Why Sales Still Isn’t Using HubSpot

Introduction: The Adoption Problem Nobody Wants to Admit

You bought HubSpot because you wanted better visibility, alignment, and growth. It was supposed to unify your teams and give you the data you need to make confident decisions.

And yet, when you look at adoption reports, the picture isn’t pretty. Sales are hardly logging in. Data is patchy. Pipelines are incomplete. Dashboards are ignored.

You are not alone. This is one of the most common problems we see in scaling businesses. Sales teams avoid HubSpot even after investment, training, and countless meetings.

This blog digs into why that happens. We will look at the hidden cost of low adoption, explore the real reasons Sales avoid the system, and explain what leaders can do to change it. Because here is the truth: this is not a software problem. It is a leadership and adoption problem.

 

The Reality Check: CRM Adoption Is Far Lower Than You Think

Across every sector, CRM adoption rates are poor. Forrester estimates that nearly half of CRM projects fail outright. Even those considered "successful" often run at less than 50 percent usage.

If you are a COO or Head of Growth, this will sound familiar.

  • Reps only log in when a manager asks them to.
  • Deals appear late in the pipeline with no history.
  • Notes and calls are missing.
  • Forecasts change week by week because nobody trusts the data.

We call this the phantom pipeline. It looks like there is activity in HubSpot, but the reality is hidden somewhere else - in spreadsheets, emails, or private notes.

The consequences are serious:

  1. Forecasting becomes guesswork. Leaders cannot rely on pipeline data to make decisions.
  2. Marketing cannot prove impact. Attribution and ROI tracking fall apart when Sales do not update records.
  3. Customer experience suffers. Service teams inherit incomplete histories, so customers repeat themselves.
  4. Revenue growth stalls. Without reliable data, leadership cannot steer the business confidently.

This is not just inefficient. It is damaging. The cost of poor adoption shows up in lost deals, wasted marketing spend, and frustrated teams.

So why exactly does Sales avoid HubSpot?

 

Why Sales Avoids HubSpot

After working with dozens of companies, we see the same five reasons appear again and again.

  1. HubSpot feels like admin, not enablement

Salespeople want to sell. They are motivated by conversations, relationships, and closing deals. If the CRM feels like an administrative burden, they will resist.

We have seen implementations where Sales were asked to complete 20 fields for every deal. Most of those fields were irrelevant to their work. Unsurprisingly, they filled in the minimum required, or skipped HubSpot altogether.

The perception was simple: "This is for managers, not for me."

  1. Pipelines do not reflect reality

During many rollouts, pipeline stages are created by an Ops team or an external consultant without input from frontline Sales. The result is a pipeline that looks neat in theory but does not match reality.

Take the example of a manufacturing firm. Their pipeline had stages like "Demo" and "Proposal Sent". But the actual process involved site visits, prototypes, and long technical evaluations. Sales reps could not map their work into the system, so they stopped trying.

If a pipeline does not mirror how your people sell, adoption will always fail.

  1. Data quality is low

When leads are misqualified or lifecycle stages are inconsistent, trust collapses. If Sales believe that the data is poor, they will not invest time keeping it accurate.

This creates a downward spiral: poor data discourages adoption, and low adoption creates more poor data.

One client told us bluntly: "We stopped updating HubSpot because we knew it would never reflect the truth." That is not a software issue - it is a signal that process and ownership are broken.

  1. Dashboards do not answer useful questions

Dashboards should help people take action. But too often, they are designed to satisfy management reporting rather than day-to-day selling.

A salesperson should be able to log in and immediately see:

  • Which deals they need to prioritise.
  • Where bottlenecks are slowing progress.
  • What actions to take today.

Instead, they are presented with vanity metrics or high-level reports. When dashboards fail to support daily selling, Sales disengage.

  1. HubSpot was implemented bottom-up, not top-down

This is the most critical factor. Too many HubSpot projects are delegated to an Ops manager or a junior project lead. Sales leaders are not fully engaged. Frontline Sales are not consulted.

