Review stakeholders with buying groups

Review the key stakeholders at a company with buying groups. Use the buying group org chart to understand each buyer’s role, to identify missing connections and weak relationships before they become roadblocks, and to understand how contacts are engaging with your team.

Please note: if you're a Super Admin, you can opt your account into the Buying Groups beta.

Before you get started

• To review buying groups on company records, you’ll first need to customize the company record layout to add the Buying Groups card from the card library.
• When editing a buying group or a buying group template, changes are saved automatically. After making edits, close the editor to return to the company record.

Create buying groups

There are three methods of creating buying group org charts:

• Create from a template: start with a user-defined template that reflects a typical buying committee for your business.
• Auto-build with AI: for companies with fewer than 100 associated contacts, start with an automatically generated org chart, based off of information on the associated contact records. You can then edit the buying group as needed.
• Create from scratch: select the key stakeholders you're working with by hand.

Please note: when using the contacts search bar in the buying group editor, by default only contacts associated with the current company will appear in the search results. To search across your entire CRM, start typing and then turn the Search all contacts in HubSpot switch on.

Create and edit buying group templates

Buying group templates allow you to start with a user-defined outline of the roles and relationships of a typical buying committee. On your template, you can include various personas, their job titles, and the value propositions and pain points specific to those personas.

To create or edit buying group templates:

1. In your HubSpot account, click More, then navigate to CRM > Companies. If More doesn't appear in your account, navigate to CRM > Companies directly. Then, click the name of the company.
2. On the Buying Group card, click Create a buying group or  Add.
3. To create a new template:
   • Click Create from template. Then click Create template.
   • On the top right, click Create template.
4. To edit an existing template:
   • Click Create from template.
   • In your list of templates, click the template name.
   • On the left, click the Settings icon. Then, click View templates.
   • Click the template name.
5. To edit the name of your template, in the upper left click the pencil icon and type in a name.
6. To add personas to the template:
   • Click the personas icon on the left.
   • Drag and drop the persona to the desired position on the template.

7. To create a new persona:
   • Click the personas icon on the left.
   • At the bottom, click New persona.
   • Enter a name and job title.
   • Optionally, add one or more value propositions or pain points.
   • At the bottom, click Save.

8. To adjust a persona's position on the template, click and drag the persona to its new position.
9. To separate the persona from the existing chart hierarchy, click the three horizontal dots icon on the persona, and then click Separate.
10. To add a department label above a persona on the template:
    • Click the  three horizontal dots icon on the persona, and then click Set department label.
    • Enter your text above the persona, and then press the Enter key on your keyboard.
11. To remove a persona from the template, click the  three horizontal dots icon on the persona, and then click Remove from template.

Create buying groups from templates

After you've defined your templates, you can use them when creating buying group org charts for company records.

To create buying group org charts on company records using templates:

1. In your HubSpot account, click More, then navigate to CRM > Companies. If More doesn't appear in your account, navigate to CRM > Companies directly. Then, click the name of the company.
2. On the Buying Group card, click Create a Buying Group or  Add.
3. Click Create from template. Then, select the specific template you want to use.
4. To add contacts to specific places on the chart:
   • Click the Select a contact button under the persona.
   • Use the Search bar on the left panel to find the contact.

1. • Under the contact card, click Use this contact.
2. To replace an existing contact on the chart:
   • Click the three horizontal dots icon on the persona and click Swap contact.
   • Use the Search bar on the left panel to find the contact.

1. • Under the contact card, click Use this contact.
2. In certain cases, HubSpot can recommend a contact to fill a persona, based on the contact's job title.
   • Under the persona, click  Suggested contacts.
   • Then, click either Accept or Dismiss.
   • If you dismiss the suggestion, you can then click Select contact to manually add a contact to that spot.

7. Continue to edit your buying group org chart by:
   • Adding, swapping, or removing contacts.
   • Adding custom relationships.
   • Adding department labels.
   • Editing contact details.
   • Managing buying group details.
8. Changes are saved automatically. To return to the company record, click the X close icon in the top right.

Create buying groups automatically

In certain cases an org chart can be created automatically, based on the information known about the contacts associated with the company.

To create a buying group automatically:

1. In your HubSpot account, click More, then navigate to CRM > Companies. If More doesn't appear in your account, navigate to CRM > Companies directly. Then, click the name of the company.
2. On the Buying Group card, click Create a buying group (for your first buying group) or  Add (for additional buying groups).
3. Click Auto-build with AI.
4. To add contacts to the org chart:
   • Click the personas icon on the left.
   • Use the Search bar on the left panel to find the contact.
   • Then, drag and drop the contact to a position on the org chart.
5. Continue to edit your buying group org chart by:
   • Adding, swapping, or removing contacts.
   • Adding custom relationships.
   • Adding department labels.
   • Editing contact details.
   • Managing buying group details.
6. Changes are saved automatically. To return to the company record, click the X close icon in the top right.

