Routing and Assigning HubSpot Tickets to Support Reps

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How to Automatically Route and Assign HubSpot Tickets in a Balanced Way

Quickly assigning tickets to the right support reps and responding promptly is key to maintaining customer happiness. But if there's no way of knowing which reps are available, a ticket could be assigned to someone who can't respond right away. Additionally, many support teams have representatives designated to handle tickets from specific customers or other segments. They need to be assigned directly to the relevant tickets. 

With Insycle's Assign app, you can optimize ticket routing and assignment to ensure issues reach the right representative at the right time to quickly resolve problems and foster stronger customer relationships.

Process Summary

  1. Segment the data using the filter.
  2. Choose assignees and how tickets for the segment will be assigned.
  3. Preview changes and apply to HubSpot.
  4. Save the operation as a template and set up automation.
  5. Create a recipe to organize multiple templates into an automated process.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Step 1: Set Up a Filter to Segment the Data

Navigate to RevOps Acceleration > Assign.

Select the database and Tickets object type from the top menu, then explore the templates for an existing solution that may be close to what you need.

In Step 1 under the Filter tab, select the Field to work with. Use the Condition to set the rule that the data in the selected field must meet. With this filter, you're telling Insycle how to segment the tickets.

In the example below, we want to segment tickets with the "Support Pipeline" value.

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Step 2: Choose Assignees and the Method for Assigning

Under Step 2, select the Field you want to assign. The field options are limited to reference fields, which include owner properties. You can set up rules to automatically assign across several people, and you can assign more than one owner type at the same time.

The Rules give you three options for how tickets should be assigned:

  • Balanced: Looks at the potential owners and checks existing load allocation based on how many tickets are already assigned to each user, then distributes the new tickets so all users wind up with the same total number. Select the Period during which the new tickets were created- only these will be distributed, nothing older.
    For example, 24 high-priority tickets came in this month that needed to be assigned—initially, Jane was assigned 10 and John 5. When the operation ran again, the Balanced rule gave Jane 2 and John 7, so they each wound up with 12 over the course of the month.
  • Weighted: By adding multiple rules for different assignees or groups, you can manage weighted work distribution. The Weight value is the number of tickets to be assigned, rather than a percentage. The items are distributed round-robin to each assignee by the Weight number, rule by rule.
    For example, if the first rule says 2 to Joe and Josephine, and the second rule says 1 to Jane, the assignments will cycle through assigning 2 to Joe, 2 to Josephine, 1 to Jane. If there are more than 5 tickets, it will then cycle back to assign 2 to Joe and Josephine and so on.
  • Even: Assigns in a cycle, round-robin style through the names in the order listed, 123, 123, 123. So for the assignees Jane, John, and Josephine, it will cycle through starting with Jane. With a saved template Insycle will remember where it left off and continuously distribute tickets evenly among available assignees.
    For example, if there are 19 high-priority tickets and you want to assign them evenly across your three assignees, the Even rule will split it as equally as possible and Jane will wind up with 7 tickets, John with 6, and Josephine with 6.
  • Random: Without looking at availability or workload, this will assign tickets randomly, like rolling a dice.

When using the Even or Random assignment rules, you can set limits to prevent overloading team members using Assign Per Rep and/or Cap Per Rep in the Advanced tab. Learn more in the Advanced How-Tos below.

In the example below, both the Ticket Owner and the Success Owner will be assigned. The Ticket Owner will be distributed across the 4 assignees so they all wind up with the same number of tickets for the quarter. The Success Owner will be assigned one ticket at a time while cycling through the 5 assignees, starting with Zach.

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⚠️ Once you have this configured and are satisfied with the preview, it's important to save a template so new items can be assigned in a measured way on an ongoing basis.

Availability

The Availability feature lets you enter work schedule info for each team member, so tickets are only routed to reps who are currently open and able to respond promptly. For example, if there are three users selected as potential assignees—Jane, John, and Josephine—but John's work schedule indicates he is not available today, tickets will only be allocated to Jane and Josephine.

No matter which rule you use—balanced, even, or random—each user's availability is taken into account.

Note that if no availability info is entered for a user, they will be considered available at all times.

Learn more about Insycle's Availability feature.

Step 3: Preview Assignments and Update HubSpot

Preview Changes in the CSV Report

With the filters and assign action set up, you can preview the changes in a CSV file. It's important to verify that your changes are working as expected before they are pushed to your live database.

Under Step 3, click the Review button, then select Preview in the popup.

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On the Notify tab, add any additional recipients who should receive the CSV (and make sure to hit Enter after each address). You can also provide additional context in the message subject or body.

On the When tab, click Run Now and select which tickets to apply the change to (you can do all, but if you have a large number of records, you may just want to do a chunk for a test), then click the Run Now button.

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Open the CSV file from your email in a spreadsheet application. The columns include (Before) and (After) values for the selected assign fields; (Assignees) shows the users chosen; (Available) indicates which assignees are currently available according to the availability settings.

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If the results don't look the way you expected, go back to your filters and assignment rules and try making some adjustments, or you may need to review team member Availability, then preview again.

Apply Changes to HubSpot

If everything in your CSV preview looks correct, return to Insycle and move forward with applying the assignments to the live HubSpot data.

