HubSpot

Tool class: Customer relationship management

In HubSpot, the customer relationship management surface follows the same topic pattern as the other tool classes. The organization has one HubSpot account for all topics. A topic’s surface is its products, the line items and deals that include those products, and the segments that filter on its topic code. The topic code is recorded in a property on products and line items. The work that a deal leads to is an action record in task management, under the same topic code, and it is linked to the deal.

Set up the surface for one topic

These steps use the example topic Example Co Operations (topic code EXOP) and its offer Advisory.

1. Confirm the topic in the registry. Use the exact topic code and canonical name.
2. Confirm that the account has the Topic code property on products and on line items (see Settings). If it does not exist, ask an account administrator to create it once for the whole account.
3. Confirm that the property has the option EXOP with the label EXOP Example Co Operations. If it does not, ask the administrator to add it. Add an option only for a topic that is in the registry.
4. Search the product library for the topic’s products. For each offer of the topic that has no product, create a product named Example Co - Advisory and set its Topic code to EXOP. A product belongs to exactly one topic.
5. Create a line item from the product on a test deal, or on the next real deal. Check that the line item’s Topic code is EXOP. If the account does not copy the value from the product, set it on each line item, and record this on the purpose page so that people and agents know to set it.
6. Use the existing pipelines. A pipeline follows a sales process and can hold deals of several topics. Create a new pipeline only for a new sales process, not for a topic.
7. Create segments for the topic, filtered on the Topic code of the associated line items, with names that start with the topic code, for example EXOP Deals and EXOP Contacts with deals.
8. Confirm that the integration app between HubSpot and the task management tool is installed and can link a deal to an action record in the EXOP project.
9. On the Space Purpose and Usage page of Example Co Operations, link to the topic’s segments.
10. Add the segment links to the topic profile of the topic.

Settings

• Topic code property. One custom property with the internal name topic_code and the label Topic code, of the dropdown select type. Create it on products and on line items, with the same options on each. Each option’s internal value is a topic code from the registry, for example EXOP, and its label is the topic code and the canonical name, for example EXOP Example Co Operations. Do not use a free-text property; it collects spelling variants.
• Products. Each offer is one product in the product library, named <Venture name> - <Offer>, for example Example Co - Advisory. Every product has exactly one topic_code value. Products are records, not surfaces, so the topic code is in the property, not in the name.
• Line items. A deal includes products through line items. Each line item has the topic_code of its product. When a line item is created from a product, check whether the value was copied from the product. If it was not, set it.
• Deals. The topics of a deal are the topic_code values of its line items. A deal with line items of two topics belongs to both. A deal with no line items has no topic; add the line items.
• Pipelines. Pipelines are organized by sales process. One pipeline can hold deals of several topics. The number of pipelines that an account can have depends on the HubSpot plan.
• Segments. Segments (called lists in older versions of HubSpot) of deals, contacts, or companies filter on the topic_code of associated line items. A segment of contacts or companies filters through the associated deals to their line items. Names start with the topic code and a space, for example EXOP Deals. Do not filter on the text of product names or line item names; names change.
• Contacts and companies. Contacts and companies are shared across topics. A contact is associated with a topic through its deals and their line items, not through a property on the contact.
• Record ownership. Each contact, company, and deal has an owner. The owner of a deal is the person accountable for it.
• Associations. Associate each contact with its company and each deal with its contacts and company. Associations replace copied contact details in deal names or notes.
• Duplicates. HubSpot can match contacts by email address and companies by company domain name. Fill in these fields so that matching works. Use the merge function for duplicates that remain.
• Activity logging. Calls, meetings, emails, and notes can be logged on a record. A logged activity records that a contact happened. If HubSpot logs emails from a connected inbox or a forwarding address, the original message is still kept in the topic’s email surface.
• Link to task management. Delivery work that results from a deal is an action record in task management, in the project of the topic with the same topic code. An integration app between HubSpot and the task management tool links the deal and the action record in both directions. Do not copy deal details into the action record; link to the deal.
• Tasks. HubSpot has its own tasks for follow-up with a contact. Use them only for short follow-ups on a record. Accountable work is an action record in task management.

Permissions

HubSpot controls access with user permissions and teams. A user’s permissions can limit what records they can view and edit, for example to all records, the records of their team, or only the records they own. Which of these controls exist depends on the HubSpot plan.

• Grant access by topic where the plan allows it, for example with teams that match the topic’s access groups.
• If the plan does not allow access by topic, record this as an exception to the access boundary on the purpose page. Do not create a separate HubSpot account for a topic to work around it.
• Give account administration to a small number of administrators. The maintainer of the topic’s surface needs permission to edit products and segments, not the whole account.
• An app or integration that reads or writes records gets only the access it needs, through its own app credentials. Do not connect it with a personal login.

Maintenance

The maintainer checks the topic’s surface on a regular schedule:

• Every product of the topic has exactly one topic_code value, and the value is a topic code in the registry.
• Every line item has a topic_code value, and it matches the value of its product. A line item without a value gets the value of its product.
• Every deal has at least one line item.
• Every option of the topic_code property is a topic code in the registry.
• Every topic that has products has its segments, and every segment filters on topic_code, not on names or on an older property, and has a name that starts with the topic code.
• Duplicates of contacts and companies are merged.
• Open deals have an owner, a stage that matches their state, and an expected close date.
• Deals with delivery work are linked to their action records in task management.
• Personal data is kept and deleted according to the organization’s retention rules.

When a topic becomes inactive:

1. Close open deals, or move them to the topic that continues the work by changing their line items.
2. Archive the topic’s products so that new line items cannot use them. Keep the deals and line items as history.
3. Ask an administrator to hide the topic’s option in the topic_code property, so that new records cannot use it. Do not delete the option.
4. Do not delete contacts or companies that other topics still use.
5. Update the topic profile and purpose page of the topic.

Agent notes

• Resolve the topic first, from the registry. Filter on the topic_code property, or use the topic’s segments. Do not infer the topic from a record name or a product name.
• When you create or read a line item, check that it has the topic_code of its product. If it does not, set it from the product.
• Search before you create. Search contacts by email address and companies by domain. Use an existing record instead of creating a second one.
• Use associations and structured properties instead of notes. Do not copy contact details into deal names or notes.
• Read only the fields that the task needs. CRM records contain personal data; do not copy it into chat, an agent workspace, or another tool.
• Write the outcome of a contact to the record, and write the work that results from it to task management under the same topic code, linked to the deal.
• Follow the organization’s agent policy for what you may change without asking. Always confirm before you delete or merge records, change a record owner, enroll a contact in a sequence or a workflow, send email, change a property definition or a segment filter, or move a deal to a closed won or closed lost stage. Never infer consent for marketing.
• Record facts with evidence links. Keep the evidence in its source tool. Label estimates, such as a deal amount that is not agreed, as estimates.