Latest / Sidekick's What Just Shipped / HubSpot help desk topics: see what customers really contact you about | Shipped Sep 2026
Transcript
- Rob (AI host): What are your customers really contacting you about? Rob (AI host): If the answer comes from a category field reps fill in, you might be guessing. Dana (AI host): HubSpot's topics feature uses AI to classify recurring themes across tickets and conversations, automatically. Rob (AI host): Stay for the setup step our research skipped, and the plan question that changes who gets it. Narrator (AI voice): This is Sidekick's What Just Shipped, presented by Sidekick Strategies. Narrator (AI voice): Your hosts, Rob and Dana, are AI. Narrator (AI voice): The voices are synthetic, the research is real, and humans check every claim before it reaches you. Rob (AI host): Welcome back. Rob (AI host): Dana and I are AI hosts, and today we're working from HubSpot's help article on topics, last updated in mid-October. Dana (AI host): Okay, and today I'm playing a hypothetical support manager whose category report nobody trusts. Rob (AI host): Great, you're the perfect audience. Rob (AI host): Topics use AI to classify recurring themes across tickets and conversations, and you can view topic and subtopic data in reports. Dana (AI host): So it works from the tickets and conversations themselves? Rob (AI host): That's HubSpot's framing, yes. Rob (AI host): And you can analyze trends and team performance in both the help desk and customer agent workspaces. Dana (AI host): Where do I turn it on? Rob (AI host): Two things. If you're a Super Admin, you can opt into the Topics beta. Rob (AI host): Then go to settings, Data Management, Topics, and toggle Topic tracking on. Dana (AI host): And then it's instant? Rob (AI host): Not quite. HubSpot says it may take some time for topics to appear in reports. Dana (AI host): What topics do I get out of the box? Rob (AI host): HubSpot lists nine default topic areas, like Billing and Payments, Bug Report, Cancellation Request, and Feature Request. Dana (AI host): And if a business needs something more specific? Rob (AI host): You can create a topic group, then create topics nested as subtopics under it. Rob (AI host): Default groups include Product Areas and Voice of Customer. Dana (AI host): Can I stop tracking one? Rob (AI host): Yes. Pause tracking stops new data, existing data stays, and you can resume anytime. Rob (AI host): You can also archive a paused topic. Dana (AI host): Nice. Cleaner than a dropdown. Dana (AI host): What happens to requests that fit nowhere? Rob (AI host): There's a default group called General Support, for requests that fit no other topic. Rob (AI host): And Other Inquiry is one of the default topic areas. Dana (AI host): And if I build a group and regret it? Rob (AI host): You can edit it, or delete it. Rob (AI host): To delete, HubSpot asks you to type the number of topics you're deleting, as a confirmation. Dana (AI host): Okay, the report part. Where do I look in Help Desk? Rob (AI host): Service, Help Desk, then Analyze, Topics. Rob (AI host): The table shows each topic with number of tickets, CX Score, the overall communication score from QA, and time to close SLA adherence. Dana (AI host): Oh, that's useful. Volume and quality in one row. Rob (AI host): And you can click any topic to see reports on the tickets that fall under it. Rob (AI host): Why it matters: you can see which topic is slow or scoring low, instead of guessing from a stale category list. Dana (AI host): And the customer agent side? Rob (AI host): Under Customer Agent, you can filter by date range and by channel, like form, email, or live chat, then click a topic for detailed analytics. Dana (AI host): Does it tell me what to fix? Rob (AI host): There's a Coaching opportunities tab. Rob (AI host): You open one, review why it was identified, and click All coaching actions to work in the Knowledge, Actions, Handoff, and Experience tabs. Dana (AI host): Hold on, what if one ticket covers two issues? Rob (AI host): A ticket can have multiple topics, but default reports count it once, under its primary topic, the one that best represents why it started. Dana (AI host): So my billing count might hide some cancellations? Rob (AI host): Right. Rob (AI host): For the full picture, custom reports can use Primary topic, the two drill-down properties, and All topics mentioned. Dana (AI host): Okay, that's a big one. Rob (AI host): Here's HubSpot's own example. Rob (AI host): A support manager notices a rise in Account, Access and Permissions tickets, and updates setup instructions so customers can fix access issues themselves. Dana (AI host): So the fix there wasn't more people. It was better self-help instructions. Rob (AI host): Right, and the topic trend is what pointed at it. George B. Thomas (AI voice clone): Hey, it's George B. Thomas from Sidekick Strategies. George B. Thomas (AI voice clone): Full honesty, this is my AI voice clone, made with my permission. George B. Thomas (AI voice clone): Topic reports get a lot more useful when SLA tracking and ticket routing are actually set up. George B. Thomas (AI voice clone): Sidekick's Service Hub implementation starts with your support workflow. George B. Thomas (AI voice clone): We map how requests arrive, escalate, and resolve, then build ticket pipelines, SLA automation, and support dashboards around it. George B. Thomas (AI voice clone): It includes live training for your support team on every tool we configure. George B. Thomas (AI voice clone): Find Service Hub Implementation under services at Sidekick Strategies dot com. Dana (AI host): My skeptic question. Our write-up says this works with zero setup. True? Rob (AI host): Not by HubSpot's current help article. Rob (AI host): It's an opt-in beta for Super Admins, and someone has to switch on topic tracking. Dana (AI host): Our write-up also says Starter and Free portals still get classification, just not the Topics views. Rob (AI host): HubSpot's article lists Service Hub Professional and Enterprise, and a Professional or Enterprise seat to access topics in help desk. Rob (AI host): So plan on Pro or above. Dana (AI host): So, where does our research run out? Rob (AI host): Our write-up says reps can override a ticket's topic by hand. Rob (AI host): HubSpot's topics article doesn't describe that, so check before you promise it to your team. Rob (AI host): HubSpot also mentions a monthly conversation-processing limit, without a number we could find. Dana (AI host): Anything else that can leave a ticket without a topic? Rob (AI host): Yes. No associated conversation, like a manually created ticket. Automated or empty messages. Very recent conversations. Rob (AI host): Or no clear match to a topic you track. Dana (AI host): And sensitive data accounts? Rob (AI host): Topics are currently unavailable for them, due to legal, compliance, and AI-processing requirements. Rob (AI host): Okay, plan time for your imaginary support team. Dana (AI host): Step one: a Super Admin opts into the Topics beta and turns on topic tracking. Rob (AI host): Step two: review the default topic areas, and pause any that don't fit your business. Dana (AI host): Step three: add a topic group for your own product areas, with a few specific subtopics. Rob (AI host): Step four: open Help Desk, Analyze, Topics, and pick the metric you care about most from the Metric dropdown. Dana (AI host): Step five: in Customer Agent, open the Coaching opportunities tab for your highest-volume topic. Rob (AI host): Step six: build one custom report using All topics mentioned, so multi-issue tickets don't hide. Dana (AI host): Topic-tracker verdict: turn it on early, because HubSpot says topics can take time to appear in reports. Dana (AI host): Next time someone asks why support feels slow, answer by topic. Rob (AI host): HubSpot's topics help article and our research are linked in the show notes, and there's more at Sidekick Strategies dot com. Dana (AI host): Thanks for listening, and here's to fewer mystery tickets. Rob (AI host): Track the topics, then fix the top one. Narrator (AI voice): Sidekick's What Just Shipped is presented by Sidekick Strategies, with AI hosts Rob and Dana and AI-generated music. Narrator (AI voice): We're independent, and not affiliated with HubSpot. Find our research at Sidekick Strategies dot com.