HubSpot Automation: 10 Workflows Everyone Needs

HubSpot is powerful. But most people only use 20% of its capabilities. If you are also weighing up what automation projects cost, HubSpot workflows are a cheap place to start. In this article, we'll show you 10 workflows you can set up in HubSpot right away - from simple to advanced.

Why HubSpot Workflows?

HubSpot workflows are automated action sequences triggered by specific events. They can:

• Send emails
• Update properties
• Create tasks
• Create/move deals
• Send Slack messages
• Call webhooks
• And much more

Availability:

• HubSpot Free: No workflows
• Starter: Form workflows
• Professional: Full workflows
• Enterprise: Advanced features

The 10 Most Important Workflows

1. Lead Welcome Sequence

Trigger: Contact submits a form

What happens:

Immediately:
  → Property "Lifecycle Stage" = Lead
  → Email 1: Welcome + Resource

3 days later:
  → Email 2: Helpful content

7 days later:
  → Email 3: Case study

14 days later:
  → Email 4: Soft CTA (Demo/Call)

Setup in HubSpot:

1. Marketing → Workflows → Create workflow
2. Contact-based → From scratch
3. Trigger: "Form submission" = Your form
4. Action: "Send email" + "Delay" + "Send email"...

Tips:

• Personalize with {{contact.firstname}}
• Use Branch for different interests
• Stop the sequence when contact converts

2. Lead Scoring

Trigger: Various activities

Logic:

Email opened: +5 points
Link clicked: +10 points
Page visited: +3 points
Pricing page visited: +20 points
Form submitted: +25 points
Webinar registered: +30 points
Blog >3 articles read: +15 points

Setup:

1. Create property "Lead Score" (Number)
2. Create a separate workflow for each activity:
   • Trigger: "Email opened"
   • Action: "Increase property value" → Lead Score +5

Or with HubSpot's native scoring (Professional+):

Settings → Properties → Lead Score → Edit criteria

3. Sales Notification for Hot Leads

Trigger: Lead Score > 50

What happens:

Score reaches 50:
  → Slack message to #sales
  → Email to assigned owner
  → Task created: "Contact hot lead"
  → Property "Lead Status" = "Hot"

Setup:

1. Trigger: Contact property "Lead Score" > 50
2. Branch: "Has owner?"
   • Yes → Notify owner
   • No → Assign owner (Round Robin)
3. Action: Create task, Send Slack, Update property

Slack Integration:

1. Settings → Integrations → Slack
2. In workflow: "Send Slack notification"

4. Automatic Deal Creation

Trigger: "Request Demo" form submitted

What happens:

Form submitted:
  → Create deal
  → Pipeline: Sales Pipeline
  → Stage: "Demo Requested"
  → Amount: From form (if available)
  → Owner: From Contact or Round Robin
  → Task: "Conduct demo" in 24h

Setup:

1. Trigger: Form submission = "Demo Request"
2. Action: "Create deal"
   • Deal name: {{contact.company}} - Demo
   • Pipeline: Sales Pipeline
   • Stage: Demo Requested
   • Owner: Contact owner
3. Action: Create task for deal owner

5. Follow-up After Inactivity

Trigger: Contact has been inactive for 30 days

What happens:

30 days no activity:
  → Check: Is there an open deal?
    → Yes: Notify owner
    → No: Send re-engagement email

No response after 14 days:
  → Property "Status" = "Inactive"

Setup:

1. Trigger: "Last activity date" > 30 days ago
2. Branch: "Associated deals" = "Open deal exists"
   • Yes → Notify owner + Create task
   • No → Send re-engagement email
3. Delay 14 days
4. Branch: "Any email opened since enrollment?"
   • Yes → Exit workflow
   • No → Set property "Inactive"

6. Webinar Reminder Sequence

Trigger: Webinar registration

What happens:

