Document Creation in HubSpot

[JBishop1]

Hello, 

I need some help - I want to use HubSpot as a CRM for my Certification Body. 

So I ideally want to have customer information stored in Hubspot like: 

• Name of Company
• FTE of Employees 
• Contact name of Company
• Contact Email 
• Contact Phone Number 
• Address of Business 
• Management System Standard Required 
• Scope of Management System
• Is the business Responsible for Design and Development? 

Then I was hoping that I can automate the creation of certain documents using the inputted information for each of these above fields into the templates. 

For example I would want to automate the generaiton of a 

"Audit Plan"  (This could be a PDF - that the client needs to sign)

"Stage 1 Self Assessment Form" (This would need to be a word document not PDF)

Stage 2 Audit Report (This would need to be a word document not PDF)

So that I don't have to manually copy and paste the information the client provides me when I ask them to answer these questions below: 

• Name of Company
• FTE of Employees 
• Contact name of Company
• Contact Email 
• Contact Phone Number 
• Address of Business 
• Management System Standard Required 
• Scope of Management System
• Is the business Responsible for Design and Development?

Is this possible within HubSpot? Or do I need to integrate another software? 

Any help would be amazingly appreciated!!

Jose 

[HubSpot_Corey · Accepted solution]

Hi @JBishop1,

Great to hear that you're looking to leverage HubSpot for your Certification Body's CRM and document automation needs! Unfortunately, HubSpot doesn't natively support using its data to auto-fill forms or documents. However, there are a couple of effective approaches to achieve this workflow:

1. Using HubSpot's APIs with Custom Coding: You could develop a custom application that interacts with HubSpot's APIs to fetch the required customer data and then programmatically generate documents. This method provides a high degree of customisation and control over how data is retrieved and formatted in the documents. You'll need to use programming languages like Python or JavaScript, and tools like document creation libraries (e.g., Python's ReportLab for PDFs or python-docx for Word documents) to create and populate your templates. You can also pre-fill existing HubSpot forms by extracting the data using an API and building on the HubSpot form's URL using query strings. However, be cautious, as you wouldn't want to expose client's confidential information if this URL gets leaked.

2. Integration with Automation Tools (e.g., Zapier): This approach involves using an automation platform like Zapier, which can connect HubSpot to other services that specialise in document generation, such as WebMerge or PandaDoc. With Zapier, you can set up triggers in HubSpot (e.g., when a new contact is added or updated) to initiate the document creation process in another tool that supports dynamic document templates. This method is generally easier to implement and manage, as it requires less coding knowledge and leverages existing platforms designed for such tasks.

Both solutions have their merits, depending on your specific needs, resources, and expertise. If you're comfortable with coding and have the resources to maintain custom software, the first option might be suitable. If you prefer a more straightforward setup without deep technical requirements, then using Zapier with a document generation tool could be the way to go.

If you need me to break any of these options down into further detail, please just let me know!

[Roger]

Hi @JBishop1 
we finally created a smart plugin, where you can generate a word out of a HubSpot with just one click. It's new in the marketplace: https://ecosystem.hubspot.com/de/marketplace/apps/sales/sales-enablement/chilidocs--2934307 
So, if you start from a deal, you have access to all associated objects and properties. You create a word document as your template and set the control characters, where needed. 
Let me know what you think. 
Roger

[james-portant]

Hi @JBishop1 

Nice to meet you!

We have a document automation app for HubSpot called Portant. It enables you to use a Google Doc or SLides file as a template and then insert HubSpot Propoerties in the document to personalise it. (Exactly the thing you're looking for I think) I made a short 60s video about it here:

If that looks helpful, we have some docs to help you get started: https://docs.portant.co/portant-docs/sources/hubspot but if you need any additional help, please feel to book a call here: https://calendly.com/james-portant/30-min-meeting

Cheers,
James - CEO @ Portant

Portant App for HubSpot: https://ecosystem.hubspot.com/marketplace/apps/sales/sales-enablement/portant-hubspot-google-docs-in...

[DMorly]

Hi,

Great integration.

Does this work with this scenario:

I have a custom object where I manage an order. This links to a 2 contact with different association labels and  a deal.

With Hubspot's limits on Synced Property and limitations with workflows, the onlh way I can show the data frome the associations is to have a few cards within mh custom object which visually gives me the data on page.

However, Hubspot doesn't recognise this info as being a part of the custom object so it doesn't show in the grid view or my pipeline, so I can't export the data as a whole in a CSV to do a mailmerge document.

So, will your software recognise the data that shows on the cards of the associated objects so that I can include it with a document to print?

thanks

[Lucila-Andimol · Accepted solution]

Hey @JBishop1 

there could be a couple of different solutions 

but if you are looking to generate a documents that gets autocompleted with HubSpot objects and properties

and that need to be sign

I'd suggest 3rd party integrations like OneFlow, Docusign, PandDoc...

If you are needing and autogenerated PDF, this could be done programming.

Hope this helps

[HubSpot_Corey · Accepted solution]

Hi @JBishop1,

Great to hear that you're looking to leverage HubSpot for your Certification Body's CRM and document automation needs! Unfortunately, HubSpot doesn't natively support using its data to auto-fill forms or documents. However, there are a couple of effective approaches to achieve this workflow:

1. Using HubSpot's APIs with Custom Coding: You could develop a custom application that interacts with HubSpot's APIs to fetch the required customer data and then programmatically generate documents. This method provides a high degree of customisation and control over how data is retrieved and formatted in the documents. You'll need to use programming languages like Python or JavaScript, and tools like document creation libraries (e.g., Python's ReportLab for PDFs or python-docx for Word documents) to create and populate your templates. You can also pre-fill existing HubSpot forms by extracting the data using an API and building on the HubSpot form's URL using query strings. However, be cautious, as you wouldn't want to expose client's confidential information if this URL gets leaked.

2. Integration with Automation Tools (e.g., Zapier): This approach involves using an automation platform like Zapier, which can connect HubSpot to other services that specialise in document generation, such as WebMerge or PandaDoc. With Zapier, you can set up triggers in HubSpot (e.g., when a new contact is added or updated) to initiate the document creation process in another tool that supports dynamic document templates. This method is generally easier to implement and manage, as it requires less coding knowledge and leverages existing platforms designed for such tasks.

Both solutions have their merits, depending on your specific needs, resources, and expertise. If you're comfortable with coding and have the resources to maintain custom software, the first option might be suitable. If you prefer a more straightforward setup without deep technical requirements, then using Zapier with a document generation tool could be the way to go.

If you need me to break any of these options down into further detail, please just let me know!