Background
This story is about a fast-growing agency that serves a very specific niche. With fewer than 50 employees, they’ve built a reputation as experts in their field and were even recognized as one of the fastest-growing companies in the country. Their clients see them as thought leaders. But behind the scenes, their own support system was anything but polished.
They were juggling a mix of software—help desk tools, spreadsheets, project management apps—all duct-taped together with manual updates. It worked, but just barely. Every client request felt like it had to climb through a maze before it reached the right person. And without reliable reporting, they couldn’t see where things were slowing down.
They knew it was time to evolve. So, they turned to HubSpot Service Hub with the goal of building something smarter, more scalable, and a whole lot easier for both their team and their clients.
The challenge
Three big roadblocks stood in the way:
- A support system stuck in manual mode: Their old help desk tool didn’t automate much of anything. Tickets had to be manually assigned, updates had to be tracked by hand, and nobody had a clear view of the full picture.
- A tangled web of tools: The team was living out of multiple platforms—Asana for projects, Zapier for automation, spreadsheets for client records. None of them talked to each other, so every update became another copy-and-paste exercise.
- No clear metrics, no client visibility: They couldn’t easily track service performance metrics like response times. Clients, on the other hand, couldn’t see their ticket history, had login troubles in the portal, and didn’t have a central place for self-service answers.
The solution
Instead of flipping a switch and hoping for the best, the team took a phased approach.
Phase one: get the essentials right
They replicated the must-have features of the old system inside HubSpot: ticket submission, routing, and client notifications.
Phase two: build for the future
Once the foundation was stable, they layered in advanced features like a client portal, a searchable knowledge base, and client satisfaction surveys.
They also tackled automation head-on:
- A form with conditional logic now routes tickets to the right support person automatically.
- HubSpot was integrated with their project management tool through Zapier, creating a two-way flow of data so the team didn’t have to update tasks in two places.
- Hands-on training helped staff learn how to build custom views, track performance metrics, and even use HubSpot’s AI-powered reporting features. Along the way, they consolidated tools—ditching external apps in favor of HubSpot’s built-in solutions whenever possible.
The results
- Support finally felt streamlined: Tickets were automatically routed, updates were tracked in real time, and the team had visibility into every client request.
- Clients got a better experience: They now had a clear way to submit tickets, and the foundation for self-service was in place with the knowledge base and portal.
- The business got smarter: For the first time, leadership could see service metrics in black and white: response times, resolution times, and client satisfaction scores. With this data, they started making more informed staffing and process decisions.
- A roadmap for growth was set: Support was just the beginning. The company began planning to bring sales into HubSpot, moving away from scattered Google Docs. They also explored using HubSpot’s Content Hub for podcasts and content creation—centralizing even more of their operations.
Takeaway
This isn’t just a story about adopting new software—it’s about building a smarter way to work. By phasing the rollout, focusing on automation, and consolidating tools, the agency turned a messy, manual system into a streamlined, data-driven support engine.
The best part? They didn’t just fix today’s problems—they set themselves up for growth tomorrow. With HubSpot as their foundation, they now have the tools (and the confidence) to keep scaling without sacrificing client experience.
