Assign a unique number to a contact on form submission

[BexDuvall]

Hi

I want to assign a unique number to each contact as they complete a form. I am thinking I can manage this through the calculation property and workflows. Can anyone help me solve this. I don't understand how to use or set-up the calculation porerty field or whether i am over-complicating this and there is a much simpler option.

Thanks for any wisdom on this.
Bex

[BexDuvall]

Thanks Karsten. That is super helpful. I think I am going to go with the active list and manage it manually. I have also voted on it in the ideas section, thanks for highlighting. 

[karstenkoehler · Accepted solution]

Hi @BexDuvall,

Got it, @BexDuvall. Unfortunately, this is currently not possible natively. Workflows and calculation properties wouldn't help here since they're always looking at a single contact – they can't "count" by looking at multiple contacts.

My recommendation for a lean process: Create an active list, bookmark it and keep an eye on the number of contacts in that list. Manual, yes, and not ideal, but by far the easiest option.

Having said that, there are a few workarounds:

Use Zapier to send contacts from HubSpot to a Google Sheet, assign a running number in the Google Sheet, send the contacts back to HubSpot and map the running number to a custom property.

Create custom code in Operations Hub Professional. While "vanilla" workflows can't count, they can with custom code. This would require the Operations Hub Professional license and a developer.

Wait for this to become a native feature. There is already a request in the HubSpot Ideas section which is currently being reviewed. I'd recommend upvoting and commenting on the idea to support it.

Hope this helps!

[karstenkoehler]

Hi @BexDuvall,

Do you need this property to follow a certain taxonomy? If not, the Contact ID could potentially be your unique number. Each contact gets one automatically. You'd simply have to filter them by "Recent conversion is known", for example, making sure that they've filled out a form before.

If you can share some more context about the purpose and requirements for this number, that will help with providing a solution.

Best regards!

[BexDuvall]

Thanks Karsten, ideally it would be taxonomy in its simplest form 1 through to 300. It is acting as registration number and by making it a unique number we can keep the registration simple and straight forward. The first 300 get a place and they can use this number as their identifier and it is quick and easy to cross off on arrival, then anyone after 300 gets an automated email saying they are unlucky on this occasion.