Create buying groups by hand

You can assemble buying group org charts on company records manually.

To create a buying group by hand:

1. In your HubSpot account, click More, then navigate to CRM > Companies. If More doesn't appear in your account, navigate to CRM > Companies directly. Then, click the name of the company.
2. On the Buying Group card, click Create a buying group (for your first buying group) or  Add (for additional buying groups).
3. Under How do you want to start? click Or create from scratch.

4. Continue to edit your buying group org chart by:
   • Adding, swapping, or removing contacts.
   • Adding custom relationships.
   • Adding department labels.
   • Editing contact details.
   • Managing buying group details.
5. Changes are saved automatically. To return to the company record, click the X close icon in the top right.

Edit buying groups

When creating a buying group org chart, you can fine-tune the chart to meet the needs of the specific company. You can also edit org charts after they've been created.

To edit an existing buying group org chart:

1. In your HubSpot account, click More, then navigate to CRM > Companies. If More doesn't appear in your account, navigate to CRM > Companies directly. Then, click the name of the company.
2. On the Buying Group card, click the buying group name.
3. Follow the instructions below to edit the chart.
4. When you've finished making edits, click the X close icon in the top right to return to the company record.

Add, swap, and remove contacts

1. To add a new contact to the chart:

   • Click the personas icon on the left.
   • Use the search bar to find the contact.
   • Drag and drop the contact onto the chart.
2. To swap a contact on the chart with a different contact:
   • Click the three horizontal dots icon next to the contact, and then click Swap contact.
   • Use the search bar to find the contact. 
   • Under the contact card, click Use this contact.
3. To remove a contact from the chart, click the three horizontal dots icon next to the contact. Then, click Remove from chart.
4. To add a placeholder contact to the chart, for when you know a stakeholder exists, but you don't have their contact record in your CRM:
   • Click the personas icon on the left.
   • Drag and drop the Add placeholder card to a position on the chart.
   • Optionally, enter a name, job title, or notes on the left.

Add custom relationships

In addition to showing manager/employee relationships, you can add custom relationship lines to the chart.

To add a custom relationship line between two contacts on the chart:

1. In the buying group editor, click the three horizontal dots icon next to a contact. Then, click Add relationship.
2. Click the second contact on the chart you want to connect to.
3. On the left, add a note to describe the relationship under the Notes field.
4. To edit an existing relationship:
   • Click the relationship line on the chart.
   • On the left, edit the note.
   • To remove the relationship, click Remove relationship.
5. To view all custom relationships on the chart:
   • On the left, click the  relationships icon.
   • Click View details under a specific relationship, to view or edit that relationship.

Set department labels

On the org chart, you can add labels above a contact to denote a specific department at the company.

1. In the buying group editor, click the three horizontal dots icon next to a contact. Then, click Set department label.
2. Enter your text above the contact card, then press the Enter key on your keyboard.
3. To delete a department label:
   • In the buying group editor, click the three horizontal dots icon next to a contact. Then, click Set department label.
   • Delete the text above the contact card, then press the Enter key on your keyboard.

Edit contact details

On the org chart, you can edit a contact to set their buying role and adjust certain contact properties.

1. To edit an existing contact's buying role:

   • In the buying group editor, click the contact. Then, click Set buying role.
   • Select the buying roles you'd like to apply.
2. To edit an existing contact's properties:

1. • In the buying group editor, click the contact.
   • Click the property you'd like to set.
   • Select or enter the value you'd like to set for the chosen property.

Manage buying group details

1. To edit the name of your buying group, in the upper left click the pencil icon and type in a name.
2. To download the buying group chart as an image, click the  download icon on the left.
3. To remove all contacts and custom relationships from the buying group:
   • On the left, click the  settings icon. Then, click Clear chart.
   • In the dialog box, click Clear chart.
4. To delete the buying group:
   • On the left, click the  settings icon. Then, click Delete buying group.
   • In the dialog box, click Delete buying group.

View buying group activities

You can use buying group org charts to see how engaged individual contacts are with your marketing and sales activities.

To see the level of engagement:

1. In your HubSpot account, click More, then navigate to CRM > Companies. If More doesn't appear in your account, navigate to CRM > Companies directly. Then, click the name of the company.
2. On the Buying Group card, click the buying group name.
3. On the top right, turn the Activity Heatmap switch on.
4. Hover over Activity Heatmap, and select either Sales Activity or Marketing Activity.
5. Click the dropdown menu and select the activity checkboxes to filter by specific activities.
6. Drag the dots on the color scale slider to adjust the timeframe and colors of the heatmap.