This project centered on migrating an existing client support operation from a third-party platform into HubSpot to create a more flexible, integrated, and cost-effective solution. By consolidating support within a system already used for CRM and marketing, the new platform enabled deeper customization, improved automation, and a more cohesive experience for both clients and internal teams—while reducing reliance on external tools.
Role & Scope
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Front-End CMS Developer / Support Systems Architect
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Led the end-to-end implementation of a custom HubSpot support platform, including portal development, ticket pipelines, workflows, and automated communications. Owned the technical architecture, front-end build, and ongoing operational logic for the system.
The Challenge
The prior support system operated independently from the rest of the company’s tooling; limiting customization, personalization, and automation options while adding ongoing licensing costs. Clients experienced a fragmented workflow when submitting and managing support requests, and internal teams relied on manual processes to route, track, and respond to tickets across different service types.
The challenge was to replace this third-party solution with a HubSpot-based system that could fully support client needs, scale with multiple service offerings, and provide a more seamless, branded support experience—without sacrificing functionality or visibility.
The Solution
I built a fully branded, personalized support portal using HubSpot’s Customer Portal as a foundation, extended with custom development to meet more advanced requirements.
The portal was developed using HubSpot Memberships, HubL, and GraphQL, allowing logged-in users to see personalized content such as their name, recent tickets, and relevant resources. Contact properties were used to dynamically control which services, links, and resources each user could access, ensuring clients only saw information related to the services they received.
The HubSpot Customer Portal was embedded directly into the custom page, giving clients a seamless experience for creating, viewing, and replying to tickets without leaving the portal environment.
Automation & Workflow Design
To support internal operations, I configured ticket pipelines, inboxes, and workflows to automate routing, status updates, and ownership assignment. Tickets were labeled using tags to distinguish between service types—such as integrations, HubSpot, WordPress, and marketplace themes—with theme tickets further tagged by the specific product referenced.
Specialized workflows were created for theme demo requests, enforcing a strict lifecycle that included granting temporary access to a demo portal, sending branded communications, and revoking access after a defined period. The demo portal itself was fully set up by me and managed as part of this system.
Supporting Assets
In addition to the portal and workflows, I created:
- A branded landing page for first-time ticket submissions
- Custom HubSpot email templates for ticket confirmations and membership communications
- Automated emails tied to ticket activity and pipeline changes
The Outcome
The new HubSpot-based support system successfully replaced the prior third-party platform, consolidating client support into an existing toolset while enabling deeper customization and automation. Clients gained a more seamless, branded experience for submitting and managing tickets, with personalized access to resources and services relevant to their account.
During the transition, support responsibilities briefly overlapped between systems, with marketplace theme tickets handled separately. Shortly after launch, I became the sole manager of all web-related support tickets, using hands-on experience from both workflows to refine routing logic, workflows, and portal functionality. The result was a scalable, maintainable support operation that reduced manual effort, improved visibility across service types, and established a flexible foundation for future growth within HubSpot.