How to Automate Record Associations in HubSpot Workflows

This guide explains how to automate contact-to-deal associations using a simple use case

Use Case

The scenario is simple:

• Problem: New deals are sometimes associated only with companies and not the relevant contacts.
• Solution: Automate the process to associate contacts with the deal whenever a company is linked to both a deal and its contacts.

Step-by-Step Workflow Setup

Below is a simplified example of workflows designed to address the use case. 

Workflow 1: Sync Company Record ID to Contacts

Goal: Ensure contacts have the primary company's Record ID stored in a custom property to provide a unique identifier for matching contacts to deals later on Workflow 3.

Why this matters: Without this unique identifier, there is a risk that Workflow 3 could associate the deal to the wrong contacts.

1. Workflow Type: Contact-based.
2. Trigger Criteria:
   • Primary associated company is known.
3. Action:
   • Copy the primary associated company’s Record ID into a custom contact property (e.g., Company Record ID).
     
4. Re-enrolment Criteria:
   • • Primary associated company is known.
       • This means, if the contact’s primary company changes, then the contact’s Company Record ID property is also updated.

Workflow 2: Sync Company Record ID to Deals

Goal: Ensure deals have the associated company’s Record ID stored in a custom property to provide a unique identifier for matching deals to contacts later.

Why this matters: Without this unique identifier, Workflow 3 could associate the deal to incorrect contacts.

1. Workflow Type: Company-based.
2. Trigger Criteria:
   • Company is associated with a contact where Company Record ID is known
   • and company is associated with a deal.
3. Action:
   • Copy the company’s Record ID into a custom deal property (e.g., Company Record ID).
4. Re-enrolment Criteria: 
   • Number of associated deals is known
     • This means that when a new deal is linked to the company, the workflow will copy the company’s Record ID to this new deal’s record ID.
       
       

Workflow 3: Automate Contact-to-Deal Association

Goal: Associate contacts with deals where their Company Record ID matches.

1. Workflow Type: Deal-based.
2. Trigger Criteria:
   • Deal’s Company Record ID is known.
3. Action:
   • Associate the deal with any contact whose Company Record ID matches the deal’s Company Record ID.
     

Advanced Filtering: Using Labels

For more advanced use cases, you can filter the records enrolled in these workflows. For example, you can specify that only companies or contacts with certain labels are eligible for association. This can help target specific records and refine your automation further. You can also automatically apply a label based on the label used on another record associations.

Use case:

•  If a contact is associated to a company with the label 'Referrer', then create the association between the contact to deal and apply the label 'Referrer'

Process

1. Create a branch or enrolment trigger that uses the deal-to-company label as the filter criteria
   
   
2. Apply the label during association creation