Why You Need a 2-Way Sync for HubSpot Project Management

Teams who are already using the HubSpot platform for sales wonder if they can remain in the same digital environment for project management. And the short answer is yes.

You’re already in HubSpot anyway, so why not stick around and make things easier? To do that, you’ll need a native integration with your project management solution.

Successful HubSpot service businesses will use a project management app with native integration to optimize their deal to cash. This effectively keeps everything together in the digital HubSpot ecosystem:

“If you have a native integration within the applications you are using and it solves your operational challenge, go for it. That's the easiest, safest, and most intuitive way to sync data.” - HubSpot

However, not all native integrations are created equal.

Here’s why you specifically need a two-way integration to successfully leverage HubSpot project management.

What is HubSpot project management?

HubSpot project management means managing the entire project lifecycle without leaving HubSpot. While HubSpot itself does not offer full-fledged project management (it’s not their bread and butter), they do give you a leg-up on task management with their Projects feature.

HubSpot project management will require using HubSpot Projects and/or an integrated project management solution.

Various popular project management apps provide a native integration with HubSpot. However, not all of these provide a two-way flow of information, from HubSpot to the project management app and vice versa.

These one-way integrations leave much to be desired, as we’ll explain in the next section.

The problem with one-way integrations

“Native integrations can be great to automate certain workflows and serve a lot of common use cases. That said, they usually only work one way, and native integrations tend to be more in the data pushes category, not data syncs.” - HubSpot

If you want to seamlessly manage projects in HubSpot, not just any integration will do. 

One-way integrations may give you basic functionality, but you won’t be able to effectively keep everything together, including contracts, time tracking, planning, etc within the HubSpot CRM. Here’s the problem:

One-way integrations limit what you can do on the project side and can create troublesome data silos. Like HubSpot says in the quote above, this type of integration technically qualifies as a data push, not a bonafide sync that you’d need for 360-degree visibility and control.

That’s because data will only move one way, instead of back and forth. Let’s take a look at how this applies to common HubSpot project management apps:

For example, Trello is a popular project management tool that offers an integration with HubSpot. But as you can see from their page on the App Marketplace, this only includes HubSpot workflows which will then be converted to task cards in Trello. 

Nothing on the Trello end will translate to HubSpot, meaning sales will not be informed of anything that happens on the project side.

Here’s another example of a one-way HubSpot project management integration: Asana. Asana is a super-popular project management tool because it’s easy to use and offers loads of customization. However, again we have a one-way sync, where data only moves from HubSpot to Asana and not the other way around.

These monodirectional syncs are indeed useful, but they’ll limit your level of cohesion between sales and projects. For instance, if someone on the sales side wants to create a quote based on a previous project budget, this information will have to be retrieved manually in the project management tool. 

Whereas with a two-way integration, this information can be readily accessible without ever leaving HubSpot. In this scenario, you’d simply populate the quote with the accurate project data in a couple of clicks. 

At the end of the day, one-way integrations do not provide a closed loop for both CRM and project management activity. This leaves you open to data security threats and inaccuracies from manual entry.

Better Project Management: Benefits of two-way software sync with HubSpot 

“Having the right integration software to fit your needs is essential. It automates a huge part of your data management tasks and automatically syncs data between the applications in your software stack, drastically reducing the need for manual data entry, unifying data formats, and reducing the scope for error.” - HubSpot

Unlike a one-way sync, a two-way sync– also known as a bidirectional integration– will keep all the related data in a closed loop. Check out the following benefits of a two-way integration between the HubSpot CRM and your project management software:

Single source of truth

A two-way sync between a project management tool and the HubSpot CRM creates a single source of truth for the daily operations of service businesses. This will help promote transparency organization-wide, as well as supreme visibility, and a more holistic picture of business performance. 

Increased productivity

In the two-way sync scenario, no one must jump between different solutions to find the correct information or complete a task. Instead, project data and customer data are easily accessible. And because you can automate more of your admin in a two-way sync environment, teams spend less time on the minutia.

Increased profitability

Because of the increased efficiency of a two-way integration, you’ll be able to find opportunities to increase your project profitability. This can include insights from time and expense data, which will cover your sales and marketing (HubSpot) and your project side. You will also be able to automate more menial admin processes, as these are more easily configured with the two-way flow of data. Finally, you’ll benefit from better reporting and analytics from a larger data store, so you can learn how to increase your project profit margins and where you might be getting it wrong. 

Get started quicker 

Everything is faster with a two-way HubSpot integration. You can start your project planning and developing your milestones before the deal is officially closed. Plus, when you go to create the project, it will automatically get populated with all the necessary customer data from HubSpot. 

Accurate time tracking 

Get paid for every hour that goes beyond what’s covered in your service agreement. In a two-way sync with project management tools like PSOhub, you can track time directly in the Service Hub. 

Painless sales-to-project handoff

Versus a one-way sync, a bidirectional HubSpot project management integration will create cohesion between sales and project management. Both sides can view status updates in the HubSpot feed and receive automated alerts for important lynch points, i.e. contract sent, contract signed, etc.

Better invoice management

A two-way HubSpot project management integration can enable better invoice management. Both sales and projects can use the same system, which can be entirely automated depending on the tool you choose. That means spending less time actually creating invoices, reducing errors, and getting paid correctly, and on time. 

Conclusion: What project management apps provide a two-way integration with HubSpot?

Now, you understand why it makes the most sense to use a two-way software integration for HubSpot project management. Otherwise, you’ll still need to import data manually and you won’t have cohesion between sales and projects. On top of that, you’ll be less efficient and less apt to learn from analytics due to data silos.

So, what project management tools offer the two-way integration we’ve been discussing?

At present, the highest-rated HubSpot project management apps with a two-way sync include Teamwork, PSOhub, and Wrike. 

To confirm that a project management integration goes two ways, be sure to check out their page on the HubSpot app marketplace. 

Look at the data sharing details to confirm the sync flows both ways, like what you see here below for the PSOhub HubSpot integration:

As you can see, data is exchanged between both sides in the bidirectional sync. A two-way HubSpot project management integration like this one is your best bet to maintain a 360-degree view of your projects and customers in the most efficient way possible.