Emailing a contact, based on action of another contact
SOLVE
2 Accepted solutions
Emailing a contact, based on action of another contact
SOLVE
Q: Can I actually trigger an email to one HubSpot contact based on actions performed by another contact?
Short A: Not really, but keep reading ...
Longer A:
Just so happens that we inherited an Enterprise portal last year that had / has a similar solution in place. The solution that follows was running for over 100K contacts before we cleaned the DB. It still runs today for close to 50K contacts.
There are other (different) solutions, but can't honestly say one is better than the other. They're just different. All solutions will require documentation and maintenance.
Let's agree on our terminology and a couple HubSpot rules ...
TERMINOLOGY
- HubSpot Contact -- people in our CRM to whom we send email. They do NOT have access to our portal.
- HubSpot User -- people who we've allowed (even limited) access to our HubSpot portal AND to whom we may send BOTH email AND internal notifications. (important)
HUBSPOT RULE(s)
- Sending email to one contact based on the actions of another contact is NOT built-in native HubSpot functionality. And if it were, it would make humans literally go insane. haha
SOLUTION (step-by-step)
-1- Create a custom contact property -- e.g., 'Doctor of Record' (type = Hubspot user).
-2- Add each doctor as a HubSpot User with very limited access to sales AND marketing.
-3- Update patient records to reflect the correct 'Doctor of Record'
(see image)
-4- Build the following workflow to send an internal notification to the appropriate 'Doctor of Record' when contacts (patients) make purchases.
(see image - PARTIAL WORKFLOW)
-5- Complete the workflow by addingthe appropriate If/then branch logic for EACH 'Doctor of Record' as needed.
(see image)
Disclaimer: This solution takes into account important items that aren't discussed here, but which are directly affected -- e.g., contact record ownersip (very important), marketing email templating smart rules, marketing email sends, etc.
Happy to help you build this out and document (depending on timeframe).
Can't wait to see what we can help you build on HubSpot next.
Best,
Frank
Help find this post quickly ... accept this solution now.
Emailing a contact, based on action of another contact
SOLVEThank you for the very thorough response Frank! I don't think that would work for us though. We wouldn't want to make all the doctors Hubspot Users. Still, your answer helped me get on the right track, and I figured out a much simpler solution!
SOLUTION
Step 1: Create a Custom Property: Doctor's Email (type: single line text)
This is a property that will need to be filled out for all patients. However, for compliance any email address put in this field should exist as it's own opted-in contact. I.E. the doctor should have opted into email.
Step 2: Create a Workflow to Send An Internal Email
When you select the option to send an internal email, you can choose to base the recipient off any email property. Select "Doctor's Email" from the dropdown.
By setting up the workflow this way, one contact (a patient) can enroll in the workflow based on your enrollment criteria, but then another contact (their doctor) is the one who will be emailed.
Step 3: Create Your Email Using Personalization Tokens
This is the best part. Because the patient is the contact entering the workflow, any personalization tokens you use in the email will refer to the patient, even though the email is going to the doctor. This is very helpful to plug in the patient info you need to share with the doctor. Ex:
Step 4: See Results in Both Contact Records
Because both contacts exist in your Hubspot account, you can see that the patient completed the workflow and the doctor received an email. Note: I checked and this all works even if the email you use for custom property "Doctor's Email" isn't in your account. However, it is safer to have them exist as a contact for opt-in/opt-out options.
Maybe you can simplify your process with this method! I appreciate the help and hope I was helpful in return.
Chris
Emailing a contact, based on action of another contact
SOLVE
Q: Can I actually trigger an email to one HubSpot contact based on actions performed by another contact?
Short A: Not really, but keep reading ...
Longer A:
Just so happens that we inherited an Enterprise portal last year that had / has a similar solution in place. The solution that follows was running for over 100K contacts before we cleaned the DB. It still runs today for close to 50K contacts.
There are other (different) solutions, but can't honestly say one is better than the other. They're just different. All solutions will require documentation and maintenance.
Let's agree on our terminology and a couple HubSpot rules ...
TERMINOLOGY
- HubSpot Contact -- people in our CRM to whom we send email. They do NOT have access to our portal.
