AUTHOR: Kenda Macdonald

As a dedicated consultant, I specialise in elevating businesses through top-tier consultancy, fueled by a deep understanding of buyer psychology cultivated over years of experience. My expertise lies in crafting marketing and sales strategies that propel businesses to new heights by leveraging insights into the buyer brain. As a bestselling author, public speaker, and strategist, my passion for decoding human behavior drives me to innovate and deliver unparalleled results. I've designed a methodology adaptable for all types of businesses, ensuring transformative customer journeys and experiences.

What Infusionsoft is not

Let's chat about what Infusionsoft® software is not. In part one of What Infusionsoft is - we covered some of the cool stuff it does (with a good dose of honesty) - but for the sake of transparency, we need to discuss what it doesn't do.

I get frustrated when I don't get to see both sides of the coin (I'm a pain with magic tricks!). I believe you need to hear both sides of the story in order to make the right choice. It's a controversial opinion - but if you're clear on both what Infusionsoft® is, and what it is not - you'll be able to make the right decision for your business. More power to you!

Related content:

Is Infusionsoft right for me? Part 1: What is Infusionsoft?

Here is my list of the biggest misnomers and misunderstandings about what Infusionsoft® does:

1. Infusionsoft is not an "all in one" system

As per my previous post, you may be wondering why an "all in one" sales and marketing system needs so many integrations. Plainly speaking it doesn't. Quite a few of our clients don't use any integrations at all. It's a powerhouse without the integrations, but with a select few enhancements, your capabilities as a business are massively multiplied. That's not the full answer though...

Here's the real deal: Infusionsoft is an all in one *sales and marketing system* - not an all in one system.

No system could ever purport to be "everything" a business needs. With the complexity of vertical niches, and modern businesses being so elaborate, it's impossible for one system to do absolutely everything you need it to. That's why you should plan to have the capability to augment it into what you need it to be, for now and for the future. Integrations do that.

2. Infusionsoft is not a front end system

I am always intrigued when Infusionsoft is compared to HubSpot. Not by businesses looking for the right solution, but by marketers calling them competitors. They simply are not.

Infusionsoft® is a backend system. It predominantly deals with the automation after the fact. After the point of purchase, after the opt-in, after the sign up.

Its lead generation power lies in taking cold leads and automatically nurturing them into hot ones. Behaviourally personalised nurture at that.

Automated follow up, segmentation, lead nurture and so on. In that capacity, HubSpot can't touch it.

However, HubSpot isn't a back end system... It's front end. It does behavioural web pages, blog posts and traffic conversion. It helps you manage your social media, and ad spend. Infusionsoft doesn't do that.

And HubSpot doesn't do what Infusionsoft does. Which makes the confusion simple to clarify.

3. Infusionsoft is not a social media management tool

That brings us neatly onto the next point. Infusionsoft® will not manage your social media. You need to drive your traffic to the sign up forms, and then let Infusionsoft® do the magic.

That being said, there is some awesome stuff you can do with retargeting and Infusionsoft® via integrations...

4. Infusionsoft is not a calendar

Infusionsoft® has a built in calendar, but it's not going to replace Google Calendar (or whichever software you use).

It will certainly help you keep track of sales calls and appointments, but it doesn't have the flexibility that pure calendar systems have. There are integrations for this though.

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5. Infusionsoft is not a ticketing system/ project management tool

While the contact records are data rich, and you can manage what people do and how, Infusionsoft® is not a replacement for a decent ticketing system. It does however integrate with a few very good ones.

In the same vein, you can automate your work flow, but it is not going to replace your project management tool.

Infusionsoft's function is to automate. Not to manage at the level good project management software allows you to. Again, there are some awesome zaps from Zapier that allow you to trigger actions both ways between ticketing, project management tools and Infusionsoft®.

6. Infusionsoft is not a replacement for analytics

The reporting in Infusionsoft® is good. But its web tracking and its data is not going to replace the likes of Google Analytics. Again, there are some awesome apps that enhance the reporting, and tie it in with various other apps if you want that.

7. Infusionsoft is not an accounting system

Despite so much financial reporting available, don't get rid of your accounting package. It won't do your profit and loss for you, and it won't do your reconciliations.

But if you do want seamless data management between Infusionsoft® and your accountancy system, there are integrations that will help you with that.

8. Infusionsoft is not an Ecommerce Solution

As mentioned in Part One, Infusionsoft will not replace Magento, or BigCommerce. It's simply not designed to manage thousands of products.

Does that mean it's not used by Ecommerce providers? Absolutley not.

Integrations like Revenue Conduit (enabling Magento, Shopify and WooCommerce), and direct integrations with BigCommerce mean that you can still harness the power of Infusionsoft's marketing Automation, but leverage the best in class Ecommerce solutions to do your heavy lifting for products.

9. Infusionsoft is not an Autoresponder

Infusionsoft is not Mailchimp. It is so much more. And it's criminal to use it purely to send emails out. Infusionsoft® is for life cycles, not just for emails...

10. Infusionsoft is not the solution to every problem your business has/ a silver bullet

Time for some truth bombs. If you're in serious trouble, new software may not fix it. In fact it may make it worse.

That's because software may treat the symptoms of the problem, but not the cause.

Infusionsoft is also not a silver bullet. Silver bullets don't exist I'm afraid (those that have been made by pedantic Armorers aren't very effective).

If you're being sold Infusionsoft as a solution to every problem you have - be careful. Talk to another expert. Get information from multiple sources. I have helped so many businesses over the years who were sold on Infusionsoft fixing everything. Put bluntly, it's very painful and costly implementing the wrong software for your business.

And if you're hoping Infusionsoft is your silver bullet, please be honest with yourself. If you truly think it's the answer to all your problems, I'd love to hear from you: contact us.

In Conclusion

Infusionsoft is an amazing tool. It's one we love and are really passionate about (as you've probably already guessed). But that doesn't mean it does absolutely everything. Not is it the right solution for absolutely everyone. And that's something we would rather be upfront and honest about.

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