The challenge: disjointed systems and no clear strategy
A mid-market managed service provider (MSP) was facing an all-too-familiar challenge: their tools weren’t working together, and their teams were paying the price. Marketing and sales lived in silos. Data was fragmented. Growth goals felt out of reach.
The MSP was running its website on Joomla and its sales process through SugarCRM. While functional, the setup left major gaps. Marketing campaigns couldn’t be tied to closed deals, and the sales team had no visibility into lead sources or marketing intent. The result: no closed-loop reporting, no shared view of the customer journey, and missed opportunities for alignment.
On top of that, the integration between HubSpot and SugarCRM wasn’t smooth. Technical bottlenecks with field mapping slowed down progress. Even more pressing, the team didn’t have a unified plan for how to use HubSpot across marketing and sales. Their leaders wanted to improve lead quality and leverage intent-based signals—but they didn’t know how to get there.
The approach: integration first, then hands-on learning
The onboarding process began by tackling the most immediate technical roadblock: the HubSpot–SugarCRM integration. Instead of letting the team wrestle with it alone, we pulled in HubSpot support directly, ensuring the right answers came quickly and cleanly.
With that foundation in place, the focus shifted to strategy. Instead of overwhelming the client with theory, we introduced a project-based learning exercise: building an event registration campaign inside HubSpot. This gave the team practical exposure to campaigns, forms, and landing pages while creating something of real value to the business.
Training went deeper from there. The team learned how to:
- Use personas and lead scoring to improve lead handoff.
- Build pillar pages and leverage HubSpot’s SEO tool for visibility.
- Create dashboards and reports that gave them true closed-loop campaign tracking.
The outcome: integration, empowerment, and momentum
- HubSpot + SugarCRM integration: Live and functional, enabling clean data flows and a shared view of leads and customers.
- Structured marketing operations: Campaigns, forms, and landing pages built and ready to scale.
- Aligned sales and marketing: Lead lifecycle stages and scoring models brought sales into the process with clarity.
- A roadmap for growth: Including migration plans for blog content and eventual full sales integration into HubSpot.
The biggest win wasn’t just technical—it was cultural. The team moved from feeling stuck and reactive to being empowered with the tools and training they needed.
Key learnings for other MSPs
- Start with the integration bottleneck: Data silos undermine strategy. Fix the pipes first.
- Teach through projects: Real campaigns are better training tools than slide decks.
- Empower with automation and reporting: Visibility builds buy-in across sales and marketing.
- End with a roadmap: Onboarding is the launchpad, not the finish line.
Why it matters
This case shows what’s possible when technical roadblocks are cleared, teams are trained with purpose, and strategy is built on a solid foundation.
At Media Junction, we believe onboarding isn’t just about setup—it’s about empowering organizations to take ownership of their growth journey.
