A Complete Guide to Customizing Your HubSpot CRM with Custom Objects
Managing customer relationships effectively is crucial for success in today’s fast-paced business environment. HubSpot, a leading CRM platform, offers tools to help businesses attract, engage, and delight customers. From marketing automation to sales tracking and customer service, HubSpot provides an all-in-one solution for businesses of all sizes.
One key aspect that sets successful businesses apart is the ability to customize their CRM to meet their unique needs. Customization allows companies to capture specific data, automate tailored workflows, and generate insightful reports that align with their business processes. This level of customization is significant for businesses with unique or complex requirements that standard CRM functionalities may not fully address.
This is where HubSpot’s powerful tool, custom objects, comes into play. Custom objects allow businesses to create and manage unique data structures within their HubSpot CRM. Whether you need to track specific customer interactions, manage detailed inventory data, or handle event registrations, custom objects allow you to tailor the CRM to your precise requirements.
Understanding HubSpot Custom Objects
Definition and Explanation of Custom Objects
HubSpot custom objects are a powerful feature that allows users to create new data entities unique to their business needs. Unlike standard objects in HubSpot—such as Contacts, Companies, Deals, and Tickets—custom objects can be defined and customized entirely by the user, allowing them to organize data within a specific data structure that fits their business needs. This means you can create objects that perfectly fit your data requirements and business processes.
Difference Between HubSpot Standard and Custom Objects
Standard objects in HubSpot, or HubSpot standard objects, are pre-defined entities with the platform. These include:
Contacts: Individuals with whom you have interactions.
Companies: Businesses or organizations you are dealing with.
Deals: Opportunities or potential sales.
Tickets: Customer service requests or issues.
While these HubSpot standard objects cover the most common use cases, they may not be sufficient for all business scenarios. On the other hand, hubspot custom objects allow you to define additional CRM objects not covered by standard objects. For example, suppose your business needs to track specific types of transactions, manage a catalog of products, or maintain a database of events. In that case, you can create custom objects to handle these tasks.
Use Cases for Custom Objects
Custom objects can be incredibly versatile and are used in various ways depending on the business needs. Here are a few everyday use cases:
Managing Inventory: Create a custom object to track products, their quantities, and stock levels. This can be integrated with your sales data to view your inventory status comprehensively.
Tracking Projects: For project-based businesses, custom objects can be used to manage projects, milestones, and deliverables. These objects can be associated with contacts and companies to organize all project-related information. Custom objects can also associate contacts with specific projects, ensuring all relevant information is linked.
Handling Events: If your business organizes events, custom objects can help you manage event details, registrations, and attendee information. This ensures you have all the necessary data in one place and can streamline event management processes. Custom objects can help create a detailed contact record for each attendee, capturing all interactions and event participation data.
By leveraging custom objects, businesses can extend HubSpot’s functionality to cover virtually any data management requirement, making it a customized CRM solution.
Capabilities of Custom Objects
Creating Custom Properties to Store Unique Data
One of the primary capabilities of creating custom objects in HubSpot is the ability to create custom properties. These properties allow you to store specific data types unique to your business. For instance, if you manage an inventory system, you might create properties such as SKU numbers, stock levels, supplier information, and reorder thresholds. By defining these custom properties, you ensure that all necessary data is captured accurately and comprehensively.
Associating Custom Objects with Standard Objects
Custom objects can be associated with standard HubSpot objects like contacts, companies, and deals, enabling a seamless flow of information across your CRM. For example, suppose you create a custom object for managing projects. In that case, you can link each project to specific contacts (e.g., project managers and developers), companies (e.g., clients), and deals (e.g., project contracts). This object association helps maintain a holistic view of your business operations, providing context and insight into how different elements are interconnected.
Automating Processes Using Workflows Specific to Custom Objects
Automation is a crucial feature of HubSpot, and custom object-based workflows are no exception. You can set up workflows triggered by changes or updates to custom objects. For example, if you have a custom object for event management, you could create a workflow that sends reminder emails to attendees a week before the event, assigns tasks to your team members based on registration statuses, or updates contact records with event participation data. These automated workflows help streamline processes, reduce manual work, and ensure consistency in your operations.
