Customizable quote templates - developer needed?

[LNitti]

Hello,

We are currently on the legacy commerce hub and migrating to the new version next year. 

We want to look at HubSpot for our quoting/proposal process. For anyone that recently starting building our proposals in HubSpot, can you share with me your experience and how difficult it is? I was looking at the knowledge base about quote customizations using no code and then what is part of the customization that would require a developer.

Has anyone had any luck with a HubSpot developer for these types of projects? Is it worth the cost or is this something that can truly be done in house?

Thank you!

[iamtomgray]

Hi @LNitti, nice to meet you!

There's a native HubSpot app called Portant that makes building proposals/quotes easy in HubSpot - especially if you want full control over formatting and data without a developer.

You can keep using Google Docs, Slides, Word, PowerPoints, and so on, to design proposals exactly how you want them and pull any HubSpot data.

For example, you can:

• source and use any data connected to your HubSpot Deal (custom properties & custom objects included)
• use Google Docs/Slides templates so proposals look exactly how you want
• save proposals back as their own records inside a deal so you can trigger automations
• be used as an action inside a HubSpot workflow
• get quick access to latest documents right inside the deal card

Most teams find the bulk of proposal work can be done in-house (template design, mapping HubSpot fields, basic workflows). You typically only need a developer for advanced integrations or custom UI work (e.g., bespoke pricing engines, external systems syncing).

If your team is comfortable with HubSpot properties, workflows and Google Docs/Slides, you can get a lot done without external dev cost.

Hope it helps!

Cheers,
Tom

Portant on HubSpot's Marketplace

[TomM2 · Accepted solution]

Hey @LNitti unfortunately yes for the moment it does require custom development to create custom quote themes. There's no drag and drop editor for quote themes within the product. 

If you want to do it in-house you would need some knowledge of HTML, css and Hubl. If you or someone in-house has time there's some great documentation on hubl to help you get to grasps with it here. Wether it's worth the time or not would really be down to you, if you have the time to learn this in-house then it's definitely a good skill to have and a lot quicker to update themes and templates. If you don't have the time to add these skills in-house though an agency developer might be the way to go. 

For full transparency I do work for a platinum HubSpot agency, so wouldn't be a regular HubSpot user creating templates. If you are looking to have a developer create custom quotes feel free to drop me a message and I'll be happy to connect you with our developer to discuss your needs.