Complete theory — from problem identification to final workflow setup · A to Z
Your company wants to formalize an internal process where the Customer Success (CS) team can escalate product issues to the IT team for resolution. The goal is to identify which HubSpot object(s) to use and how to set up a workflow to automate this escalation process efficiently.
Most companies manage issue escalation through informal channels — WhatsApp messages, verbal handoffs, or emails. While this works occasionally, it creates serious operational failures at scale:
CS team identifies an issue but there is no structured way to pass it to IT. The escalation is done verbally or via chat — no record, no tracking, no accountability.
Without a system, IT team may never receive the escalation, or it gets lost in email threads. Critical product issues go unresolved because no one owns them officially.
CS team has no way to track whether IT has picked up the issue, is working on it, or has resolved it. Customer-facing teams are left in the dark.
Someone has to manually email or message IT every time an escalation happens. This is repetitive, slow, and inconsistent — especially when CS team has multiple open issues simultaneously.
HubSpot has several core objects: Contacts, Companies, Deals, and Tickets. For this use case, the correct object is Tickets — and here's exactly why:
Final Answer: Use the Tickets object as the primary HubSpot object for this escalation process.
Before building the workflow, the Ticket object needs to be configured with the right properties and pipeline stages to support the escalation process.
| Property Name | Type | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Issue Category | Dropdown | Product Bug / Login Issue / Performance / Other |
| Escalated to IT | Checkbox (Yes/No) | Trigger field — CS checks this to escalate |
| Escalation Date | Date | When was the issue escalated to IT |
| IT Resolution Notes | Multi-line Text | IT team fills in resolution details |
| Stage | Owner | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| New | CS Team | Ticket just created, being reviewed |
| Escalated to IT | CS → IT | CS has flagged it, IT now owns it |
| IT In Progress | IT Team | IT is actively working on the issue |
| Waiting on Contact | IT / CS | Pending more info from the customer |
| Resolved | IT Team | Issue fixed and confirmed |
| Closed | CS Team | Customer confirmed, ticket closed |
The workflow is Ticket-based. It triggers automatically when the CS team marks a ticket as escalated, and then performs three automatic actions — no manual steps required for IT notification or assignment.
Automation → Workflows → Create Workflow → Start from scratch → Select "Ticket-based" as the object type.
Click "Set enrollment trigger" → Ticket properties → Filter by "Escalated to IT = Yes." This means the workflow fires ONLY when CS checks that box.
Click + → CRM → Edit record → Select "Ticket Status" → Set value to "Waiting on Contact." This officially marks the ticket as handed off.
Click + → Communications → Send internal email → Choose the IT team member(s) and Ticket Owner as recipients. Customize the email subject and body with ticket details.
Click + → CRM → Edit record → Select "Ticket Owner" → Set to the IT team member or IT team queue. This gives IT official ownership and accountability.
Review all actions → Click "Turn on" in the top right. The workflow is now live and will fire automatically every time CS escalates a ticket.
| Action | Type | What It Does | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Change Ticket Status | Edit Record | Sets status → Waiting on Contact | ✅ DONE |
| Send Internal Email | Communications | Notifies IT team + Ticket Owner instantly | ✅ DONE |
| Assign Ticket Owner | Edit Record | Transfers ownership to IT team member | ✅ DONE |
| Create Task (Optional) | Task | Creates "Resolve: [Issue Name]" task for IT | ⭐ BONUS |
| Follow-up Delay (Optional) | Delay + Email | Sends reminder if unresolved after 48 hours | ⭐ BONUS |
After the workflow is live, the entire escalation process becomes automatic and fully traceable inside HubSpot.
1. Formal handoff established — CS checks one box, IT gets notified automatically.
2. No issues fall through the cracks — IT receives email + ticket ownership transfer.
3. Full visibility for CS team — ticket status updates in real time on HubSpot.
4. Zero manual notifications — workflow handles everything automatically 24/7.
5. Complete audit trail — every escalation is logged, timestamped, and trackable.
To formalize the CS → IT escalation process in HubSpot, use the Tickets object as the primary record — configured with a custom "Escalated to IT" property and pipeline stages — then build a Ticket-based workflow that triggers when CS marks a ticket as escalated and automatically performs three actions: changing the ticket status to Waiting on Contact, sending an internal email notification to the IT team, and reassigning ticket ownership to IT — ensuring every product issue is formally tracked, instantly communicated, and fully accountable without any manual effort.