From Churn to Growth: Fixing Common Post-Sales Challenges with HubSpot

Does your post-sales process feel like a series of dropped balls and missed opportunities? Maybe your sales team closes the deal, but the handoff to onboarding feels rushed and confusing. Your customers are left waiting for answers, and your teams are scrambling to catch up. Instead of creating confidence, you’re creating friction—and that friction is costing you loyalty, referrals, and revenue.

The truth is, what happens after the sale can make or break your business. From onboarding to customer success, every step in your post-sales journey shapes the experience your customers will remember—and determines whether they’ll stick around or look for greener pastures.

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That’s why I sat down with Peter Sterkenburg, Revenue Operations Manager at Pleo and a seasoned expert in B2B SaaS with over 20 years of experience. Peter’s insights go beyond theory; they’re rooted in practical strategies that leverage HubSpot to streamline post-sales operations and unlock untapped potential.

With his deep understanding of HubSpot’s capabilities and a no-nonsense approach to tackling operational challenges, Peter brings clarity to a process that often feels overwhelming. Together, we’re unpacking the tools, strategies, and mindset shifts that can transform your post-sales journey into a competitive advantage.

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Through our conversation, here's what you're going to learn.

• The evolution of post-sales processes in SaaS: What’s changed, and what businesses need to embrace to keep up.

• How HubSpot enhances post-sales success: Tools and strategies that create seamless collaboration across teams.

• Solving common challenges in customer success: From aligning KPIs to unifying sales, marketing, and post-sales efforts.

• Actionable advice for building a customer-centric strategy: How businesses of any size can start improving their post-sales processes today.

Whether you’re struggling with retention, looking to make your customer success team more impactful, or just trying to figure out where HubSpot fits into your post-sales ecosystem, this conversation is packed with insights you can implement immediately.

The Evolution of Post-Sales in SaaS: From Reactive Support to Proactive Success 

The way businesses handle post-sales has gone through a massive transformation, especially in the SaaS world. Not too long ago, post-sales was all about reacting to issues—fixing problems after they popped up, like a digital whack-a-mole. Your team was just there to answer tickets and move on to the next crisis. But today? It’s a whole new ball game.

Peter explained that customer success has redefined what it means to support clients. Now, it’s not just about troubleshooting—it’s about helping customers achieve real, measurable outcomes. Think of it like being a guide for your customers, helping them climb the mountain of their business goals instead of just patching up the occasional hiking boot.

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Post-sales teams now have the chance to bridge the gap between their company’s products and the outcomes their customers actually care about. It’s a critical shift that moves post-sales from a cost center to a key driver of revenue growth. But here’s the catch: making that leap means rethinking your approach.

This shift is redefining how businesses think about customer success. Instead of just solving problems, your team can focus on driving outcomes that keep customers happy, engaged, and loyal. With the right mindset and tools—like HubSpot—post-sales can go from being a back-office function to a true growth engine for your business.

Putting It Into Action

Here’s how to start evolving your post-sales approach:

• Map the Customer Journey: Identify the key milestones your customers need to achieve success. What does “winning” look like for them, and how can you help get them there?

• Redefine Success Metrics: Move beyond churn rates and support tickets. Focus on metrics like customer lifetime value (CLV) and adoption rates to measure real impact.

• Equip Your Team with Tools: Use platforms like HubSpot to centralize customer data, track progress, and automate repetitive tasks so your team can focus on building relationships.

• Be a Partner, Not Just a Provider: Proactively reach out to customers with tips, insights, or resources that help them maximize the value of your product.

By taking these small but strategic steps, you’ll start transforming your post-sales process from a reactive safety net into a proactive engine for growth.

Bridging the Gaps: HubSpot as a Post-Sales Powerhouse

Too often, post-sales operations feel like an afterthought—siloed teams juggling disjointed tools while trying to keep customers happy. The problem? When sales, support, and customer success don’t share the same playbook, you risk miscommunication, inefficiency, and ultimately, lost revenue. But with HubSpot’s CRM, businesses have an opportunity to change the game entirely.

Peter explains that one of HubSpot’s standout features is its ability to centralize data and create a shared workspace for all customer-facing teams. No more bouncing between platforms or digging through scattered notes. With tools like the Customer Success Workspace, teams gain instant visibility into key metrics—like churn risk, renewal opportunities, and customer feedback—so they can act with precision.

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The real post-sales goodness happens when teams leverage HubSpot’s automation and customization capabilities. For example, Peter shared how his team uses CRM extensions and custom properties to provide actionable insights directly to account managers. Instead of spending hours pulling reports, they get tailored recommendations at a glance, allowing them to focus on high-impact activities like renewals or upsells.

“Revenue growth is a team sport,” Peter emphasizes. HubSpot empowers teams to collaborate seamlessly, driving not just efficiency but also better customer outcomes.

Putting It Into Action

To get the most out of HubSpot and revolutionize your post-sales process, focus on these high-impact steps:

• Unify Your Customer Data: Stop hunting for information in scattered tools. Migrate all customer data into HubSpot’s CRM so your sales, support, and success teams have a single source of truth.

• Tailor Your CRM to Your Needs: Set up custom properties to track the metrics that matter most—like product usage, customer health scores, or renewal dates. Make it easy for your team to find actionable insights.

• Automate Customer Touchpoints: Use workflows to automate critical moments, such as sending onboarding materials, renewal reminders, or satisfaction surveys. Free up your team’s time for higher-value work.

