Migrating from Salesforce to HubSpot has become a very common project in France and Europe. Controlled costs, team autonomy, a unified platform, native AI: there is no shortage of reasons. But the transition still has to be carried out rigorously. This is what Markentive does as a certified HubSpot agency for more than 10 years.
More and more French companies (SMEs, mid-sized companies, large enterprises) are choosing to leave Salesforce for HubSpot. The motivations are clear: reducing software and administration costs, gaining autonomy from technical service providers, simplifying teams' daily work and aligning sales, marketing and customer service on the same platform. This article offers a complete guide (functional, economic, methodological) and details Markentive's approach to securing your migration.
Salesforce remains a major CRM player. But its strength, a huge ecosystem built through successive acquisitions (Pardot, MuleSoft, Tableau, Slack), is also its main weakness. Interfaces differ from one module to another, databases are not always natively unified, and integration between the different “clouds” requires significant technical configuration, or even additional third-party tools. Each building block is powerful on its own, but together they form a heterogeneous ecosystem that generates considerable hidden costs. And do you really need all this modularity, power and customization?
HubSpot was built on a single code base. Sales Hub, Marketing Hub, Service Hub, Content Hub, Operations Hub and Commerce Hub share the same database, the same interface and the same automation tools. A sales rep, a marketer and a customer service manager access the same contact record, see the same interactions and work in the same environment. This fluidity is what makes the difference day to day.
On the sales side, both platforms cover the fundamental building blocks. The difference lies on two axes: what costs extra with Salesforce but is included with HubSpot, and what is missing from Salesforce.
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Category |
Details |
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✅ 17 features on par |
AI CRM, predictive scoring, dashboards, conversation intelligence, sequences, pipelines, quotes, routing... |
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💰 10 at extra cost with Salesforce |
Activity reporting, deal funnel, recurring revenue tracking, unified reporting, coaching, analytics, payments, scheduler, connected inboxes |
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❌ 3 missing from Salesforce |
Mobile prospecting, deal tags, native LinkedIn CRM sync |
The gap is even wider on marketing, especially on content and AI features.
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Category |
Details |
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✅ 13 on par |
Email, forms, landing pages, social media, automation, lead scoring, ABM, A/B testing, personalization, multi-touch attribution... |
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❌ 11 missing from Salesforce MCAE |
Drag & drop website, AI blog, member areas, SEO recommendations, ad management, chat, shared inbox, AI Content Agent, AI Content Remix, AI Translations, Customer Journey Analytics |
For French companies operating internationally, AI Translations saves considerable time: entire pages translated in a few clicks, without a third-party tool.
+80% sales productivity
+76% win rate
+35% deals signed
+134% web traffic after 12 months
+133% inbound leads after 12 months
-40% on initial acquisition costs vs Salesforce
-70% on implementation costs vs Salesforce
These figures vary depending on the starting point and the quality of the implementation. But they illustrate an underlying trend: a CRM that is well deployed, adopted and fully used has a direct and measurable impact. At Markentive, we regularly see a 20 to 50% improvement in sales performance after migration.
A CRM migration is a strategic project that must be carried out rigorously. In HubSpot, there are several ways to address each need, but there is very often an ideal recommendation. Applying these best practices to every topic is the core of our business.
Map the existing Salesforce setup: objects, workflows, integrations, volumes, governance. Define the exact scope and identify the use cases to reproduce, improve or drop. Our consultants prepare each session in depth: we often say that 70% of the work is already done when we arrive at the workshop. The discussions are therefore productive and quickly lead to the key trade-offs needed to make the right decisions and move forward.
Design the HubSpot architecture: data model, pipelines, properties, automation, reporting. This is the most strategic phase, : because each decision affects future efficiency. It is also the time to simplify existing processes. Our teams build a complete specification that takes into account your existing setup, your objectives, your data assets, your third-party tools, HubSpot's capabilities and also your industry's best practices. If you are changing tools, you may as well review and adjust your processes and settings in line with the highest efficiency standards!