- HubSpot User -- people who we've allowed (even limited) access to our HubSpot portal AND to whom we may send BOTH email AND internal notifications. (important)
HUBSPOT RULE(s)
- Sending email to one contact based on the actions of another contact is NOT built-in native HubSpot functionality. And if it were, it would make humans literally go insane. haha
SOLUTION (step-by-step)
-1- Create a custom contact property -- e.g., 'Doctor of Record' (type = Hubspot user).
-2- Add each doctor as a HubSpot User with very limited access to sales AND marketing.
-3- Update patient records to reflect the correct 'Doctor of Record'
(see image)
-4- Build the following workflow to send an internal notification to the appropriate 'Doctor of Record' when contacts (patients) make purchases.
(see image - PARTIAL WORKFLOW)
-5- Complete the workflow by addingthe appropriate If/then branch logic for EACH 'Doctor of Record' as needed.
(see image)
Disclaimer: This solution takes into account important items that aren't discussed here, but which are directly affected -- e.g., contact record ownersip (very important), marketing email templating smart rules, marketing email sends, etc.
Happy to help you build this out and document (depending on timeframe).
Can't wait to see what we can help you build on HubSpot next.
Best,
Frank
Help find this post quickly ... accept this solution now.
Emailing a contact, based on action of another contact
SOLVEThank you for the very thorough response Frank! I don't think that would work for us though. We wouldn't want to make all the doctors Hubspot Users. Still, your answer helped me get on the right track, and I figured out a much simpler solution!
SOLUTION
Step 1: Create a Custom Property: Doctor's Email (type: single line text)
This is a property that will need to be filled out for all patients. However, for compliance any email address put in this field should exist as it's own opted-in contact. I.E. the doctor should have opted into email.
Step 2: Create a Workflow to Send An Internal Email
When you select the option to send an internal email, you can choose to base the recipient off any email property. Select "Doctor's Email" from the dropdown.
By setting up the workflow this way, one contact (a patient) can enroll in the workflow based on your enrollment criteria, but then another contact (their doctor) is the one who will be emailed.
Step 3: Create Your Email Using Personalization Tokens
This is the best part. Because the patient is the contact entering the workflow, any personalization tokens you use in the email will refer to the patient, even though the email is going to the doctor. This is very helpful to plug in the patient info you need to share with the doctor. Ex:
Step 4: See Results in Both Contact Records
Because both contacts exist in your Hubspot account, you can see that the patient completed the workflow and the doctor received an email. Note: I checked and this all works even if the email you use for custom property "Doctor's Email" isn't in your account. However, it is safer to have them exist as a contact for opt-in/opt-out options.
Maybe you can simplify your process with this method! I appreciate the help and hope I was helpful in return.
Chris
Emailing a contact, based on action of another contact
SOLVEYes @CBentley. Excellent point about also adding the recipient as a contact. That way we can track email sends on their contact record as well. Nice.
However ...
Using a single line text field wouldn't work (in our use case) because of the human factor (too error-prone for a heavily regulated industry). Sounds like you have a much higher degree of control over who will be entering doctor's email addresses into that field. Obviously, a bad email address there plus a corresponding notification failure would mean the intended recipient would not get notified and no one will know about it unless someone (you) periodically checked the workflow performance log for errors. (not ideal)
Also, the method we originally described allows HubSpot to handle email address verification for all doctors without ever even allowing erroneous email addresses to be used in notifications. This is needed as protection for HIPAA compliance (beyond the scope of this discussion, but worth mentioning based on your modifications).
In our use case, the client is also in a heavily regulated industry with high compliance standards, so risking accidential notifications that included even something as seemingly innocuous as a 'client name' being sent to an inaccurate email address leaves them too exposed (legally). Additionally, our notifications sometimes contain other confidential data, so ...
The above withstanding, I'm not sure how your solution would stand up to HIPAA compliance scrutiny based on the high error potential. Personally, I'd run it by legal just to be safe -- a good practice whenever working in a portal that touches a regulated industry. The last place we want to be (as HubSpot Admins) is on the wrong side of a decision that resulted in systemic HIPAA-compliance violations.
Finally, since the original solution is accurate please also mark as solved. Thanks.
Hope that helps.
