HubSpot debuted a bunch of new features and tools at INBOUND 2021, including new customer portals, Operations Hub Enterprise, and a bunch of new integrations.
But the announcement that’s generating the most buzz is HubSpot Payments — a new native B2B payments solution.
Payments only just became available in beta for certain users, but that didn’t stop HubSpot’s share price from shooting up 16% in just two days following the announcement.
So what’s the big deal?
What is HubSpot Payments?
HubSpot Payments is an end-to-end payment solution built right into HubSpot CRM.
The idea behind HubSpot Payments is to bring an ecommerce-like buying experience to the B2B space. The solution enables secure online checkout through credit or debit card or ACH (bank transfer). One-time and recurring payments are both supported.
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An example of a HubSpot Payments form. Source: HubSpot
As a native HubSpot solution, Payments works seamlessly with HubSpot deals, workflows, reporting, forms, and analytics.
HubSpot Payments is built on infrastructure provided by Stripe, so we have every reason to believe it should be robust enough to perform at scale.
“Selling online is no longer reserved for ecommerce. This is a huge opportunity for B2B companies. Bringing Payments into the connected CRM shows HubSpot is adapting to changes in the buying process, customers' needs, and the digital landscape.”
Sabrina Roussel
Director, Salted Stone EMEA
Who is it for?
HubSpot Payments is being pitched as a B2B payments solution that can replace clunky, cobbled-together accounts receivable (AR) workflows. We think it’s worth it for any B2B business that currently uses HubSpot CRM to take a look at the payments solution when it becomes available to them.
Payments is available to HubSpot customers with a paid subscription to any Hub, that is Starter+ on Marketing Hub, Sales Hub, Service Hub, CMS Hub, or Operations Hub.
Sales Hub customers will also be able to integrate payments with HubSpot quotes, so clients can check out right from the quote page.
As of this writing, payments is only available in U.S. premium editions of HubSpot.
“B2B is way behind on making payments easy and organized. I can't wait to get clients into this tool so that they start getting paid faster and with less overhead.”
Phil DuPertuis
Director of Client Services, Salted Stone NA
In theory, HubSpot Payments can be used in pretty much any B2B billing situation, whether it’s a one-time purchase of a specialty service or ongoing payments for memberships, retainers, or donations.
The platform does have some limitations, however. Currently, partial payments/deposits are not supported and would need to be handled in separate transactions.
Questions about Payments? Talk to our HubSpot experts.
Why should you care?
Most B2B businesses use a combination of different fractional solutions for AR. You might send a quote in a PDF, sign a contract in PandaDoc, issue an invoice through QuickBooks, and receive a payment through wire transfer or paper check. Many of these systems will only communicate with each other via a series of one-way or bi-directional integrations that need to be set up one by one.
Even teams that manage most of the process digitally have trouble with data silos. Payments info ends up in separate systems from the CRM, and integrations aren’t always reliable.
“If everything HubSpot is saying about Payments is true, it should substantially mitigate the amount of human hours dedicated to A/R. We have to invest a lot of time into designing A/R systems and processes, deploying them into an integrated tech stack, and maintaining integrations when they break. This solution should streamline that process.”
Mike Skeehan
Chief Executive Officer, Salted Stone
HubSpot Payments seems like a solid step toward solving these problems. Now teams can manage the whole quote to cash cycle in HubSpot with native tools, and all data will sync seamlessly with the deal record.
There’s also a financial incentive for using HubSpot Payments. The beta version is currently being offered with no monthly fees, minimums, or commitments, with completely free ACH transactions up to $50,000 (and a 2.9% fee for credit card transactions).
It’s unclear if pricing will increase in the future, but the current rates are extremely competitive.
“At my last SaaS startup, we spent hundreds of hours building and maintaining integrations with Stripe and Recurly to drive the HubSpot workflows that supported our enterprise and mid-market sales. Even then, we still had to use Xero and Quickbooks to get paid for certain services. With Payments, it looks like HubSpot has identified and removed a common obstacle to growth, which will help B2B companies improve the margins that fund their missions.”
Steve Ambuul
Executive Director of Growth, Salted Stone
The bottom line
HubSpot’s focus at INBOUND 2021 was all about customer experience. Co-founder Dharmesh Shah says we’re living in the ‘age of the customer.’ That means customers hold the power in today’s business relationships, and providing great service and removing annoying obstacles is the name of the game.
HubSpot Payments is a concrete solution that will help B2B businesses improve the customer experience by smoothing out the often-cumbersome payment process.
"When 74% of people say they’ll switch brands if a buying process is too difficult, we’ve got to get customer experience right. Especially when it’s natively embedded in quotes, HubSpot Payments will enable a seamless end-to-end experience for customers from the first touch point all the way through the purchase process.”
Tony Eades
Chief Strategy Officer & CEO, Salted Stone APAC
Chat with Salted Stone's HubSpot experts about implementing payments.