Configuration of automation, building of reports, development of API integrations with the existing ecosystem (ERP, business tools). Markentive has solution architects and front-end and back-end developers, and delivers 100% of its projects with in-house, permanent staff. API interfaces, UI Extensions, Custom Codes: we cover all technical needs.
Transfer of contacts, companies, deals, tickets, notes and history following a rigorous protocol: prior cleaning, field mapping, batch migration, integrity checks. We have supported migrations with volumes ranging from a few thousand to several hundred thousand rows.
In-depth testing by our senior teams (Markentive internal acceptance testing), then by key users. Every workflow, automation and report is checked before go-live. Internal QCs take place every week before our recommendations are presented to you. Precise configuration ensures accurate reporting, which strengthens adoption.
Customized training for each user group (sales reps, managers, marketing, administrators), followed by a post-deployment hypercare period. We build tailored programs: customized content, user manuals, hands-on exercises, post-training follow-up.
Our fixed-price approach gives you full budget visibility. Thanks to our experience, we estimate the workload precisely and offer you a fixed price for a fixed scope with a controlled timeline.
Our consultants have 5 to 20 years of experience and come from engineering or business schools. More than half of our employees have at least 3 years with the company and experience from more than 10 projects. Your lead consultants do not work on more than two projects at the same time, which guarantees responsiveness and quality of advice. All recommendations are presented by senior consultants and validated by experts.
Markentive is regularly involved in large-scale projects: HubSpot instance mergers, CRM migrations with significant history (Salesforce, Dynamics, Pardot, Sellsy, custom CRMs), coexistence of different business models, international and multi-site deployments. To carry out these projects successfully, we adapt our methodology: pilot, change management, core model, centers of excellence.
ISO 27001:2022 certified worldwide, our consultants receive ongoing training on data, security, IT and GDPR constraints. We work with demanding IT departments (Azure, AWS, GCP) and carry out full handovers of our developments (GitHub and documentation) to your technical teams.
With 534 reviews and an average rating of 4.95/5 in the HubSpot ecosystem, Markentive is the highest-rated agency in France. Here are some testimonials specific to CRM migration projects.
It is not always necessary to switch Salesforce off overnight. HubSpot offers a native Salesforce connector that enables two-way data synchronization. This coexistence allows a gradual transition, team by team, without operational disruption, a scenario we have supported many times.
For advanced integrations (ERP, business tools), we generally recommend a dedicated connector, designed specifically to take all your constraints into account (security, scalability, data flows, internal tool configuration).
A CRM is a constantly evolving system. After deployment, you need to monitor adoption, manage governance, enrich data, evolve automation, deploy AI use cases and continue change management. Markentive offers agile formats: one-off packages of days or recurring support (1 to 3 days per week).
This approach has several advantages over a dedicated hire: no complex recruitment, flexibility when the workload varies, the ability to draw on different skills depending on priorities, and a resource that is operational from day one.
From 2 to 6 months for a standard project. The most complex projects (multi-site, international, ERP) can take 9 to 12 months. Markentive structures these projects in phases for progressive go-lives and to maximize return on investment.
Yes. HubSpot Enterprise supports large-scale deployments with advanced governance (partitioning, team-based permissions, sandbox). Markentive has supported migrations for international teams and multi-site deployments with more than 500 users.
Yes. The native HubSpot/Salesforce connector enables a smooth transition, team by team, without operational disruption. This integration can also be used for the data migration phase.
Markentive handles most of the project management, but it is ideal to appoint a project lead on the client side who knows the organization and internal teams. The deployment represents 0.5 to 1 day of work per project week for the people involved.
Yes. HubSpot offers native tools for managing consent, legal basis, retention periods and the right to be forgotten. Markentive, ISO 27001:2022 certified, supports the configuration of these features.
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