How STÄRKE Regained Sales Control Without Overloading Their ERP 

Case study snapshot 

• Challenge: Sales teams could bypass qualification and estimating gates, reducing pipeline confidence on large, long-cycle projects.

• Objective: Restore visibility, enforce stage discipline, and improve forecasting control without overloading MYOB Acumatica.

• Solution: Reintroduced HubSpot as a structured front-office system of engagement, integrated with MYOB Acumatica for delivery and finance.

Impact:

• 20% sales increase within the first 6 months of deployment
• Improved qualification and pipeline governance
• More reliable forecasting and handover
• Reduced avoidable risk in complex sales

Why it matters
Shows how ERP-led businesses can control pre-sale behaviour without forcing ERP systems to do jobs they are not designed for.

Customer perspective

Watch Ken Pridham (Commercial Director) share why STÄRKE moved back to HubSpot, and what changed in visibility, accountability, and sales discipline.

Company Profile

• Industry and operating model: STÄRKE is a manufacturing and construction business operating across residential and commercial projects. Their sales model is project-based with long lead times, high deal values, and multiple stakeholders, with strong reliance on estimating accuracy and disciplined handover into delivery.

• Region and scale: New Zealand-based, with mid-to-large scale operations typical of ERP-led construction and manufacturing firms.

• ERP environment and why they are representative: MYOB Acumatica is the core ERP for finance and operations and is used primarily post-sale for delivery, project execution, and financial control. Like many ERP-led organisations, STÄRKE needed stronger front-office control without overloading the ERP, with a clear separation between sales execution and operational delivery.

What the customer wanted to achieve

STÄRKE’s leadership team wanted to regain control of their sales pipeline without disrupting the ERP systems that underpinned the business. Their priority was not to replace MYOB Acumatica, but to introduce a specialist front-office platform that could support sales execution, accountability, and real-time decision-making.

Success was defined by improved visibility of pipeline velocity, stronger sales discipline, and the ability to manage opportunities based on evidence rather than intuition. Just as importantly, the solution needed to be practical for the sales team to use day-to-day, reducing friction rather than adding administrative overhead.

The solution (how HubSpot was used)

HubSpot was reintroduced as the front-office system of engagement

• HubSpot Sales Hub: HubSpot was configured to manage leads, deals, pipelines, and quoting across two parallel sales pipelines aligned to STÄRKE’s divisional processes. This created shared governance, reporting, and visibility across the business, while still respecting different milestone points and ways of working.

• Lead management and process enforcement: Lead capture and routing were set up to establish clear ownership from first contact. Qualification requirements were embedded directly into deal stages through mandatory fields and structured progression, reducing the risk of steps being skipped.

• Quoting, estimating, and ERP alignment: Estimators prepared pricing using line items in HubSpot, with sales owners issuing quotes and managing client engagement directly against deal records. MYOB Acumatica remained the system of record for operations and finance, with integration designed to trigger at deal close so a sales order is created once an opportunity reaches Closed Won.

How the solution was implemented

RECIPE ran a planning-led implementation to define sales architecture, pipeline design, qualification logic, and integration triggers before build. HubSpot configuration and data preparation ran in parallel, with integration requirements defined and then implemented by specialist integration partners. RECIPE acted as the architectural and functional lead throughout.

• Training and adoption:

  • Training was delivered in stages across sales, estimating, and marketing using real processes and live pipelines
  • Focus was on enablement, so teams could adjust and evolve the system post-implementation
  • Follow-up sessions were used to refine workflow and reporting once the team was live

   

The impact

• Stronger sales discipline and process adherence, with key steps no longer bypassed

• Higher pipeline confidence through evidence-based stage progression

• More consistent handover between sales, estimating, and operations

• Cleaner, better-timed information flowing into MYOB Acumatica

• Improved leadership visibility into deal progression, stalled opportunities, and reasons for wins and losses

• Reduced commercial risk on large-value opportunities

Why this matters for similar ERP-led businesses

ERP systems are designed to execute confirmed work, not manage pre-sale behaviour. For ERP-led businesses with long sales cycles, complex quoting, and multiple internal handovers, a specialist CRM provides the control layer needed to drive consistent front-office execution without forcing the ERP to do work it was not designed for.

• Stronger sales governance before work reaches the ERP

• Clear accountability and real-time visibility for sales leadership

• Improved quality of handover from sales into delivery