Trigger Automated Follow-Up Emails From Playbook Submissions

Account managers are juggling multiple clients, and the follow-up email after a check-in call often gets lost in the shuffle. If you want consistency without adding manual admin, HubSpot's playbook log trigger is your answer.

This hack shows you how to set up a workflow that automatically sends a follow-up email to clients the moment your account manager completes an Account Check-In playbook. No manual send, no forgotten emails, just timely, structured follow-up.

Why is this hack helpful?

Playbooks are brilliant for standardising how your team runs client interactions. But without automation, the playbook ends and the follow-up is still manual.

This approach gives you:

• Instant follow-up: email goes out the moment the playbook is marked complete, while the conversation is fresh.
• Consistency: every client gets the same professional follow-up, not a rushed ad-hoc email.
• Less admin: account managers focus on the call, not the email.
• Trackable: HubSpot logs the email send, so you have a record of every follow-up.
• Scalable: one workflow handles all playbook submissions, so it works whether you have 5 account managers or 50.

In short, playbooks + workflows turn a manual, forgettable task into a reliable system.

Steps to Set It Up

Step 1: Create a workflow triggered by playbook submission

1. In HubSpot, go to Automation → Workflows
2. Click Create workflow
3. Choose Start from scratch and click Next
4. Select the object type (usually Contact for client follow-ups, but could be Company depending on your setup)
5. Name your workflow something clear like:
   • Playbook: Account Check-In → Follow-Up Email
6. Click Create workflow

Step 2: Set the enrolment trigger using playbook log

This is the key difference from a standard workflow. You are triggering on a playbook event, not a property change.

1. In your new workflow, click Set enrolment triggers
2. Click Add filter
3. Select When an event occurs
4. Under CRM, choose Playbook log
5. Click Apply filter

At this point, the workflow will listen for any playbook submission. Now you need to narrow it down.

Step 3: Add criteria to specify the playbook

You do not want this workflow to fire for every playbook. You want it to fire only for the Account Check-In playbook.

1. Click Add criteria
2. Choose the specific playbook from the dropdown
3. Select Account Check-In (or whatever your playbook is named)
4. Click Apply

Now the workflow will only enrol contacts when the Account Check-In playbook is completed.

Optional: Trigger by user ID

If you want to limit this to specific account managers, you can also add a filter for User ID. This is useful if only certain team members use this playbook, or if you want different follow-ups for different managers.

Step 4: Configure re-enrolment settings

Because account managers will run this playbook multiple times (one check-in per client, potentially multiple times per year), you want contacts to re-enter the workflow each time.

1. In the enrolment settings, enable re-enrolment
2. Confirm that contacts can re-enter when the Playbook log event occurs again

This means every time an account manager completes the playbook for a contact, the follow-up email will send.

Step 5:  Add the follow-up email action

1. Click the + icon under your trigger to add an action
2. Select Send email (under the Communication category)
3. Choose or create an email template for your follow-up

Email template example

Subject line:  Thank You for Checking In with [Contact Owner]

Body:
Hi [Contact First Name],

Thank you for taking the time to check in with us recently. We appreciate your continued partnership and wanted to follow up with a survey as mentioned.

[Link to Survey]

If you have any questions or need further assistance, please don't hesitate to reach out.

Best regards,

[Your Name]
[Your Title]
[Your Contact Information]

Key tokens to include:

• [Contact First Name] - personalises the greeting

• [Contact Owner] - shows who called

• [Your Name], [Your Title], [Your Contact Information] - sender details

You can also add:

• A link to a survey or feedback form.
• Next steps or action items from the call.
• A calendar link to schedule the next check-in.

Step 6: Test the workflow before going live

1. In the top right of the workflow editor, click Test
2. Select a contact record
3. Manually run the Account Check-In playbook for that contact
4. Confirm that:
   • The workflow enrols the contact.
   • The follow-up email is sent.
   • The email contains the correct personalisation tokens.

Check the contact's Activity tab to see the email logged.

Optional enhancements

Once the basics work, you can extend this:

• Add a task reminder: after the email sends, create a task for the account manager to follow up in 7 days if no response.
• Update a property: set a "Last Check-In Date" property so you can track cadence.
• Branch by outcome: if your playbook logs a specific outcome (e.g. "renewal discussion"), branch the workflow to send different emails.
• Add to a list: automatically add the contact to a "Recently Checked In" list for reporting.

What this workflow achieves

• Trigger: Account manager completes the Account Check-In playbook.
• Re-enrolment: Contacts can re-enter every time the playbook is completed.
• Action: Automatically send a follow-up email to the client.
• Result: Consistent, timely follow-up with zero manual admin.

Wrapping Up

Playbooks standardise how your team runs client interactions. Workflows ensure the follow-up is just as consistent and timely. Together, they turn account management from reactive to proactive.

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