NASA Group Case Study - Technical Expertise

The NASA Group specialises in contract payroll solutions. The company is a fully FCSA Accredited specialist Umbrella and Accountancy provider based in Bristol, UK. The company offers various services, including a low-cost PAYE Umbrella Company and CIS Self-employed payroll.

The Document Overload Challenge

The NASA Group was receiving thousands of “Assignment” documents in a PDF format. The client had to enter several details from each document into their system manually. The manual work was highly costly and time-consuming. 

The NASA Group urgently needed a solution to digitise the assignment submission process. Digitisation would also help to speed up their internal business processes and support the company’s planned growth ambitions.

A HubSpot Implementation Was The Best Solution

The solution for the NASA Group was to send the PDFs to Docparser - which ‘parsed the data’ based upon Document Type rules (i.e. ‘teasing apart’ the content from the PDF). Then, this content was put into Make.com using a webhook. You can see an image of this process in the illustration below.

Make.com ran a series of scripts to move the data into HubSpot: this created the records, populated them with data, and associated them with the correct person (already in HubSpot). In the image below, you can see the steps within Make.com to move/associate the right data with the correct Object in HubSpot.

PYB arranged the first onboarding session with the NASA Group as soon as the HubSpot subscription was up and running. In the first Zoom session, PYB showed the NASA Group a sketch of a Roadmap - see below.

This roadmap was an introduction to ‘timeline thinking’. After this stage, PYB gave the NASA Group a complete project timeline via a GANTT chart. This chart (see below) became the cornerstone of the project. It helped to hold stakeholders accountable for the deliverables.

Here is a screenshot from the Gantt Chart used with the NASA Group:

PYB took a top-level brief from the NASA Group to help determine the correct process required for each implementation part. During the project, PYB clarified specific points with the NASA Group to ensure the implementation moved smoothly at every stage.

Using shared documents in Google Drive helped the teams to communicate with each other, e.g., via the colour coding shown below (in this case, questions around that specific column of data). This communication process allowed PYB and the NASA Group to work together effectively.

To run the onboarding/implementation process efficiently, PYB created a sheet for each parsing rule. The spreadsheet also showed how the data would go into HubSpot and the sample records. PYB used spreadsheets relating to the process to track the ‘parsed PDFs’.

Using the example below, you can see

1. The name of the property on the PDF
2. The related HubSpot Custom Object property is to be mapped to
3. The examples of the Objects within HubSpot that need to be checked

The data migration from NASA Group’s legacy CRM was relatively straightforward - with three objects for the migration and no emails/activities. The main focus was on the Parsed data technical architecture for the parsing process:

As mentioned at the beginning of the solution section, there were three stages to moving the data from PDFs into HubSpot.

1. Docparser - set up the PDF (in this case) ‘rules’ for parsing, then ‘parsed’ the sample document. 
2. Configuring and using a webhook to push the data to ‘Make (Integromat)’ - the platform that connects with HubSpot - and use rules to adjust the data (e.g., removing certain text strings) before it. 
3. Creating or associating the data with the ‘right’ object in HubSpot - i.e. using a new custom object called ‘assignment’ and associating the object with the ‘Contact.’

You can see the screenshot below to see the intricacy of the solution that PYB created for the NASA Group.

Using HubSpot To Deliver The Best Results

It is now possible for the NASA Group to accurately report the number of people at each stage of the submission process. The company can see the progression of people through the process in an instant. This system has reduced administration costs for the company and improved communication and follow-ups with contractors.

The NASA Group also continues to add additional sales/service seats and use the HubSpot software for other activities. The activity leaderboard and Deals sections from HubSpot (see below) demonstrate how the implementation has helped the client boost their leads and sales and ultimately continue to grow the company.

The Positive Impact On The NASA Group

The implementation has positively transformed the NASA Group. It has helped the organisation scale from 60 to 120 people (sales/customer service seats). Also, the company managed to hit its target of doubling its revenue in the next three years. Here are some of the highlights from the highly successful implementation:

• The NASA Group now has its sales and operations data ‘all in one place’
• The ability for PDFs to be accurately parsed (98%+)
• The volume of PDF parsing rules created (20 to date - which is 80% of their actual volume to be processed)
• Data can now go into HubSpot accurately and is associated with the correct objects (100%)
• The gathered data in HubSpot is now in a usable format. The NASA Group team can decide how they would like to use this data. (100%)