Reporting and Analyzing Data from Custom Objects
Custom objects also enhance your reporting and analytical capabilities. With HubSpot’s robust reporting tools, you can generate custom reports that include data from your custom objects. For instance, if you track project performance, you can create reports summarizing project statuses, timelines, and budgets, providing actionable insights. These reports can be included in your dashboards, giving you a comprehensive view of all your critical metrics in one place.
Limitations of Custom Objects
Potential Complexity in Setup and Management
While custom object creation offers extensive customization, it can introduce complexity into your CRM setup and management. Creating and configuring custom objects requires careful planning to ensure they are designed to meet your needs. Additionally, managing custom objects may involve maintaining relationships between different data entities, which can be complex, especially as your data grows. Having a clear strategy and possibly affecting your technical team is essential to manage this complexity effectively.
Limitations on the Number of Custom Objects per HubSpot Account
HubSpot limits the number of custom objects that can be created per account. These limits vary depending on your HubSpot subscription tier. For instance, higher-tier plans like Enterprise might allow more custom objects than lower-tier plans. It is essential to be aware of these limitations when planning your CRM customization to ensure you do not exceed the number of custom objects.
Restrictions on Certain HubSpot Tools and Features
Although custom objects are highly versatile, there are some restrictions on how they can interact with other HubSpot tools and features. For example, not all HubSpot integrations and third-party apps may support custom objects. Similarly, some HubSpot features, such as specific automation functions or reporting capabilities, might be incompatible with custom objects. It is essential to understand these restrictions and plan your CRM strategy accordingly to avoid any disruptions or limitations in your workflow.
By understanding the capabilities and limitations of HubSpot custom objects, you can better plan and implement a customized CRM solution that meets your business’s unique needs while being aware of potential challenges. This balanced approach ensures you can effectively leverage the full power of HubSpot’s customization options.
Considerations Before Setting Up a Custom Object
Setting up custom objects in HubSpot is a powerful way to tailor your CRM to fit your business needs. However, it’s crucial to plan thoroughly to ensure successful implementation and utilization. Here are the critical considerations before setting up a custom object:
Define Objectives
The first step in setting up a custom object is clearly outlining your goal. Defining your objectives will guide the setup process and ensure you create a custom object that serves a meaningful purpose within your CRM. Consider the following points:
Identify the Core Purpose: Determine the primary reason for creating the custom object. Ask yourself what specific business challenge it will address or what unique data it will capture that standard objects cannot. Defining the core purpose is crucial, especially when creating your first custom object.
Set Specific Goals: Clearly define what success looks like for this custom object. For instance, if you create a custom object to track customer feedback, your goals might include improving customer satisfaction scores, identifying common product issues, or enhancing product features based on feedback.
Example: If your objective is to track customer feedback specific to different product lines, you might want to monitor customer satisfaction for each property type of product, identify recurring issues, and gather suggestions for improvements.
Determine Necessary Fields
Once you have defined your objectives, the next step is determining the property types and data fields required for the custom object. Custom properties in HubSpot can be tailored to capture various data types, including text, numbers, dates, and more.
Identify Required Data Types: Consider the information you need to collect. Will you need text fields for customer comments, numeric fields for ratings, date fields for feedback submission dates, or dropdown fields for product types?
Plan for Data Completeness: Ensure the custom object captures all necessary data points to meet your objectives. Think about the mandatory fields versus optional fields and how each piece of data will be used.
Example: To track customer feedback, you might need fields such as Feedback Date (date field), Customer Rating (numeric field), Product Type (dropdown field), and Customer Comments (text field).
Plan for Reporting Needs
Reporting is a crucial aspect of CRM management, and custom objects should be set up with your reporting needs in mind. Decide on the specific reports you need to generate from the data stored in custom objects.
Define Key Metrics: Identify the key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics you want to track. This might include the number of feedback submissions, average customer ratings, and feedback trends over time.
