Struggling with how to setup hubspot for my atypical business model.

[DavidJMichael]

S.O.S.!!! @ my fellow HubSpot community members…

So, I’m currently struggling with figuring out how to best set up HubSpot for my atypical business model. I am one of two co-founders of a commercial finance brokerage, with a heavy focus on MCA’s (merchant cash advances), equipment financing, and AR (accounts receivable)/invoice factoring.

The way our business works is pretty unconventional. We purchase leads from specialized data providers that give us the essential details of potential merchants. We purchase high quality data, so we don't ever speak to anybody except for the business owner(must have 51% ownership or more). From there, our team dives into a high-volume, multi-channel outreach—making calls, sending texts, and firing off emails—to connect with business owners. When we connect via phone call(our preferred method), we have a discussion about their situation, and ask them the relevant questions so that, by the end of the call, we've learned enough to be able to pre-fill an application for them so that all they need to do to complete our application process, is to click/tap a few times to sign the application. Once an application is submitted, we figure out(manually as of right now, which is a problem), which of our network of more than 50 direct funders, some with multiple different programs and program requirements, have programs that the merchant meets the minimum criteria for so that we can submit our merchant's application to those funders.

I’m having trouble translating this complex, call center-like operation into HubSpot’s framework. I need a setup that can:

•  Efficiently track every stage—from initial lead acquisition through to deal closure.
• Associate contacts with deals automatically and automatically assign the associated contact/deal with the same contact/deal owner
• Matchmake merchant's eligibile funders for every deal(show which funders the merchant meets the minimum criteria for)

Has anyone here customized HubSpot for a similar business model or encountered these kinds of challenges? Any insights, best practices, or recommendations for integrations that could streamline this process would be immensely helpful. Thanks in advance for your advice!

I should probably mention that I have sales hub enterprise, content pro, and marketing pro. I've also created a custom object for "Programs" and had planned on creating a "Program record" for each of my funder's programs.

[Lucila-Andimol · Accepted solution]

HI @DavidJMichael 

I’ve been reviewing your needs, and I see many possible implementation paths that could work well for your business. We could explore using Playbooks to streamline data entry, leverage document signatures for efficiency, or even implement custom cards inside records to simplify quoting and program or partner selection.

I’d love to schedule a call to discuss these options and tailor the right solution for you. 

Looking forward to connecting.

[TomM2 · Accepted solution]

Hey @DavidJMichael It's actually not that unique a situation you're in tbh! I think what you need to do though is map out each "object" or "profile" you want to have. 

I've setup HubSpot for investors and investment firms in the past where it can seem like "stakeholder" "key investor" "recipient" are all different objects, but they're people, thus they're "contacts". How to segment then can be through multiple avenues in HubSpot too. 

A few things I would try to define: 

1. Contacts - Contacts are anyone who is in individual who can be contacted at any one point. 

1.a Contact segmentation - What seperates the individuals you're talking to, do you need different associations to companies/other contacts/ deals? Can this be done through a custom property? 

2. Companies - Honestly, these are probably the same questions as above. 

3. Deals - Who are the stakeholders? Are they easily visible through each deal? Are you able to view your atrribution for each deal effectively? 

Custom objects definitely sounds like it makes a lot of sense for your use case, but I'd always try to hold back as much as possible before introducing that addiional layer of complexity but it sounds like you're on the right track with it. 

I think one of the main features within HubSpot that would help you is association labels. This would give you the ability to have multiple records on the same objects with a way to easily segment them based on their relationship to the object. 

Association labels will give you the ability to segment object records in automation too, so you can say "assign X owner to X deal based on them being the owner of this associated contact" or "move deal X to deal stage X based on the contact with this association label doing X action" 

[Lucila-Andimol · Accepted solution]

HI @DavidJMichael 

I’ve been reviewing your needs, and I see many possible implementation paths that could work well for your business. We could explore using Playbooks to streamline data entry, leverage document signatures for efficiency, or even implement custom cards inside records to simplify quoting and program or partner selection.

I’d love to schedule a call to discuss these options and tailor the right solution for you. 

Looking forward to connecting.

[PamCotton]

Hey @DavidJMichael, thank you so much for posting in our Community!

Your business model is unique, but HubSpot can be customized to support it effectively. 

Since you have Sales Hub Enterprise and Marketing Pro, you have access to advanced automation and custom objects, which will be key.

It sounds like you’re on the right track with your custom "Programs" object. To streamline your workflow, you can use workflows to auto-assign contacts to deals, set up deal pipelines that match your sales process, and leverage custom properties to tag funders based on eligibility criteria. 

To our top experts, @TomM2 and @Lucila-Andimol, do you have any recommendations for @DavidJMichael matter?

Thank you,

Pam

[DavidJMichael]

Thanks for your input Pam... I appreciate your input. You might be suprised at how much it helps me, just knowing that the direction I've gone with things so far, isn't completely outlandish.