Hupspot Competitive Benchmark Guide
Hubspot has popularized a practical framework for competitive benchmarking that any sales team can adapt to understand rivals, set realistic targets, and improve performance. This guide walks through how to run a complete benchmarking process inspired by the original Hubspot approach to competitive analysis in sales.
What Is Competitive Benchmarking in Hubspot Terms?
Competitive benchmarking is the process of measuring your sales performance, processes, and assets against those of your key competitors. In the Hubspot methodology, benchmarking is not about copying others but about understanding where you stand so you can set informed goals.
Instead of guessing why a competitor wins deals, you systematically compare:
- Sales numbers and trends
- Sales process and funnel structure
- Prospecting and outreach activity
- Content, messaging, and positioning
- Pricing and packaging
This structured view helps you see clear performance gaps and prioritize actions that will move the needle fastest.
Step 1: Define Your Competitive Benchmarking Goals in Hubspot Style
Before gathering data, clarify what you want from benchmarking. The Hubspot-style approach starts with specific questions rather than broad curiosity.
Examples of focused goals include:
- Identify why a rival wins high-value accounts more often.
- Discover which outreach channels competitors rely on most.
- Learn how competing teams structure their sales roles and territories.
- Understand which sales content resonates best with your shared audience.
Write down your top three questions. These will determine what data you seek and which competitors to analyze.
Step 2: Select Competitors to Benchmark Like Hubspot
In the Hubspot benchmarking mindset, you do not compare against every competitor. Instead, you select a focused list that reflects your strategic reality.
Build a shortlist using these categories:
- Primary competitors: Companies you frequently encounter in deals.
- Secondary competitors: Options prospects sometimes consider but mention less often.
- Aspirational competitors: Market leaders whose performance you want to approach over time.
Most teams benefit from benchmarking three to five competitors at a time. More than that quickly becomes noisy and hard to act on.
Step 3: Collect Data for Your Hubspot Benchmark Framework
Once you know your competitors, you can begin collecting structured data. The Hubspot approach emphasizes using public sources, customer intel, and your own CRM data to form a realistic picture.
Use Public and Digital Signals
Start with information available to anyone:
- Websites and product pages
- Pricing pages, calculators, and plan comparisons
- Case studies, ebooks, and webinars
- Blog posts and thought leadership content
- Social media profiles and engagement patterns
- Job postings that reveal sales roles and territories
Document what you find in a spreadsheet, using consistent columns for each competitor and each data point.
Leverage Sales Conversations and CRM Insights
Hubspot-style benchmarking also leans heavily on insights from the field. Your reps hear why buyers compare you to others every day.
Capture:
- Common competitor names mentioned by prospects
- Reasons given for choosing a rival solution
- Objections tied to price, features, or support
- Lost-deal notes from your CRM or sales platform
Standardize how reps log competitor mentions so you can analyze them consistently over time.
Step 4: Build a Hubspot-Inspired Competitive Benchmark Matrix
Next, transform raw research into a clear benchmark matrix. This is where the Hubspot-style structure really helps. The idea is to use one view that compares all selected competitors on the same criteria.
Create a table or sheet with rows for criteria and columns for your company plus each competitor. Include categories like:
- Ideal customer profile and target segments
- Primary value propositions and messaging themes
- Sales process stages and qualification methods
- Outbound channels (email, phone, social, events)
- Sales content used at each stage of the funnel
- Pricing approach and discount patterns
Use simple qualitative ratings or notes rather than chasing perfect numbers for every item. The goal is consistent comparison, not statistical precision.
Step 5: Analyze Gaps Using the Hubspot Benchmark Logic
With your matrix in place, you can identify performance and process gaps in a structured way. The Hubspot benchmark logic focuses on translating observations into specific, actionable insights.
Look for Clear Strengths and Weaknesses
Review your matrix and highlight:
- Areas where you clearly outperform competitors.
- Areas where you noticeably lag behind.
- Places where your approach looks similar but your results differ.
Ask why some competitors succeed with fewer resources, or with a different mix of channels and content.
Connect Benchmarks to Pipeline Metrics
Use your own CRM data to link external benchmarks to internal performance. For example:
- Compare win rates when a specific competitor is involved.
- Measure deal size differences by rival.
- Review sales cycle length when you face your top competitor.
This helps you move from general observations to targeted changes that can be tracked over time.
Step 6: Turn Hubspot Benchmark Findings into a Sales Playbook
Competitive benchmarking only pays off when it influences daily selling behavior. Following the Hubspot playbook mindset, convert insights into repeatable plays for your team.
Create Competitor Battlecards
For each major competitor, build a concise battlecard that includes:
- Who they serve best and where they struggle
- Their core messaging and how yours differs
- Key strengths you should acknowledge
- Areas where you have clear advantages
- Suggested talk tracks and discovery questions
- Proof points and case studies that counter typical objections
Keep battlecards short and easy to scan so reps actually use them during calls.
Update Sales Content and Messaging
Use your Hubspot-style benchmark to refine your sales assets. For example, you might:
- Produce new case studies that highlight wins against a specific competitor.
- Adjust email sequences to address common comparison questions earlier.
- Refine pricing explanations to preempt rival positioning.
Align marketing and sales so that content, messaging, and live conversations all reinforce the same differentiation story.
Step 7: Make Hubspot-Like Benchmarking an Ongoing Habit
Markets evolve quickly, so competitive benchmarking should not be a one-time project. The Hubspot philosophy emphasizes continuous improvement based on fresh data.
Build a simple cadence:
- Quarterly updates to your competitor matrix.
- Monthly reviews of win–loss trends in your CRM.
- Regular team sessions to collect new field insights.
Assign ownership for maintaining benchmark data, and make sure updates feed directly into training, content priorities, and sales enablement plans.
Practical Tips for Applying Hubspot Benchmarking in Any Stack
You can implement this competitive benchmarking framework regardless of which CRM or sales tools you use. The principles drawn from the Hubspot approach remain the same:
- Start with clear questions and goals.
- Focus on a small, relevant set of competitors.
- Combine public research with real sales conversations.
- Translate findings into simple tools reps can use.
- Measure changes in win rate, deal size, and cycle length.
For additional strategic support on implementing systems like this, you can explore consulting resources such as Consultevo, which focus on structured growth and optimization processes.
Learn More from the Original Hubspot Benchmarking Resource
This article is based on the competitive benchmarking concepts described in the original Hubspot sales content. To dive deeper into examples, visuals, and additional context, review the source article on competitive benchmarking from Hubspot here: Hubspot competitive benchmarking guide.
By following this structured, Hubspot-inspired benchmarking process, your sales organization can move beyond guesses about competitors and make data-backed decisions that improve win rates and overall revenue performance.
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