How CRM sync works (Clio and HubSpot)
Once your CRM is connected, your referral records and your matters or deals stay in step without you having to copy data between two systems. This article explains the rules in plain terms so you can predict what's going to happen before it happens.
The same rules apply to Clio and HubSpot. Where the wording differs (matter vs deal, status vs stage), use the one that matches your CRM.
Sync direction is one-way today
Updates flow from your CRM into ReferralPulse, not the other way around. You manage your matters and deals in your CRM the way you always have. Your assistant watches for changes and updates the linked referral here to match. ReferralPulse never creates a matter or a deal in your CRM, never moves a deal between stages, and never edits a contact.
This means: if you want to mark a referral Won because the matter closed, you can do it either in your CRM (which will then sync over) or directly on the referral here (which will not push back to your CRM). For consistency, most users do it in the CRM and let the sync follow.
What auto-links a matter or deal to a referral
When a new matter is created in Clio or a new deal is created in HubSpot, your assistant scans your unlinked received referrals and tries to find a match. There are three outcomes:
Email match (silent link). If the matter's client email or the deal's primary contact email is the same as the email on a received referral, the link is created automatically. You get a confirmation notification on your dashboard reading New Clio matter linked to your referral or New HubSpot deal linked to your referral, with the matter or deal name and the partner's client name. No action required.
Name or company match (suggestion). If the email doesn't match but the matter or deal client name matches a referral's client name, or the matter or deal name contains the referral's client company plus a shared name token, you get a suggestion notification reading New Clio matter, possible referral match or New HubSpot deal, possible referral match. Tapping the notification opens the referral with the suggested matter or deal pinned at the top of the link dialog. One click confirms or rejects.
No match (skipped). If nothing on the matter or deal lines up with any of your unlinked received referrals, no link is created and no notification is sent. The matter or deal sits in your CRM untouched.
The match runs against your last 50 unlinked received referrals where the status is Open, ordered by most recent. Closed and given referrals are never auto-linked because the connection wouldn't be useful: the work is already done, or it's a referral you sent rather than one you got.
If the auto-link gets it wrong, click the small unlink icon on the matter or deal pill on the referral detail page. The link is removed without affecting the underlying matter or deal in your CRM.
What status changes propagate
Once a matter or deal is linked, status changes flow through automatically.
Clio matter status. Open and Pending matters keep the referral as Open. Closed matters move it to Won.
HubSpot deal stage. Stages your pipeline classifies as closed-won move the referral to Won. Closed-lost stages move it to Lost. Open stages keep the referral as Open.
You'll see the change on the referral's activity timeline as an entry labeled Status changed to won (synced from Clio) or Status changed to won (synced from HubSpot), with a timestamp and the matter or deal name as context. The notifications panel shows a matching banner so you know the status flipped without having to refresh.
What happens to the partner who sent you the referral
If the partner who sent you the referral has their own ReferralPulse account, the synced status doesn't stop at your dashboard. Their copy of the same referral updates to match. So when a Clio matter closes for a client your partner Mary referred, three things happen in sequence:
- Clio sends ReferralPulse a webhook that the matter closed.
- Your received referral's status changes from Open to Won, with a timeline entry attributing the change to Clio.
- Mary's given referral on her side also changes to Won, with a timeline entry attributing the change to a synced partner update. Mary gets a notification reading Referral status updated to won so she knows the work she sent your way landed.
This loop is why connecting your CRM matters even if your partner's CRM is different (or if they don't have a CRM at all). The handoff to her is automatic and based on data she'd otherwise never see.
If your partner is not a Registered User on ReferralPulse (still in the Invited or Profile Updated state, or never invited at all), the sync stops at step 2. Your record updates, but there's no partner-side dashboard to push the update into.
Bills and commissions (Clio only)
Clio's integration also watches for bill payments. When a bill on a linked matter is marked paid in Clio, your assistant queues a draft note to the partner who sent you the referral, mentioning that the work paid out and prompting you to share a commission update if applicable. The draft sits on your Action Queue for you to read, edit, and send.
HubSpot doesn't have a directly equivalent signal, since deal stages already capture closed-won. The commission draft path applies only to Clio.
When auto-link does not run
A few cases where the rules above intentionally don't apply:
- Given referrals. Auto-link only runs against received referrals. Matters or deals you create for clients you sourced yourself, not via a referral partner, will never be auto-linked.
- Already-mapped entities. If a matter or deal is already linked to a referral, subsequent updates flow through the existing link. The matcher doesn't run again.
- HubSpot edits to existing deals. Auto-link in HubSpot fires only when a deal is first created, not when an existing deal's stage or contact changes. This avoids surprise links to old deals every time a property changes. Use the manual link dialog for older deals.
- No open received referrals. If you have no unlinked received referrals in Open status, the matcher exits early and no notification is sent.
On the iOS app
Sync runs on the server, so the device you're using doesn't matter. Notifications about new auto-links and suggested matches show up on iOS the same way they do on the web. Tapping a suggestion notification on iOS opens the referral with the suggested matter or deal pinned at the top of the link dialog, the same flow as the web.
If a status change synced from your CRM while you were away from your laptop, your assistant can summarize what happened during the day. Ask in AI Chat: "what changed on my referrals today" and you'll get a list of the synced updates plus anything else that moved.