HubSpot and Salesforce both have a CRM Outlook integration. HubSpot has the HubSpot Sales Office 365 add-in, which works on all HubSpot plans, free ones too. Salesforce has the Outlook integration, a side panel in Outlook, and Einstein Activity Capture, which logs emails and meetings with no clicks. Where it stops: HubSpot only logs email sent while its pane is open, Salesforce's panel waits for a click on each email, and neither reads the email and updates the deal. AI agents do the logging and the update, and tell the owner what needs a person.
What a CRM Outlook integration has to do
Most sales talk happens in Outlook. If it never reaches the CRM, your deals look quiet when they are not, and nobody else can see what a rep promised. A CRM with Outlook integration fixes the first part: it puts each email and meeting on the right contact.
A good connection does more. It keeps the deal itself right: the stage, the next step, and who owes the next reply.
Four ways to connect your CRM to Outlook
The first three come from HubSpot and Salesforce for their own CRMs.
The HubSpot Sales Office 365 add-in
- How it works
- You connect your inbox to HubSpot, then add HubSpot Sales to Outlook from Microsoft AppSource. A side pane lets you track and log emails and see the contact's HubSpot record. It works in classic and new Outlook, Outlook for Mac and Outlook on the web.
- Good for
- Small teams who want a free CRM with Outlook integration. HubSpot lists the add-in for all products and plans.
- Where it breaks
- HubSpot says your logging settings only apply when the pane is open while you write each email. It needs an email account hosted by Microsoft 365, and HubSpot says Outlook from the Microsoft Store and Microsoft 365 from GoDaddy won't work with it.
The Salesforce Outlook integration
- How it works
- An admin turns it on in Salesforce Setup, and each rep gets the Salesforce add-in in Outlook. A panel next to each email shows the matching Salesforce records, and reps log the email or meeting to a record.
- Good for
- Salesforce teams who want to see the CRM while they work in email, and log what matters by hand.
- Where it breaks
- A rep logs each email by hand, to its people plus one other record. Admins in Salesforce's community say shared mailboxes don't work with the add-in.
Salesforce with Einstein Activity Capture
- How it works
- It adds the emails and meetings reps send and get to the timeline of the related records, with no clicks, and syncs contacts and events between Outlook and Salesforce.
- Good for
- Salesforce teams who want emails on the record without asking reps to log them.
- Where it breaks
- It logs the email. It does not read it, move the deal stage or write the next step. With only the standard version, Salesforce deletes captured activity after 6 months.
Arkeo agents
- How it works
- Agents read each email and meeting in Outlook, log it on the right contact and deal in HubSpot or Salesforce, write the next step and a task, and move the deal stage when your rules say so.
- Good for
- Teams where the CRM has to be right, and reps would rather sell than type.
- Where it breaks
- Anything your rules keep for a person, like closing a deal or a reply that needs the owner, goes to them in one message.
How to connect HubSpot or Salesforce to Outlook
Each vendor's guide has the full screens. These are the parts.
- 1
Check your email accountFor HubSpot, you need an email account hosted by Microsoft 365, and Outlook that is not from the Microsoft Store. For Salesforce, you need Exchange Online with Office 365, or Exchange 2013, 2016 or 2019.
- 2HubSpot: connect your inbox, add the add-in, pin it open
Connect your work email to HubSpot first. Then add HubSpot Sales from Microsoft AppSource, or have your Microsoft 365 admin add it for everyone. Pin the pane open so your emails are always tracked and logged.
- 3Salesforce: turn on the Outlook integration
In Setup, type Outlook in the Quick Find box and open Outlook Integration and Sync. Turn on the integration and Enhanced Email with Outlook, so logged emails and their files land on the record.
- 4
Get the add-in to each rep and test one email
Your Microsoft 365 admin can push either add-in to everyone; Microsoft says that can take 24 to 72 hours. Then check that one rep can log an email before you tell the rest.
- 5
Salesforce: add Einstein Activity Capture for hands-off logging
Set it up from Setup with its guided steps. Check first how long your license keeps captured email.
Where a CRM Outlook integration stops
Both CRMs can get email from Outlook onto a contact. The work left is the email that slips past, and what each one means for the deal.
HubSpot logs what the pane sees. HubSpot's own help says your logging settings only apply when the HubSpot Sales pane is open while you write, so an email sent with the pane closed isn't tracked. Its troubleshooting page adds that an alias inbox can loop at sign-in, and that people who sign in to HubSpot with Microsoft have to sign in again each time Outlook closes.
Salesforce waits for a click, or keeps email for a set time. Salesforce's guide says each email is logged by hand to its people plus one other record, like one deal. With Activity Capture's standard version, Salesforce deletes captured email after 6 months.
Shared inboxes are a gap in both. HubSpot connects only your primary inbox, and each inbox needs its own install. In Salesforce's Outlook and Gmail community group, admins say shared mailboxes won't work with the Salesforce add-in, and other posts there describe outside meetings and contact sync that fail with no error.
And no integration updates the deal. The email lands on the contact, but the stage, the next step and the follow-up stay where they were until someone reads it and acts.
The agents that do it
Each agent does one job from start to finish in your own CRM, working from your Outlook email and meetings. Your team talks to them in Slack or Teams.
Your CRM stays right without anyone typing.
- Logs emails and callsas they happen
- Checks off the task when the reply landsright away
- Moves the deal to the right stageper deal
Salesforce stays right without anyone typing.
- Logs emails and callsas they happen
- Closes the task when the reply landsright away
- Moves the deal to the right stageper deal
Renewals get worked before they are late.
- Checks contracts coming up for renewalevery week
- Builds the renewal deal with the account historyper account
- Tells the account ownerright away
Questions
Is my customers' information safe?
Yes. Agents work in your own Outlook and CRM and see only what their job needs. Customer details never go into public AI. Agents connect to AI through business-grade connections audited under SOC 2.
Is there a free CRM with Outlook integration?
Yes. HubSpot lists its HubSpot Sales Office 365 add-in for all products and plans, which includes its free tools. You need an email account hosted by Microsoft 365, connected to HubSpot.
Does the HubSpot add-in work in the new Outlook?
Yes. HubSpot says the Office 365 add-in works in classic and new Outlook. Its older Outlook desktop add-in only works in classic Outlook for Windows and is in maintenance mode.
What does it cost?
You get the price on the call, along with the hours it saves your team.
Sources
- knowledge.hubspot.com: get started with the hubspot sales office 365 add in
- knowledge.hubspot.com: how to install hubspot sales
- knowledge.hubspot.com: troubleshooting the hubspot sales office 365 add in
- resources.docs.salesforce.com: sales outlook integration impl guide.pdf
- help.salesforce.com: articleView
- trailhead.salesforce.com: F9300000009M90CAE