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Automation Playbooks

Platform-specific workflow recipes for HubSpot, Salesforce, scheduling tools, and cross-tool automation.

HubSpot Workflow Recipes

1. MQL Alert and Assignment

Name: MQL Notification and Task Creation
Trigger: Contact property "Lifecycle Stage" is changed to "Marketing Qualified Lead"
Actions:

Rotate contact owner among sales team (round-robin)
Send internal email notification to contact owner with lead context
Create task: "Follow up with [Contact Name]" — due in 4 hours
Send Slack notification to #sales-alerts channel
Enroll in "MQL Follow-Up" sequence (if using HubSpot Sequences)
Outcome: Every MQL gets assigned instantly with a clear SLA
Notes: Set enrollment criteria to exclude leads already owned by a rep

2. MQL SLA Escalation

Name: MQL SLA Breach Alert
Trigger: Contact property "Lifecycle Stage" equals "MQL" AND "Days since last contacted" is greater than 0.5 (12 hours)
Actions:

Send internal email to contact owner: "SLA warning: [Contact Name] has not been contacted"
If still no activity after 24 hours → send alert to sales manager
If still no activity after 48 hours → reassign contact owner via rotation
Create task for new owner: "Urgent: Contact [Contact Name] — reassigned due to SLA breach"
Outcome: No MQL goes unworked for more than 48 hours
Notes: Exclude contacts where last activity type is "Call" or "Meeting" (already engaged)

3. Lead Scoring Update and MQL Promotion

Name: Auto-MQL on Score Threshold
Trigger: Contact property "HubSpot Score" is greater than or equal to 65
Actions:

Set lifecycle stage to "Marketing Qualified Lead"
Set "MQL Date" to current date
Suppress from marketing nurture workflows
Trigger MQL Alert workflow (recipe #1)
Outcome: Leads automatically promote to MQL when they hit the scoring threshold
Notes: Add suppression list for existing customers and competitors

4. Meeting Booked Notification

Name: Meeting Booked Alert to AE
Trigger: Meeting activity is logged for contact (via Calendly/HubSpot meetings)
Actions:

Send internal email to contact owner with meeting details
Update contact property "Last Meeting Booked" to current date
If lifecycle stage is "Lead" → update to "MQL"
Create task: "Prepare for meeting with [Contact Name]" — due 1 hour before meeting
Send Slack notification to #meetings channel
Outcome: AEs are prepared for every meeting with full context
Notes: Include recent page views and content downloads in notification email

5. Closed-Won Handoff to CS

Name: Customer Onboarding Trigger
Trigger: Deal stage is changed to "Closed Won"
Actions:

Update associated contact lifecycle stage to "Customer"
Set "Customer Since" date to current date
Assign contact owner to CS team member (based on segment/territory)
Create task for CS: "Schedule kickoff call with [Company Name]" — due in 2 business days
Enroll contact in "Customer Onboarding" email sequence
Send internal notification to CS manager
Remove from all sales sequences
Outcome: Seamless handoff from sales to customer success
Notes: Include deal notes, contract value, and key stakeholders in CS notification

6. Stale Deal Alert

Name: Pipeline Hygiene — Stale Deal Detection
Trigger: Deal property "Days in current stage" is greater than [2x average for that stage]
Actions:

Send internal email to deal owner: "Deal stale alert: [Deal Name] has been in [Stage] for [X] days"
Create task: "Update or close [Deal Name]" — due in 3 business days
If no update after 7 days → alert sales manager
Add to "Stale Deals" dashboard list
Outcome: Pipeline stays clean and forecast stays accurate
Notes: Customize thresholds per stage (Discovery: 14 days, Proposal: 10 days, Negotiation: 21 days)

7. Recycled Lead Nurture Re-Entry

Name: MQL Recycling to Nurture
Trigger: Contact property "Sales Rejection Reason" is known (any value)
Actions:

Update lifecycle stage to "Recycled"
Reset engagement score to baseline (keep fit score)
Enroll in "Recycled Lead Nurture" sequence (lower frequency)
Set "Recycle Date" to current date
Set re-enrollment trigger: if HubSpot Score exceeds threshold again, re-trigger MQL workflow
Outcome: Rejected leads get a second chance without clogging the pipeline
Notes: Track recycled-to-MQL conversion rate as a separate metric

8. Lead Activity Digest

Name: Daily Lead Activity Summary
Trigger: Scheduled — daily at 8:00 AM local time
Actions:

Filter contacts: lifecycle stage is "SQL" or "Opportunity" AND had website activity in last 24 hours
Send digest email to each contact owner with their leads' activity
Include: pages visited, content downloaded, emails opened/clicked
Outcome: Sales reps start each day knowing which leads are active
Notes: Only include leads with meaningful activity (exclude single homepage visits)

Salesforce Flow Equivalents

1. MQL Alert and Assignment (Salesforce Flow)

Type: Record-Triggered Flow
Object: Lead
Trigger: Lead field "Status" is changed to "MQL"
Flow steps:

