What are HubSpot workflows and how can they automate processes?

Find out what workflows are and how to set them up within HubSpot, what their features and benefits are, and the ways they enhance and automate the customer experience.

HubSpot is a powerful platform that focuses the management activities of companies within the same environment. If you are interested in learning more about its modules and more general aspects of the platform, I invite you to read the following blogs:

• Why HubSpot is the Best CRM for Your Company.
• Automate your business processes by department with HubSpot.

HubSpot has several modules that automate our business processes (marketing, sales and customer service) in an omnichannel way. Its modules are the following:

• Contacts.
• Conversations.
• Marketing.
• Sales.
• Service.
• Automation.
• Reporting.
• Operations.

In this blog we'll be looking at the automation module, specifically Workflows, as well as: 

• What are HubSpot Workflows?
• Functionalities and Process Automation.
• Real use cases.
• Benefits within HubSpot. 
• How do Workflows improve the customer experience?

What are HubSpot Workflows?

Workflows are tasks and sequences of workflows that are responsible for developing and automating business processes within HubSpot. They have triggers and a considerable number of custom properties to use, some of these properties can be created by a user or predefined by HubSpot.

Workflows can be created for different purposes, they can also address different business areas of the CRM, such as: 

• Based on Contacts.
• Based on Companies.
• Based on Deals.
• Ticket-Based.
• Based on Quotes.
• Based on Conversations.
• Based on Feedback submissions.
• Based on Subscriptions.

Workflows can also be created according to customised template types, which fulfil specific roles such as: 

• Nurture first conversions.
• Notifications to sales reps about a lead.
• Send a notification when a meeting is scheduled with team members. 
• Assign new leads from the website.
• Welcome new blog subscribers.
• Welcome new contacts.
• To re-engage potential and inactive customers.
• To obtain customer feedback.
• To promote a new product or service.
• To send event confirmation emails.
• To celebrate anniversaries or special days.
• To define an ideal customer profile.

It is important to consider that according to the type of business process or template, the configuration areas of a workflow may be different. Therefore, here I will give you some tips on the first steps to follow to configure any workflow.

1. Define the business area to which the workflow will be directed.
2. Define the problem to be solved with automation.
3. Choose the type of business property to be targeted by the workflow. 
4. Before configuring it, generate a map with the team or diagram the steps and processes that the workflow will automate. 
5. Once the diagram is defined, start with the execution of the workflow trigger and start with the configuration.

Functionalities and Process Automation

Once the workflow solution strategy has been defined, it makes sense to move on to workflow configuration.

In this process it is important to consider that a workflow can be as simple or even highly complex, depending on the areas of automation that need to be worked on. Its functionalities are very diverse. As we highlighted before, workflows in HubSpot can address different business areas. 

Some important functions and features within workflows that automate business management are:

• Goal setting: This is a brief guide to the steps that will be drafted for the workflow once it is set up. 
• Execution time configuration: Each workflow can be designed to execute actions by time lapses or intervals, specific dates or at any time.
• Associated campaign selection: It is possible when creating workflows to assign them to ongoing campaigns, with the objectives of nurturing and automated follow-ups to a defined population of contacts on a month-to-month basis.

• Performance: Within HubSpot, each workflow that is designed has performance analytics for the purpose of understanding the interactions of the contacts enrolled within that workflow.
• History: Strictly related to its performance, another of the features it has is the metric of historical analysis of the workflow, its behaviour, users enrolled during the period of activity it has had, up to a certain date.
• Alerts and testing: HubSpot's artificial intelligence is responsible for understanding the actions that we undertake within each workflow, it is logical that when learning or wanting to develop more complex automations, there are complications, when this happens, alerts will be displayed within the workflow itself.
  
  This is very useful, as each workflow criterion must be aligned with its intended goal.

• Clone and export: Many effective automated processes should be replicated, right? This concept is perfectly adapted within HubSpot, and workflows are no exception.
  
  Exporting is another feature that is extremely useful when assessing a highly complex workflow or one developed for a specific purpose with the teams.

1. Abandoned Cart Workflow:
    
    
2. Workflow for the automation of high-level leads as business opportunities: 
    
3. Nutrition Workflow based on Lead Scoring:
    
   
   

Benefits of workflows within HubSpot

Workflows make a big difference to business management in all areas of a company's business. For HubSpot this becomes a reality when purchasing Growth Suite Professional licenses.

Workflows are perhaps one of HubSpot's best weapons for creating, developing, improving and redesigning the automation of our company.

Its high level of versatility and business area management creates great value for companies, given that its ability to size multiple types of custom and predefined CRM properties gives immense growth, especially to an organisation's business verticals.

How do workflows improve the customer experience?

Customer experience is an essential aspect in any organisation nowadays; and workflows are an automation tool that, in many ways, manages to dynamise aspects that even today, many companies still work manually and exhaustively. Such as: 

• Prospecting contacts.
• Personalised service management.
• Lead nurturing according to the stage of the customer lifecycle they are in. 
• Database cleaning. 
• Automation of business processes.

If you are interested in learning even more about how to properly automate your business and customer management areas schedule a meeting with our team at Imagineer.