ve seen Brisbane businesses thrive on both, and I’ve seen businesses nearly go under because they chose the wrong one. Here’s my honest take on the HubSpot vs Salesforce debate for small to medium businesses.
The Truth About the 'Free' Version
Let’s start with the elephant in the room: Money.
Salesforce doesn’t really do 'free'. They have a starter tier, but it’s basically a digital Rolodex. If you want it to do anything useful, you’re going to pay.
HubSpot, on the other hand, has a very famous free version. It’s great. It’s easy. But it’s a trap.
It’s a 'freemium' model designed to get your whole team hooked. Once you want to actually automate a follow-up email or see which marketing campaign brought in that $10k job, they’ll hit you with a bill that jumps from $0 to $1,500 a month faster than a tradie hitting the Bruce Highway on a Friday afternoon.
My advice? Don't look at the starting price. Look at what you’ll be paying in two years when you have ten staff and a massive database.
Why Most CRM Setups Fail
I’ve sat in boardrooms in Paddington and sheds in Eagle Farm, and the story is always the same.
"We bought this expensive software, but nobody uses it."
This is where the HubSpot vs Salesforce battle is won or lost.
Salesforce is like a Lego set with a million pieces and no instructions. You can build a spaceship or a castle, but you’ll probably need to hire an engineer (a consultant) to do it for you. If you don't, you end up with a pile of plastic that does nothing.
HubSpot is more like an iPhone. You turn it on, and it mostly just works. Your sales team—who usually hate admin—will actually use it because it doesn't feel like a chore.
If your team doesn't use the software, you’re just wasting money on tech that doesn't get you sales. A CRM with no data is just an expensive way to store phone numbers.
The Hidden Costs Nobody Mentions
When you buy Salesforce, you aren't just buying software. You’re buying a relationship with a consultant.
Because Salesforce is so customisable, you need someone to set it up, keep it running, and fix it when it breaks. In Brisbane, a good Salesforce admin will cost you $120k+ a year, or a consultant will charge you $200 an hour.
HubSpot is designed for the business owner or the marketing manager to run themselves. You might need a hand getting it started, but you won't need a full-time nerd on the payroll just to send an email.
However, HubSpot gets you on the 'contacts'. They charge you based on how many people are in your database. If you’ve got 50,000 old leads from five years ago, HubSpot will charge you a fortune to keep them there. Salesforce doesn't care how many contacts you have; they care how many staff members are logging in.
Integration: Getting Your Systems Talking
Your CRM shouldn't be an island. It needs to talk to your accounting software (Xero or MYOB), your website, and your email.
If your sales guy wins a job in the CRM, it should automatically create an invoice in Xero. If it doesn't, you’re paying people to type the same thing twice. You need to stop data double-entry if you want to actually scale.
HubSpot has an 'App Marketplace' that is incredibly easy to use. It’s 'click and connect'.
Salesforce has the 'AppExchange'. It’s more powerful, but again, it’s more complex. You can make Salesforce talk to anything—even a 20-year-old custom database—but it’s going to cost you in development hours.
Which One Gets You More Customers?
This is what you actually care about.
HubSpot was built by marketing people. It’s brilliant at tracking where a lead came from. Did they click a Facebook ad? Did they find you on Google? HubSpot tells you. This helps you stop spending money on ads that don't work.
Salesforce was built for sales managers. It’s brilliant at reporting. If you have 50 sales reps and you want to know exactly who is hitting their targets and what the forecast looks like for next quarter, Salesforce is the king.
For most SMBs in Brisbane, knowing where the leads are coming from is more important than complex forecasting. You need to know which one actually makes money for your specific setup.
The Learning Curve: Can Your Team Handle It?
Let’s be real. Your best salesperson is probably great at talking to people and rubbish at data entry.
If you give them Salesforce, they’ll probably keep using an Excel spreadsheet on the sly because Salesforce is 'too hard'.
HubSpot feels familiar. It looks like a modern website. The mobile app is actually good. If your team can use Facebook, they can use HubSpot.
My Honest Verdict
Choose HubSpot if: - You have a team of 5 to 50 people. - You want to see exactly which marketing is bringing in the cash. - You don't want to hire a full-time person just to manage your CRM. - You want to get up and running in weeks, not months.
Choose Salesforce if: - You have 100+ staff or a very complex sales process. - You have a massive budget for custom development. - You need highly specific, complex reporting that looks 12 months into the future. - You’re already using other enterprise-level software that requires it.
What Should You Do First?
Don't go and sign a 12-month contract today.
First, sit down and map out your sales process on a piece of paper. From the moment the phone rings to the moment the invoice is paid.
If you can’t describe your process to a mate at the pub, no software in the world—HubSpot, Salesforce, or anything else—is going to save you.
Most businesses we talk to at Local Marketing Group don't have a software problem; they have a process problem.
Get your process right, then pick the tool that fits it.
If you're stuck and not sure which way to turn, or you're worried about overpaying for stuff you won't use, let's have a chat. We help Brisbane businesses get their systems sorted so they can stop doing admin and start making money.
Reach out to us at https://lmgroup.au/contact and we'll help you figure out the best move for your business.