Design Report Layouts: Consider how the reports look and what information they should display—plan for dashboards that provide at-a-glance insights and detailed reports for in-depth analysis.
Example: You or your company may want to generate a quarterly feedback analysis report segmented by product type, showing customer satisfaction trends and highlighting improvement areas.
Integration with Other Tools
Custom objects in HubSpot should be designed to integrate seamlessly with your business’s other tools and systems. This ensures data flows smoothly across your company’s tech stack and enhances overall efficiency.
Evaluate Current Integrations: Review the tools and systems you use, such as project management tools, customer support platforms, and marketing automation software. Determine how the custom object will fit into this ecosystem.
Plan for Data Syncing: Ensure the custom object can sync data with other tools. This might involve setting up API connections or using third-party integration platforms.
Example: If you are tracking project statuses using a custom object, you might want to integrate it with a project management tool like Asana or Trello. This integration could automatically update project statuses in HubSpot based on changes made in the project management tool.
Additional Considerations
Beyond these primary considerations, there are a few more factors to keep in mind:
User Permissions: Define who in your organization will have access to view, edit, and manage the custom objects. Ensure that permissions are set appropriately to maintain data security and integrity.
Data Cleanliness: Plan to maintain data cleanliness within custom objects. Implement validation rules and regular data audits to ensure the information remains accurate and up-to-date.
Scalability: Consider the future scalability of your custom objects. As your business grows, you may need to expand the data captured by custom objects or integrate with additional tools. Design your custom objects with flexibility in mind to accommodate future needs.
By thoroughly considering these factors before setting up custom objects, you can ensure that your CRM is well-structured, efficient, and tailored to meet your business requirements. This proactive planning will help you maximize the benefits of custom objects and enhance your overall CRM strategy.
Steps to Set Up Custom Objects in HubSpot
Accessing Custom Objects Feature in HubSpot
Before setting up custom objects, ensure you have the appropriate HubSpot package supporting this feature. Custom objects are available in the Enterprise tier of HubSpot’s CRM suite. If you’re using a lower-tier plan (Starter or Professional), you must upgrade to access them.
Log in to Your HubSpot Account: Navigate to your HubSpot dashboard.
To navigate to the Custom Objects Section, Click the settings icon in the main navigation bar. In the left sidebar menu, click “Objects” and then select “Custom Objects.”
Check Subscription: Ensure that your subscription level includes custom objects. If not, follow the prompts to upgrade your plan.
Step-by-Step Guide to Creating a Custom Object
Creating a custom object in HubSpot involves a series of steps that ensure the created custom object record is set up correctly and tailored to your needs:
Access Custom Objects Tool:
Go to the settings icon in the main navigation bar.
Navigate to “Objects” > “Custom Objects”.
Create a New Custom Object:
Click the “Create Custom Object” button to create your object.
Enter a name for your custom object. This should be descriptive and indicative of its purpose (e.g., “Projects”, “Events”, “Inventory”).
Provide a primary display name (singular and plural) for the object, which will be used in HubSpot interfaces.
Obtain an API Key:
To create custom objects programmatically, you need to obtain an API key from HubSpot.
Use the API key to run requests from the developer documentation wizard and create custom objects.
Define Properties for the Custom Object:
Click on “Create Property” to add fields
Package Requirements
Information on the HubSpot Packages That Include Access to Custom Objects
HubSpot offers different subscription tiers, each providing varying levels of functionality. Custom objects are a feature available exclusively in the Enterprise tier. Here’s a breakdown of the HubSpot packages and their capabilities regarding custom objects:
Starter: Basic CRM functionality, but does not include access to custom objects.
Professional: Advanced features, but still no access to custom objects.
Enterprise: Full access to all CRM features, including custom objects.
Businesses need to subscribe to the Enterprise tier to utilize custom objects, which offer the highest customization and scalability.
Benefits of Upgrading to the Necessary Package for Custom Objects
Upgrading to the Enterprise tier to access custom objects offers users several significant advantages:
Enhanced Customization:
Creating custom objects allows you to tailor HubSpot CRM to your specific business needs, capture unique data, and create bespoke workflows.