Under Step 3, click the Review button again, and this time select Update mode.

On the When tab, you should use Run Now the first time you apply these changes to the CRM.

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Save as a Template and Set Up Automation

After you've seen the results in HubSpot and are satisfied with how the operation runs, you need to save your configuration as a template. This will let Insycle keep track of the assignment history and availability.

Return to the Template menu at the top of the page and click Copy to save your configurations as a new version of whichever template you started with. Then click the pencil to edit your new template name.

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Next, set up automation so this routing operation runs on a set schedule.

Under Step 3, click the Review button, and select Update mode.

On the When tab, select Automate, and configure the frequency you'd like the template to run. When finished, click Schedule.

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By automating with a template, you'll save time and ensure that your tickets are assigned in a consistent way on an ongoing basis. 

Create a template for each segment and combine them all into a Recipe for a complete routing and assigning solution.

Create a Recipe to Organize Multiple Templates into an Automated Process

When you have a solid set of templates that reliably assign your tickets, you can put them together into a longer, ordered sequence as a Recipe. Then, you can schedule that Recipe to run on a consistent, set schedule. Your templates will run one after another in the order that you set.

HubSpot users can also insert their Recipes directly into HubSpot Workflows.

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Advanced How-Tos

Lead Assignment Limits

When using the Even or Random assignment rules, you can set limits to prevent team members from becoming overloaded. The Advanced tab offers two parameters that can be used individually or in combination:

  • Assign Per Rep - Enter a number to set the maximum number of new items that can be assigned to each owner per operation.
  • Cap Per Rep - Enter a number to limit the total number of items an owner can have assigned overall. Before assigning new items, Insycle checks each rep's current assignments to ensure they don't exceed this cap.

You can set either or both of these parameters as needed.

As an example, let's say you have selected three owners: Skyler, who currently has 6 items, Chris also has 6, and Jessica has 3. Your Assign Per Rep is set to 8, and Cap Per Rep is set to 12.

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When the assignment operation runs:

  • Skyler will be assigned 6 more items (reaching the cap of 12)
  • Chris will be assigned 6 more items (reaching the cap of 12)
  • Jessica will be assigned 8 items (as per Assign Per Rep, totaling 11)

In this scenario, 20 items will be assigned. Any additional items won't be assigned until the next operation runs (they'll show as "Not assigned" in the CSV).

Remember: The tool will respect both the Assign Per Rep and Cap Per Rep limits, assigning the lower number when both are set.

Add Team Members to Be Assigned

If you don't see the user you need in the list of assignees, you can add any of your HubSpot users. Navigate to Settings > Availability and make sure you have the appropriate CRM selected. Then click Add Assignees and select the users to add.

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Learn more about using the Availability feature to enter schedule info for assignees.

Making an Assignee Temporarily Unavailable

If one of your assignees will be away for a few days, weeks, or more, you can easily prevent new items from being assigned to them from the Availability feature using the Unavailable toggle. This will make the assignee completely unavailable when your saved Assign app operations run, without needing to remove them from your templates. When they are available again, just switch the toggle to available (yellow), and all workflows will resume as before. 

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View Current User Allocation

To preview what Insycle is looking at when distributing items, open the Group & Update module. Under Step 1, group by the owner field, then click Analyze. Scroll down to the Record Viewer and sort by the Count column to see which users have the most on their plates.

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This can help you decide who to include in an assignment template. You can save this view as a template and return periodically to keep an eye on the distribution.

Use HubSpot Workflow Triggers to Assign Tickets

HubSpot users can schedule their ticket routing and assignment recipes directly into HubSpot Workflows. Instead of—or in addition to—a schedule-based approach, you could use the HubSpot Workflows integration to trigger a routing Recipe to run when a new ticket is created or some other event occurs.

Learn more about adding Insycle Recipes to HubSpot Workflows.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Can I assign tickets based on company, category, or other criteria?

Yes, you can segment data with the filter and assign tickets based on any field in your database.

Under Step 1 of the Assign app, set the segment criteria using the filter.

For example, by priority and company:

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Or ticket category:

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Then under Step 2, assign the matching tickets to the team members or department that handles the segment.

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You can create a template for each segment and then have them run together, automatically by creating a Recipe.

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Can I assign tickets to people who are not Insycle users?

As long as the user has an account in HubSpot, you can add them as an assignee from the Availability tool and enter their work schedule information. This does not affect the cost of your Insycle plan.

See the Assignee Availability article for more info.

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Will the assignment order pick up where I left off in Preview mode?

When you run your Assign operation in preview mode, nothing really gets assigned to anyone, so Insycle won’t track these sample assignments. As long as you are using a template, the next time you run the operation in Update mode, it will continue from where you were the last time you ran in Update mode whether this is done manually, or by automation.

Do HubSpot Workflows wait for Insycle to finish processing all actions before moving to the next action/step?

Yes. HubSpot waits for Insycle to complete all templates in the Recipe before moving on to the next action. Learn more about integrating Insycle with HubSpot Workflows.

How many assignees can I add?

You can add up to 50 reps in Step 2 so that items can easily be distributed across a large team.

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Additional Resources

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