Immediately:
  → Confirmation email with calendar link

1 day before:
  → Reminder email

1 hour before:
  → Reminder with access link

After webinar:
  → Branch: Attended?
    → Yes: Thank you + Recording + CTA
    → No: "Sorry you missed it" + Recording

Setup:

1. Trigger: List membership = "Webinar [Date] Registered"
2. Immediately: Send confirmation email
3. Delay until: [Webinar date minus 1 day]
4. Send reminder
5. Delay until: [Webinar date minus 1 hour]
6. Send reminder with link
7. Delay until: [Webinar date plus 2 hours]
8. Branch based on "Attended webinar" property

7. Customer Onboarding

Trigger: Deal Stage = "Closed Won"

What happens:

Deal won:
  → Lifecycle Stage = Customer
  → Send welcome email
  → Task for CSM: "Schedule kickoff"
  → Slack: #customer-success

Day 3:
  → Email: Getting Started Guide

Day 7:
  → Email: Feature Highlight 1

Day 14:
  → Task: "Check-in call"

Day 30:
  → Email: Feedback survey (NPS)

Setup:

1. Trigger: Deal stage = "Closed Won"
2. Actions as described above
3. Use "Delay" for time-delayed actions

8. Automatic Customer Segmentation

Trigger: Various criteria

What happens:

Revenue > $100,000:
  → Segment = "Enterprise"
  → Owner = Senior Account Manager

Revenue $10,000-100,000:
  → Segment = "Mid-Market"

Revenue < $10,000:
  → Segment = "SMB"

Industry = "E-Commerce":
  → Tag: "E-Commerce"
  → Add to specific nurturing list

Setup:

1. Trigger: Property "Annual Revenue" is known
2. Branch by revenue ranges
3. Set segment property + assign owner
4. Enroll in relevant lists

9. Meeting Follow-up

Trigger: Meeting booked through HubSpot

What happens:

Meeting booked:
  → Confirmation via email
  → Task for owner: "Prepare for meeting"
  → Check contact's LinkedIn profile (Manual Task)

1h before meeting:
  → Reminder to both parties

After meeting (automatically detected):
  → Task: "Send follow-up"
  → Delay 1 day
  → Automatic follow-up email if no manual one sent

Setup:

Use HubSpot Meetings + Workflows:

1. Trigger: "Meeting activity" = Booked
2. Actions for preparation
3. Trigger: "Meeting outcome" = Completed
4. Actions for follow-up

10. Churn Prevention

Trigger: Warning signs detected

Warning signs:

- No login for 14 days
- Support tickets > 3 in 30 days
- NPS Score < 7
- Usage dropped > 50%

What happens:

Warning sign detected:
  → Property "Churn Risk" = High
  → CSM receives alert
  → Task: "Churn Prevention Call"
  → Optional: Inform executive sponsor

No engagement after 7 days:
  → Escalate to management

Setup:

1. Integrate your product data (API/Zapier)
2. Trigger: "Churn Risk Score" > Threshold
3. Notify CSM + Create task
4. Delay 7 days
5. Branch: "Task completed?"
   • No → Escalate

Advanced Workflow Techniques

Using Branches Effectively

IF Contact property "Industry" = "E-Commerce"
  → Send E-Commerce specific email
ELIF Contact property "Industry" = "SaaS"
  → Send SaaS specific email
ELSE
  → Send generic email

Combining Multiple Triggers

Trigger: ANY of the following:
  - Form submission: Contact Form
  - Form submission: Demo Form
  - Form submission: Pricing Form

Extending Workflows with Webhooks

Trigger: Deal stage = "Proposal Sent"
Action: Webhook to Make.com
  → Make.com creates proposal in PandaDoc
  → PandaDoc sends for signature
  → Webhook back to HubSpot: Deal → "Contract Sent"

Understanding HubSpot Workflow Enrollment Triggers

Enrollment triggers determine who enters a workflow and when. Getting these right is the difference between a workflow that converts and one that annoys.