The result is a system that feels like it was "done to" the sales team rather than built with them. Adoption stalls because there is no sense of ownership.

Bottom-up implementation nearly always fails. Top-down leadership is essential.

 

The Leadership Gap

When leaders see low adoption, the instinct is to blame the team. We hear things like:

  • "They are stuck in their ways."
  • "They do not like technology."
  • "They are lazy about admin."

But the reality is different. Low adoption is not a reflection of laziness. It is a reflection of leadership.

Adoption happens when leaders:

  • Set clear expectations for HubSpot use.
  • Model behaviour by using HubSpot data in every meeting.
  • Align incentives so that keeping the CRM updated is not "extra work" but simply "the way we work".

We saw this at Frontier Medical. Before leadership stepped in, HubSpot was used sporadically. After alignment and accountability were introduced, usage soared and attributable revenue increased by 483 percent.

The same pattern repeated at Myenergi. Once leadership led the adoption process, CRM usage increased by more than 50 percent across teams.

This is the missing link: leadership-led adoption. Without it, no amount of training or configuration will stick.

 

What Needs to Change

If you want Sales to use HubSpot, you need to design it around them. The system must serve their daily work. Leaders must take ownership of adoption.

Here are five practical steps.

  1. Redefine pipeline stages

Audit your pipeline with Sales. Make sure each stage reflects a clear, observable customer commitment. Avoid vague stages like "Proposal Sent". Replace them with language that reflects the buyer’s actions, such as "Customer agreed to review proposal".

This makes it clear when a deal moves forward and creates shared understanding.

  1. Fix lifecycle stages

Standardise how you define MQL, SQL, and Opportunity. Make sure Sales and Marketing use the same language.

When everyone agrees on definitions, the data regains credibility. Sales begin to trust that opportunities in HubSpot are worth their time.

  1. Build dashboards that drive action

Give Sales dashboards that answer three questions:

  • What should I focus on today?
  • Where am I at risk of missing target?
  • What deals can I accelerate right now?

When dashboards drive behaviour, adoption naturally increases.

  1. Set adoption expectations

HubSpot must be the single source of truth. Make it clear that pipeline reviews and forecast meetings will be based on HubSpot data only. Do not accept spreadsheets or side systems.

This forces alignment and creates habits.

  1. Lead the CRM strategy

Sales leaders cannot delegate CRM ownership. They must be directly involved in how HubSpot is designed and used. Adoption improves dramatically when leadership makes HubSpot part of the management control system rather than an optional add-on.

 

Case Study Insights

At CONVRG, we have seen these principles play out across multiple projects:

  • Myenergi: Leadership alignment drove a 50 percent increase in CRM usage. Reporting became reliable, and decision-making accelerated.
  • Frontier Medical Group: Fixing pipeline stages and dashboards, alongside leadership-led adoption, created a 94 percent increase in qualified leads and nearly five times growth in attributable revenue.
  • Bridgend College: After a period of low adoption, realignment with leadership brought renewed engagement and better efficiency across a reduced team.

The lesson is clear. When leaders lead, adoption follows.

[READ all case studies]

 

Conclusion: Sales Are Not the Problem

If your sales team is not using HubSpot, do not assume the issue lies with them. It is a signal of deeper adoption gaps. Pipelines may not reflect reality. Data may be unreliable. Dashboards may be irrelevant. Leadership may not have taken ownership.

The good news is that this can be fixed. By aligning process, data, dashboards, and leadership, you can turn HubSpot from a neglected tool into the beating heart of your commercial operation.

Next step: Download our free guide 7 Signs Your HubSpot Isn’t Scaling to see if these adoption issues are part of a wider growth gap in your business.

7 Signs Your HubSpot Isn't Scaling →

Mark Hullin

Closing the gaps that stall business growth #CRMIsNotaStrategy