Forms and Contact Reconversion - Assistant Submits Multiple Names with Same Email Address

[tcultech]

Hello,

I have a signup form for an event.

A CEO's assistant is told to sign the C-suite up for this event.

The assistant uses the form and submits 6 people using the assistant's email address and now they have simply changed their contact name 6 times. And the last name they use is now a duplicate name along with the real person who we already have in the CRM with their correct email address. All the people who need to be emailed about this event will have their email directed to the assistant now. Additionally, the guests are not properly totaled in the form submission list so we can no longer see how many people will be attending.

I understand that many CEOs prefer having an admin handle their email, but this breaks our CRM and wreaks havoc with tracking all the guests who are not properly totaled in the form submission list.

Additional Wrinkle

The event is live so we have last-minute changes that need to be communicated via SMS and now the mobile number that was also entered is the assistant's number and the assistant will not be attending the event.

Is there a way to solve this so that attempting to submit a form with the same email address but a different name is not possible or presents a warning, or is there a better solution at all to this type of conundrum?

Thanks!

[jolle]

Hey @tcultech, good question! 

HubSpot is a super capable tool, but it's only as smart as we tell it to be. There's no way for communication sent through HubSpot to get to an email address or phone number other than what was provided to HubSpot.

HubSpot uses email address as the unique identifier for all contacts, so a form that is submitted using the same email address will simply update the same contact record. The assistant should use the C-Suite member's email address and phone for every submission in order for communications to be delivered directly to the C-Suite member (and create a unique contact record in HubSpot).

The assistant also needs to use incognito mode when they are submitting the form on behalf of others. That will prevent HubSpot from tracking the user and updating the same record vs creating a new record.

Hopefully the assistant is able to get the proper contact info from you. If nothing else, your texts/emails would have gone to the assistant, so hopefully they can relay the last-minute changes.

Hope this helps!!

[tcultech]

Hi Jacob,

Thanks much for your reply and for clarifying that there's no workflow folks use to avoid record overwriting by folks working for others and using their own credentials repeatedly.

I think the best I can do is place warnings on the form itself that you should not use your own email address for other people's contact info as it will only add multiple updates to your own record and change your name and we will not be able to register those people for the event.

All the assistants and the CEOs they are registering already exist in the CRM. So, even in incognito mode, the moment the email address appears in the field and the form is submitted, it will write the data to that email address's associated contact (the assistant).

This appears to be a scenario that arises when an assistant is charged with arranging and tracking an event for their boss, and they need to guarantee the email sent to the boss is not lost in the shuffle. 

I think that one possible solution might be to offer an additional email field that would CC the assistant with any communications about this particular registration. Not sure how or if that could work, but if I've identified the problem correctly, it's a path to explore a little further.

Thanks much for your time and reply!