Types of Enrollment Triggers:

How Enrollment Triggers Actually Work:

1. Evaluation: HubSpot checks the trigger condition when an event occurs (not on a schedule)
2. Filter: Only contacts matching ALL trigger criteria AND enrollment filters enter the workflow
3. Timing: Contacts enter immediately when the trigger fires — there is no batch processing
4. One-time by default: Each contact enters the workflow only once unless re-enrollment is enabled

Advanced Trigger Combinations:

Trigger: ANY of the following:
  - Contact visited pricing page
  - Contact clicked CTA in email
  - Contact property "Intent Score" > 30

AND Enrollment filters:
  - Lifecycle Stage is NOT Customer
  - Email subscription status is Subscribed
  - NOT in suppression list "Competitors"

Common Enrollment Trigger Mistakes:

1. Too broad: Using "any form submission" instead of specific forms — leads to irrelevant enrollments
2. Missing filters: Not excluding existing customers from lead nurturing workflows
3. Property trigger loops: Setting a property in the workflow that also triggers the workflow → infinite loop
4. Date trigger misunderstanding: Date-based triggers check once when the date is reached, not continuously

Pro Tip — Trigger + Filter Strategy:

Use a broad trigger (e.g., "form submission") combined with narrow filters (e.g., "industry = E-Commerce AND company size > 10"). This way you capture all leads but only enroll the right segment.

Re-Enrollment Logic

By default, a contact goes through a workflow only once. For recurring actions, you need to explicitly enable re-enrollment:

Settings → Re-enrollment → Allow re-enrollment when:

• Contact property changes
• List membership changes
• Form submitted again

When to use re-enrollment:

• Recurring lead scoring updates
• Transaction-based workflows (new order = new workflow run)
• Re-engagement sequences (contact becomes inactive again)

When NOT to use re-enrollment:

• Welcome sequences (one-time only)
• Onboarding workflows
• Churn prevention (use a separate "re-engaged" workflow instead)

Best Practices

1. Naming Convention

[Type] - [Goal] - [Details]

Examples:
"Lead - Nurturing - Newsletter Signup"
"Customer - Onboarding - Enterprise"
"Sales - Notification - Hot Lead Alert"

2. Always Set a Goal

Every workflow should have a goal (when is it successful?):

• Workflow Settings → Goal
• Contacts who reach the goal exit the workflow

3. Use Suppression Lists

Prevent certain contacts from entering workflows:

• Competitors
• Internal emails
• Unsubscribed contacts
• Existing customers (for lead workflows)

4. Test Before Activation

1. Create test contact
2. Set workflow to "Test mode"
3. Simulate run-through
4. Check all paths
5. Only then activate

5. Monitor Performance

Check regularly:

• Enrollment Rate
• Conversion Rate (for Goal)
• Email Open/Click Rates
• Workflow Errors

HubSpot + Make.com: A Powerful Combination

Why add Make.com?

HubSpot workflows are powerful but limited to HubSpot. With Make.com you can:

• Integrate external APIs
• Implement complex logic
• Build multi-app workflows
• Transform data

Example: Automatic Proposal Generation

HubSpot: Deal reaches "Proposal" Stage
    → Webhook to Make.com

Make.com:
    → Fetch deal data
    → Generate proposal in PandaDoc
    → Attach PDF to HubSpot deal
    → Email proposal to contact

HubSpot: Deal property "Proposal Sent" = True

Checklist: Setting Up Workflows

Planning

Setup

Test

Go-Live

Conclusion

HubSpot workflows are the key to scalable marketing and sales. The 10 workflows in this article cover the most important use cases:

1. Automatically nurture leads
2. Identify and notify on hot leads
3. Automate the sales process
4. Successfully onboard customers
5. Prevent churn

Start with one workflow. Perfect it. Then move to the next.

---

Want to get the most out of HubSpot? We help with workflow strategy, implementation, and optimization - from the basics to complex multi-tool automations. You can also explore the HubSpot-Slack integration for connecting your CRM with team communication. Contact us for a free consultation.