How to Create a HubSpot Onboarding Plan for New Employees

Introducing new employees to HubSpot can be exciting but overwhelming if there’s no structured onboarding process. A strong onboarding plan ensures your new team members are confident, productive, and aligned with how your organization uses HubSpot.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through the importance of onboarding, followed by a detailed step-by-step process, best practices, and FAQs, so your team can get the most out of HubSpot from day one.

HubSpot is a powerful all-in-one platform. Without the right guidance, new employees may:

• Struggle to use the tools effectively

• Make avoidable mistakes in CRM data

• Underuse automation and reporting features

• Feel lost or disconnected from team workflows

A dedicated onboarding plan solves all of this by building confidence, improving adoption, and creating consistency across your teams.

Here’s how to create a successful onboarding process tailored for your new employees:

Before diving into tools or training, clarify what success looks like for a new employee. These goals will guide your training structure.

• Set expectations for how they’ll use HubSpot in their role

• Define milestones (e.g., sending the first marketing email, logging first deal, building first report)

• Outline timeframes for completing training

Start by giving access to the correct parts of HubSpot based on the employee’s job.

• Use permission sets to control visibility and editing access

• Provide login credentials and enforce security practices (2FA, etc.)

• Ensure they can access the right Hubs (CRM, Sales, Marketing, etc.)

Help them get comfortable with the platform’s layout and navigation.

• Guide them through the dashboard, menu, and search bar

• Show them how to navigate between contacts, deals, tasks, and campaigns

• Explain the differences between Hubs and key areas like workflows and reports

Now that they’re familiar with the interface, introduce the core tools they’ll use daily.

• CRM: Contact and company management

• Deals pipeline: For sales reps

• Email & landing pages: For marketers

• Inbox and tickets: For support staff

Help new users practice tasks they’ll perform regularly.

• Logging calls or emails

• Creating tasks and follow-ups

• Updating pipeline stages

• Creating and sending marketing emails

Each department uses HubSpot differently. Customize training for their responsibilities.

• Sales team: Pipeline, deals, task queues, sequences

• Marketing team: Campaigns, email, forms, automation

• Service team: Tickets, knowledge base, live chat

Give new users a chance to apply what they’ve learned in a safe environment.

• Set up a sandbox or test contacts

• Ask them to create dummy campaigns, deals, and workflows

• Monitor performance and provide feedback

Support independent learning by sharing useful HubSpot materials.

• Assign HubSpot Academy certifications

• Share your internal documentation, SOPs, and guides

• Recommend blogs, webinars, and user groups

Measure how far the employee has come and where they need more help.

• Use onboarding checklists and milestones

• Review completed certifications

• Schedule weekly check-ins to review progress

Once your onboarding plan is set up, keep these tips in mind:

• Customize onboarding by role – Don’t use a one-size-fits-all approach

• Break training into phases – Avoid information overload

• Create a buddy system – Let new users learn from experienced teammates

• Encourage exploration – Allow hands-on playtime in test environments

• Celebrate milestones – Recognize achievements during onboarding

A well-executed HubSpot onboarding plan empowers new hires to make an impact from day one. It builds confidence, reduces training time, and ensures your team gets the full value out of HubSpot’s tools. Whether you’re onboarding sales reps, marketers, or service agents, following these structured steps will set them (and your company) up for long-term success.