What’s in the HubSpot CRM that Can Benefit Law Firms?

HubSpot was designed as a simple and user-friendly tool. Over time, their CRM capabilities have evolved, making HubSpot a more robust platform for organizations who are serious about managing their data. Just what is in HubSpot CRM? How can it help your law firm?

What Does HubSpot Capture (Data Schema)?

How exactly is the HubSpot CRM built? It’s important to understand how the platform is structured so that you can figure out how to use the data correctly. 

1. Objects – A group of field types. These items are organized around a particular theme. Every version of HubSpot CRM (regardless of tier) gives you access to four objects by default: 
   • Contacts
   • Companies
   • Deals
   • Tickets
2. While using the custom report builder in HubSpot, there are a few other items that classify as objects. These are: 
   • Engagements – also called activities
   • Products – only available with Sales Hub Professional or Enterprise
   • Feedback submissions – only available with Service Hub Professional or Enterprise
3. Properties – Data field types that live within specific objects. When you implement HubSpot, you’ll get a list of default properties under each object by default. You’ll also have the ability to create custom properties that are specific to your business. Note: right now, you can’t create custom properties for engagements, feedback submissions, or products.
4. Records – Instances of an object type, such as a specific contact, company, deal, or ticket. For example, “Shannon Smith” could be represented as a separate contact record within CRM. She will also have separate properties living within the contact’s object that relate to her specific record.

If you envision your CRM as an Excel spreadsheet, there are different sheets (represented by tabs at the bottom) and then column headers and rows. Each sheet represents data at the object level. Whenever you add a new contact, deal, or ticket to HubSpot, you create new information to be added to that particular sheet. All of the details pertaining to that specific record will be stored in properties similar to columns of a spreadsheet. 

Taking things a step further, properties can store various types of data. Things like various numbers, choices from a drop-down menu, a true/false checkbox, and much more can all be stored. You should do some research on HubSpot’s property types. This will have a large impact on the information that shows up in your data structure and reporting. It’s particularly important for custom properties since they allow you to better visualize data, which will lead to better and faster decisions. 

The default properties that HubSpot has for each property are: 

• Contact properties
• Company properties
• Deal properties
• Ticket properties
• Activity properties

If you choose to create custom properties that are more specific to your firm, they will sit under the object that is associated with them. If you decide to set up automation for setting a property value, you need to know where the initial property lives.

HubSpot Data Management

Once you have a real handle on how everything in HubSpot is structured and you’ve set up any custom properties, you will be in a better spot for collecting and consolidating data. 

1. Form submissions – If you use HubSpot-hosted forms, the answers provided will be stored on that particular contact’s record. 
2. Integrations – Contacts created through an integration are passed through the native system and added into HubSpot. Their creation and interactions will appear within the contact record’s timeline. 
3. Import files – When you import data, it creates a static update/creation of values onto properties. Unfortunately, this can result in some data being lost when you export it from a legacy system. 

These actions are mainly related to contact records, but you can do the same to other objects. The various tools allow you to associate records from different objects together, create automation to copy properties from one object to another, and even import files to multiple objects simultaneously.

Takeaway: 

Having a thorough understanding of how data is classified in HubSpot will allow you to build an effective and sustainable CRM strategy. By studying the data structure and using it properly, your law firm can better visualize your data which facilitates more informed decisions. If you need some help making the most of your HubSpot investment, reach out to our team. We’re the leading HubSpot Partner for the legal industry. Our marketing technology consultants can help you with out-of-the-box implementation or more custom instances designed for your firm. Contact us today to get started.