Workflows are a powerful tool within Hubspot, that is capable of automating your business processes. But the trouble is, it's so flexible, where do you start? Well, you're in luck, because we've got six examples of workflows that we've rolled out for our clients that have worked wonders. If you find any that fit with our organization, or it sparks an idea for a process of your own, great!
So, waffling aside, here's what you're here for:
1: Automate your Lifecycle changes
Lifecycle stages are critical to keeping your business running smoothly. The tricky thing is making sure that each of those stages are relevant to your organization, and that they're reliable. Luckily, you can use workflows to move contacts between stages based on their behavior. And both of these are set-it-and-forget-it.
For example, you can automatically move cold leads to the Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL) stage when they open a marketing email. “Marketing emails opened is greater than zero”, shows they’re at least interested, and ready for more targeted nurturing.
But what about those that have fallen off? You can set a workflow that takes all contacts that haven’t been touched in 60 days (or any period you choose), you can automatically move them back to MQL. This keeps your pipeline fresh and ensures no one lingers in limbo.
2. Keep Leads warm with follow-up emails
You don't get a second chance at a first impression. You can use a workflow that triggers when a new contact is created, to make sure they all get the attention they deserve.
- Assignment: Automatically distributes new contacts among your team, so everyone shares the load.
- Subscription Preferences: Want to subscribe every new contact to your blog? You can (but please, just ensure you have explicit consent via a checkbox and/or a disclosure).
- Welcome Email: After a short delay (e.g., two hours), send a warm welcome email. It's a bit more personal than an immediate response, at least in my opinion!
The good thing is that you only need to build this workflow once, then tweak as your organization’s needs evolve.
3. 30-Day Keep Warm Workflow
Don't you hate when your delivery arrives and it's already gone cold? Don't do the same to your leads. This workflow targets contacts who’ve been in the “Lead” stage for exactly 30 days without any movement.
- Trigger: When the total latest time in the Lead stage hits 30 days.
- Action: Sends an automated “nudge” email. It's up to you on this front, maybe a discount, a helpful resources, whatever fits your business.
This results in warmer leads, and the best part, the workflow does it for you. There's even metrics available , so if you find a warm-up email that's particularly effective, if could tell you more about your audience!
4. Sales to Service Handoff
Smooth transitions are critical for customer satisfaction. When a deal closes, you want your new customer to feel valued right away.
- Trigger: Contact enters the “Customer” lifecycle stage (automatically set by HubSpot when a deal is won).
- Assignment: Use the “Rotate Contact” function to evenly distribute new customers among your service team.
- Onboarding: Automatically send a welcome email, meeting link, onboarding packet, or even enroll them in a sequence of helpful emails.
Benefit:
Your customers get immediate attention, and your team knows exactly who’s responsible for each new account.
5. Stagnant Deals
Work gets busy. And along the way, Deals can stagnate without movement. This workflow helps you take action before opportunities slip away.
- Trigger: Looks for deals that have been in the same stage for more than 30 days and are not closed-won.
- Action: Automatically creates a follow-up task for the deal owner, prompting them to re-engage.
You can also adjust the time frame to taste, and make sure that no deal is forgotten.
6. Follow up on 'Bad Timing' Deals
Sometimes, deals are lost simply due to bad timing. But that doesn’t mean they’re gone. Use this workflow to prevent the good ones from slipping through the cracks:
- Trigger: Identifies deals closed-lost for the reason “bad timing." You might have a drop down for this. (If it's a text field, you might need to change that to "contains 'timing'", just in case the reason isn't a 100% match.)
- Delay: Waits a set period (e.g., 3 or 6 months).
- Action: Sends a follow-up task to the deal owner, reminding them to check back in.
This'll make sure that deal owners are aware that closed lost doesn't necessarily mean the door's closed forever. This'll help keep everyone on track, and maybe even re-open old opportunities.
Workflows are a powerful tool, that can take the busy work out of your day, and make sure your business is running smoothly. These are just a few examples, and you can adjust them to meet your business requirements.
Have some feedback, or ideas for custom workflows of your own? Drop us a line – and let's work on it together!
