Indispensable Tool: COO, Riikka Söderlund on HubSpot for SMBs

1. What is one tool you’ve found indispensable in your total experience ?

HubSpot immediately comes to mind. As someone who’s worked in B2B and SaaS for nearly two decades, having a centralized system for managing customer relationships, marketing automation, and sales pipelines is incredibly helpful. I prefer to have my reporting also in the operational everyday tools that I’m using, so this fits the bill. HubSpot is built for growth and integrates seamlessly with platforms like Shopify, QuickBooks, and even Katana Cloud Inventory, which is great.

2. How does it help streamline your work, from managing inventory to aligning marketing and operations ?

The platform brings together marketing, sales, and customer service in one ecosystem, which makes it valuable both to our team as well as Katana’s leadership. It helps us track leads and revenue, measure campaign effectiveness, and ensure that our messaging aligns with actual customer needs. For SMBs, visibility into the entire customer journey—from first touchpoint to conversion—is important. HubSpot also collaborates closely with our team at Katana  and so we know them well.

3. What sets this tool apart compared to others you’ve tried in the past ?

The flexibility. Many CRM and marketing platforms can feel clunky or require heavy customization to be useful. An SMB like Katana needs a tool designed for SMB, not enterprise software. HubSpot is built for growth and it’s intuitive. Many of our customers are thrilled by the fact that Katana can connect to their HubSpot Sales Hub in minutes with no coding required.

4. What were your expectations when you first implemented it, and how has it performed ?

Great question. I expected a solid CRM and automation tool, but what surprised me was how much more it could do. HubSpot’s reporting and segmentation capabilities make it easy to refine strategies in real-time, which I’ve found really useful, and I know a lot of Katana Cloud Inventory customers feel similarly about it.

5. Have there been any challenges or surprises, and how did you overcome them ?

The challenge with any tool is always adoption. Getting teams to actually use it to its full potential takes time. And you need to plan the process together to get buy-in. I always think it’s best for teams to start with the essentials and gradually introduce more advanced features as they get comfortable.

6. What advice would you give to other decision-makers considering this tool ?

Don’t just set it up and then forget about it. Regularly review your workflows, automation, and reporting to make sure you’re getting the most out of the system and optimize what you’re doing to meet your team’s goals. Having a full time FTE for this is an investment that pays off many times over.

7. For leaders scaling SMBs, how do you evaluate if a tool is worth the investment ?

I think it comes down to two things: saving time and driving growth. If a tool eliminates manual work, improves decision-making, or helps acquire and retain customers, it’s worth the cost and should be explored.