Solving a complex HubSpot integration challenge

Our projects rarely end at launch; we’re proud that most turn into long-lasting, strategic partnerships. For our clients who have membership plans with us, it’s a big benefit as they have an extension to their team on hand to help them adapt their website or digital product to the changing needs of their business.

Business needs change – often rapidly as an organisation grows and gains more moving parts. It’s vital that we keep our approach flexible and use the expertise of our team to be able to adapt.

In this post, we’ll look at a recent example of a client who had a business-critical need to pivot, and how we helped them do that.

The challenge

Our client, a market leader in a highly competitive, consumer-focused sector, needed to migrate from their current CRM to HubSpot to centralise their operations. Their complex, multi-step customer acquisition funnel, which we built and continue to maintain, needed to integrate seamlessly with HubSpot, just as it did with their previous CRM. Given the tight data regulations in the consumer space, there also needed to be some additional consideration around storage and processing.

The quote funnel is powered by Sanity CMS – which handles integrations and extensions natively with code, rather than plugins. This means that integrations are completely custom, and when coupled with the complex nature of the logic of the funnel, adds another layer of intricacy.

The solution

In brief, the scope of this project was to create an integration between the Sanity-powered quote funnel and the client’s HubSpot CRM instance.
Digging a little deeper, here’s what it involved:

• Bespoke API architecture – the nature of Sanity’s architecture means that it’s extremely flexible. The backend setup and underlying code for this client’s funnel defines complex and custom data relationships. This meant the integration needed to be built from the ground up, completely custom and tailored to their data setup.
• Refactoring and mapping – due to the complexity of Sanity’s flexible schemas and HubSpot’s more structured properties, there was an extensive field mapping process. We also refactored some form logic and data formatting to ensure the best possible quality and accuracy.
• Robust error handling and data logging – as the funnel processes a high volume of quotes, it is vital that we ensure no data is lost, both from a sales and data security perspective. We implemented a robust error handling and logging procedure, as well as a fallback process, to ensure there’s a “paper trail” following any failures, and that no data or lead is lost.
• Scheduling and calendar integration – the funnel also integrates with HubSpot’s meeting functionality, enabling live engineer availability to be displayed on the frontend for the user to book a virtual survey. Bookings can be made, accepted and confirmed, all with a seamless experience on the frontend.

the impact

The integration enables business-critical processes to happen while minimising manual input and risk. More specifically, it enables:

• Workflow automations: data hits HubSpot in a reliable and predictable way, meaning workflows can be triggered instantly, keeping the customer acquisition process moving smoothly.
• Operational peace of mind: even if there are rare errors or downtime, the client has the assurance of a secure audit trail and record of the data, and that the logging means the reason for the error can be identified and fixed if required.
• Security and compliance: the integration ensures that no customer data is stored in the CMS, reducing the potential attack surface and simplifying the client’s data processing footprint. This helps them achieve a higher level of compliance.

The wider picture

Whilst every client’s tech stack is unique, the core challenge remains: data integrity and protecting business-critical processes. Mastering the nuances of the HubSpot API alongside our expertise and experience with Sanity enables us to create something which is bespoke to this client’s needs, but transferable with tweaks to other projects. HubSpot is thought to be around the 3rd or 4th most used CRM in the world, with around 6% of the market share. We also have a number of other clients using HubSpot and facilitate integrations for various applications, meaning we have the expertise and experience to facilitate complex custom integrations for a wide range of organisations and industries.

Want to learn more about how we could help you develop digital experiences that deliver real value and impact? Get in touch to discuss your next project.