HubSpot Form Notifications: The Community's Call for Reversion and Your Workflow Workaround

Ever opened an important internal notification email only to squint, scroll, and generally feel frustrated trying to find the key information? You're not alone. Recently, a buzzing discussion in the HubSpot Community caught our eye, highlighting a common pain point many RevOps professionals, marketers, and e-commerce store operators are experiencing: the new styling of HubSpot form notification emails.

The original poster in the community thread perfectly articulated the issue, stating, "We'd like to revert the new styling of the emails that get sent to anyone receiving notifications for HubSpot forms. The old styling was clear, direct, and easily let us read information at a glance. This new format is bulky and pushes down important information." This sentiment quickly resonated with other HubSpot users.

The Frustration with the New Look

It’s not just about aesthetics; it's about efficiency and clarity. For teams relying on these notifications for quick actions—whether it's a new lead from a contact form, a support request, or an inquiry from an e-commerce product page—every second counts. The original poster's complaint about the new format being "bulky" and pushing down "important information" speaks volumes.

Another community member quickly seconded this, adding a crucial detail about forwarding: "In addition to the formatting issues for myself, trying to forward one of these forms in an email somehow makes the formatting even worse, and very hard to fix. It pushes the form itself to the far left, but centers the text in the middle, making it very hard to read." Imagine the headache of trying to quickly share a customer's query with a colleague when the email itself becomes an unreadable mess.

A third respondent echoed the frustration, noting, "My teams are complaining about this information being too spaced apart." This highlights a critical operational impact. When vital data is spread out and difficult to parse, it slows down response times, potentially leading to missed opportunities or delayed customer service, which no e-commerce business can afford.

Why Clear Notifications Are Non-Negotiable for E-commerce & RevOps

For ESHOPMAN users, and anyone running an online store with HubSpot as their CRM backbone, these internal notifications are the lifeblood of your daily operations. A new contact form submission could be a high-value lead. A request for a custom quote needs immediate attention. If your team is struggling to quickly grasp the details in these notification emails, it directly impacts your ability to convert leads, provide stellar customer service, and ultimately, drive sales.

The community's plea is clear: provide the option to revert to the old, more functional styling. As one member put it, "why 'fix' what's not broken?" This isn't about resisting change; it's about preserving functionality that was working effectively.

Your Immediate Workaround: Custom Internal Email Workflows

While we wait for HubSpot to potentially reintroduce an option to revert the styling (and we hope they do listen to this valuable feedback!), there's a powerful tool in your HubSpot arsenal that can give you back control: workflows. You can create a custom workflow to send internal email notifications that are perfectly styled and contain exactly the information your team needs, laid out clearly.

Step-by-Step: Creating Custom Form Notification Emails

1. Navigate to Workflows: In your HubSpot account, go to Automation > Workflows.
2. Create a New Workflow: Click "Create workflow" and select "From scratch." Choose a "Contact-based" workflow.
3. Set the Enrollment Trigger: The first step is to define when the workflow should start. Click "Set up triggers" and choose "Form submission." Select the specific form(s) that you want to create custom notifications for. You can also add additional filters if needed (e.g., only for contacts from a specific country).
4. Add an Action: "Send Internal Email": Click the plus icon (+) to add an action. Search for and select "Send internal email."
5. Design Your Email: This is where you regain control! You can use HubSpot's drag-and-drop email editor or a basic template to design your internal notification email. Focus on clarity: use headings, bullet points, and clear spacing.
6. Insert Personalization Tokens: Crucially, use personalization tokens to dynamically pull in information from the form submission. For example, you can add {{ contact.firstname }}, {{ contact.lastname }}, {{ contact.email }}, and most importantly, specific form field values like {{ form.your_form_field_name }}. This ensures all the data your team needs is present and easy to read.
7. Specify Recipients: Choose who should receive this internal email. You can select specific users, teams, or static email addresses.
8. Review and Publish: Give your workflow a descriptive name. Review all steps, especially the email content and recipients. Once you're satisfied, turn the workflow on.

This method gives you complete control over the layout, content, and styling of your internal notifications. While it requires an initial setup, it's a robust solution to ensure your team gets actionable information at a glance, without the formatting headaches.

ESHOPMAN Team Comment

We absolutely agree with the HubSpot Community on this one. Default notification emails, especially for critical inbound inquiries, should be clear, concise, and easily digestible. For e-commerce businesses, quick comprehension of form submissions directly impacts lead response times and customer satisfaction. While HubSpot's workflow capabilities offer a powerful custom solution, it's a shame that users have to build an automation for what should be a straightforward, customizable default setting. HubSpot should prioritize giving users simpler UI controls over such fundamental communication elements.

Whether you're migrating your store from a wix e commerce website or have been a long-time HubSpot user, the expectation for flexible and clear internal communications remains universal. The ability to quickly scan and understand vital information from form submissions is paramount for efficient RevOps and successful e-commerce operations. By leveraging workflows, you can proactively address the current styling issues and ensure your team remains agile and well-informed. We encourage HubSpot to listen to its community and provide more options for managing these essential notifications.