Get Records: Query "Rep Assignment" custom object for next available rep
Update Records: Set Lead Owner to assigned rep
Create Records: Create Task — "Contact MQL: {Lead.Name}" with due date = NOW + 4 hours
Action: Send email alert to new lead owner
Update Records: Update "Rep Assignment" last-assigned timestamp
Notes: Use a custom "Rep Assignment" object to manage round-robin state

2. SLA Escalation (Salesforce Flow)

Type: Scheduled-Triggered Flow
Schedule: Every 4 hours during business hours
Flow steps:

Get Records: Leads where Status = "MQL" AND LastActivityDate < TODAY - 1
Decision: Is lead older than 48 hours with no activity?
- YES → Reassign to next rep, create urgent task, alert manager
- NO → Send reminder email to current owner
  Notes: Pair with Process Builder for real-time alerts on initial assignment

3. Pipeline Stage Automation (Salesforce Flow)

Type: Record-Triggered Flow
Object: Opportunity
Trigger: Stage field is updated
Flow steps:

Decision: Which stage was it changed to?
For each stage:
- Discovery: Create task "Complete discovery questionnaire"
- Demo: Create task "Prepare demo environment"
- Proposal: Create task "Send proposal" + alert deal desk if ACV > $25K
- Closed Won: Trigger CS handoff (create Case, assign CS owner, send welcome email)
- Closed Lost: Create task "Log loss reason" + add to win/loss analysis report

4. Stale Deal Detection (Salesforce Flow)

Type: Scheduled-Triggered Flow
Schedule: Daily at 7:00 AM
Flow steps:

Get Records: Open Opportunities where Days_In_Stage > Stage_SLA_Threshold
Loop through results:
- Create Task: "Update stale deal: {Opportunity.Name}"
- Send email to Opportunity Owner
- If Days_In_Stage > 2x threshold → send email to Owner's Manager
Update custom field "Stale Flag" = true for dashboard visibility

Calendly / SavvyCal Integration Patterns

Round-Robin Meeting Scheduling

Calendly setup:

Create a team event type with all eligible reps
Distribution: "Optimize for equal distribution"
Availability: Each rep manages their own calendar
Buffer: 15 min before and after meetings
Minimum notice: 4 hours (avoid last-minute bookings)

CRM integration:

Calendly webhook fires on booking
Match invitee email to CRM contact
If contact exists → assign meeting to contact owner (override round-robin if owned)
If new contact → create lead, assign via routing rules, log meeting
Set lifecycle stage to MQL (meeting = high intent)

SavvyCal Setup

Advantages over Calendly:

Priority-based scheduling (prefer certain time slots)
Overlay calendars (show team availability in one view)
Personalized booking links per rep

Integration pattern:

Create team scheduling link with priority rules
Webhook on booking → Zapier/Make → CRM
Match or create contact, assign owner, create task
Send confirmation with meeting prep materials

Meeting Routing by Criteria

Booking form submitted
├─ Company size > 500? (form field)
│  ├─ YES → Route to enterprise AE calendar
│  └─ NO ↓
├─ Existing customer? (CRM lookup)
│  ├─ YES → Route to account owner's calendar
│  └─ NO ↓
└─ Round-robin across SDR team

No-Show Workflow

Trigger: Meeting time passes + no meeting notes logged within 30 minutes
Actions:

Wait 30 minutes after scheduled meeting time
Check: Was a call or meeting logged?
- YES → No action
- NO → Send "Sorry we missed you" email to prospect
Create task: "Reschedule with [Contact Name]" — due next business day
If second no-show → flag contact and alert manager

Zapier Cross-Tool Patterns

1. New Lead → CRM + Slack + Task

Trigger: New form submission (Typeform, HubSpot, Webflow)
Actions:

Create/update contact in CRM
Enrich with Clearbit (if available)
Post to Slack #new-leads with enriched data
Create task in project management tool (Asana, Linear)

2. Meeting Booked → CRM + Prep Email

Trigger: New Calendly/SavvyCal booking
Actions:

Find or create CRM contact
Update lifecycle stage to MQL
Send prep email to assigned rep (include CRM link, LinkedIn profile, recent activity)
Create pre-meeting task

3. Deal Closed → Onboarding Stack

Trigger: CRM deal stage changed to "Closed Won"
Actions:

Create customer record in CS tool (Vitally, Gainsight, ChurnZero)
Add to onboarding project template
Send welcome email via email tool
Create Slack channel: #customer-[company-name]
Notify CS team in Slack

4. Lead Scoring → Cross-Tool Sync

Trigger: CRM lead score crosses MQL threshold
Actions:

Update marketing automation platform status
Add to retargeting audience (Facebook, Google Ads)
Trigger SDR outreach sequence
Log event in analytics (Mixpanel, Amplitude)

5. SLA Breach → Multi-Channel Alert

Trigger: CRM task overdue (MQL follow-up task)
Actions:

Send Slack DM to rep
Send email to rep
If 2+ hours overdue → Slack DM to manager
If 4+ hours overdue → reassign in CRM (via webhook back to CRM)

6. Weekly Pipeline Digest

Trigger: Schedule — every Monday at 8:00 AM
Actions:

Query CRM for pipeline summary (total value, new deals, stale deals, expected closes)
Format as summary
Post to Slack #sales-team
Send email digest to sales leadership