• Create Insightful Dashboards: Build reporting dashboards that track customer lifetime value, churn risk, and upsell opportunities. Give your team a real-time pulse on where to focus their efforts.

• Foster Seamless Collaboration: Leverage HubSpot’s shared notes, deal pipelines, and activity tracking to keep your teams aligned and working toward shared customer outcomes.

When you make these changes, you don’t just improve your processes—you create a system that empowers your team to deliver better experiences and grow customer loyalty.

Solving Common Challenges in Customer Success

Customer success is one of those areas where a lot of teams know they’re struggling but can’t always pinpoint why. Friction between teams, data that doesn’t sync, and unclear goals often lead to a disjointed experience—not just for your team but, more importantly, for your customers.

Peter emphasized that one of the biggest hurdles is alignment. Sales, marketing, and customer success often work in silos, each with their own tools, metrics, and priorities. When those silos don’t talk to each other, you end up with miscommunications, duplicated efforts, and customers falling through the cracks.

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Another major challenge? Dirty data—and you know how much we are champions of proactive HubSpot data hygiene practices around here. Peter pointed out that incomplete or outdated customer records are like giving your team a map with half the landmarks missing. Without clean, reliable data, it’s impossible to track progress, identify risks, or provide the level of service your customers expect.

The good news is that these issues aren’t insurmountable. With the right systems and frameworks—like those built into HubSpot—you can bring clarity and alignment to your customer success efforts. By centralizing your data, streamlining your workflows, and creating shared accountability across teams, you can turn these common pain points into opportunities for growth and retention.

Putting It Into Action

To eliminate friction and deliver a seamless customer experience, focus on these strategic steps:

• Break Down Silos: Schedule regular cross-team syncs to align goals and priorities. Use HubSpot’s shared customer timelines to ensure everyone is on the same page.

• Clean Up Your Data: Audit your CRM regularly to make sure customer records are accurate and complete. Use tools within HubSpot to automate data hygiene tasks like duplicate detection.

• Set Unified Metrics: Define KPIs that matter to all teams, like customer lifetime value or retention rates, so everyone is working toward the same outcomes.

• Automate Proactive Outreach: Use HubSpot workflows to identify customers at risk of churn and trigger automated check-ins to re-engage them.

By addressing these challenges, you’ll create a smoother, more effective customer success process that not only retains customers but also builds stronger relationships over time.

Key to Retention: Cross-Team Collaboration Done Right

When was the last time your sales, marketing, and customer success teams truly operated as one? Not just overlapping here and there, but genuinely working off the same playbook with shared goals and metrics. For many businesses, this ideal scenario feels more like a dream than a reality. Yet, Peter makes it crystal clear: if you want to retain customers long-term and maximize their value, cross-team collaboration isn’t optional—it’s foundational.

The challenges? Oh, they’re real. Misaligned priorities, siloed data, and a lack of shared KPIs can make collaboration feel like herding cats. But Peter doesn’t just call out the problems; he offers a solution—it starts with building a unified environment where everyone works from the same source of truth.

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Imagine your account executives have seamless access to data from your customer success managers, who in turn can leverage insights from marketing campaigns. It’s not just about sharing information; it’s about aligning around a common goal—ensuring your customers achieve success at every stage of their journey.

Peter advocates for hiring dedicated operations professionals early in the game. These folks serve as the glue that holds everything together, ensuring processes are clear, systems are integrated, and teams have the tools they need to collaborate effectively. Without this role, you’re essentially asking your team to fly blind while expecting world-class results.

Putting It Into Action

To foster true cross-team collaboration and create a unified approach to customer success, start with these steps:

• Hire or Designate a Revenue Operations Lead: Bring in a RevOps professional or designate someone to ensure your teams are aligned, your tools are integrated, and your processes are optimized for collaboration.

• Create Shared Dashboards: Use HubSpot to build dashboards that provide real-time visibility into metrics like churn risk, customer satisfaction scores, and upsell opportunities—accessible to all teams.

• Define Cross-Functional KPIs: Establish shared metrics that matter to everyone, like customer lifetime value, retention rates, or engagement benchmarks, to keep teams working toward the same goals.

• Host Regular Collaboration Meetings: Schedule recurring meetings between sales, marketing, and customer success to align priorities, share insights, and address challenges.

• Centralize Communication with HubSpot: Use tools like HubSpot’s shared notes, deal pipelines, and customer timelines to give all teams a clear picture of customer interactions and needs.

By taking these steps, you’ll break down silos, align your teams, and create an environment where collaboration drives better outcomes for your customers and your business.

Build a Post-Sales Strategy That Drives Growth

Your post-sales process isn’t just a functional necessity—it’s a massive opportunity. By aligning your teams, leveraging tools like HubSpot, and addressing common challenges head-on, you can transform your customer success efforts into a true growth engine for your business. But that doesn’t happen by accident—it happens with intentionality, collaboration, and the right strategy.

So, where do you start? Pick one area to focus on—whether it’s cleaning up your data, automating key touchpoints, or creating shared KPIs—and take that first step. Progress doesn’t require perfection; it just requires action, iteration, and your commitment.

If you’re feeling stuck or unsure about how to implement these changes, that’s where my team and I come in. At Sidekick Strategies, we specialize in helping businesses like yours untangle the complexities of post-sales, align your teams, and build systems that drive retention, growth, and customer satisfaction.

Ready to turn your post-sales process into a competitive advantage? Let’s make it happen—together.