Advanced Automation:
Enterprise users can leverage advanced automation features that integrate seamlessly with custom objects, enhancing efficiency and reducing manual tasks.
Comprehensive Reporting:
Custom objects enable more detailed and customized reporting, providing critical insights for strategic decision-making.
Scalability:
As your business grows, the Enterprise tier offers the flexibility to expand your CRM setup with additional custom objects, properties, and integrations.
Priority Support:
Enterprise subscribers benefit from enhanced support options, ensuring issues with custom objects or other features are resolved promptly.
Integration Capabilities:
The Enterprise tier supports more complex integrations with other business tools, ensuring that custom objects can be part of a cohesive and connected tech stack.
By upgrading to the Enterprise package, businesses can fully leverage the capabilities of custom objects, ensuring that their CRM is tailored to their current needs and scalable and adaptable for future growth. Investing in a higher-tier package can improve efficiency, better data management, and more insightful business analytics.
Ready to start Building Custom Objects In HubSpot?
Custom objects in HubSpot offer a powerful way to extend the functionality of your CRM, allowing you to capture, store, and manage data that is unique to your business. By understanding and leveraging custom objects, companies can create a customized CRM experience that enhances efficiency, provides deeper insights, and supports better decision-making.
Key Benefits Recap
Enhanced Data Management: Custom objects allow you to create and manage unique data sets tailored to your business processes. This ensures that all critical data is captured and stored systematically.
Improved Integration: By associating custom objects with standard objects like contacts, companies, and deals, you can create a more interconnected CRM environment. This holistic view of your data helps you understand relationships and improve customer interactions.
Automation and Efficiency: Custom objects enable advanced automation workflows that streamline processes and reduce manual efforts. This leads to increased efficiency and consistency in most cases of your operations.
Advanced Reporting: The ability to create detailed reports using data from custom objects provides valuable insights. These reports can help identify trends, monitor performance, and make data-driven decisions that drive business success.
Scalability and Flexibility: As your business grows, custom objects provide the flexibility to adapt your CRM to changing needs. Whether you add new properties, create additional objects, or integrate with the latest tools, custom objects ensure your CRM evolves with your business.
Potential Challenges
While custom objects are incredibly beneficial, they come with specific challenges that need to be managed:
Complexity: Setting up and managing custom objects can be complex, requiring careful planning and ongoing management to ensure they remain efficient and relevant.
Subscription Requirements: Access to custom objects requires an Enterprise subscription, which may involve a higher investment. However, the benefits often outweigh the costs for businesses needing advanced customization.
Tool Compatibility: Not all default HubSpot tools and features may support custom objects, so it’s essential to understand these limitations and plan accordingly.
Strategic Implementation
To maximize the benefits of custom objects, developers must approach their implementation strategically:
Define Clear Objectives: Start by clearly defining what you want to achieve with custom objects. This helps you design them effectively and ensures they meet your business needs.
Plan Thoroughly: Consider all aspects of custom object setup, including necessary fields, reporting needs, and integration with other tools. Thorough planning ensures a smoother implementation process.
Regular Review and Maintenance: Periodically reviewing and updating your custom objects to ensure they remain relevant and practical involves auditing data, updating properties, and refining workflows as needed.
Encouragement to Explore Custom Objects
If you haven’t explored custom objects in HubSpot yet, now is the time to consider how they can enhance your CRM. Evaluate your current processes and identify areas where custom objects can provide additional value. Engage your team in thinning to ensure that all perspectives are considered, and leverage HubSpot’s resources and support to guide you through the implementation.
Ready to take your CRM to the next level? Start exploring custom objects in your HubSpot Enterprise account today. By harnessing the power of custom objects, you can create a CRM perfectly tailored to your business needs, driving greater efficiency, better customer relationships, and more insightful decision-making. If you need assistance, HubSpot’s support team and community resources are always available to help you get the most out of your custom objects.
