Case Study - Root Financial | Box Connector by SparkGrid Software

The Problem: Growth Outpacing Manual Work

When Alex Stickelman joined Root Financial as COO, the firm was already experiencing rapid growth. Assets under management had increased dramatically in a short period of time, and client demand continued to accelerate. But the workflows behind that growth told a different story. “There was a lot happening behind the curtain when I arrived,” Alex recalls. “To advisors, it looked like things were automated. In reality, we had team members doing things behind the scenes to make it feel automated to advisors and clients." Root was using another CRM and had a mix of shared folders and links to collect and store client documents. Every time a new prospect appeared, or a client moved to a new stage, that work flowed through the operations team. They created folders, watched for uploads, moved files into place, and cleaned up old links so the advisors could use them. "If that work didn’t happen quickly and an advisor needed a document for a meeting, it made them look unprepared,” Alex notes. "This process worked well when we were smaller, but as we added more advisors and more clients, it was obvious this wouldn’t scale. We were spending a lot of human energy on something that should be an automated workflow.”

The Problem: Growth Outpacing Manual Work

When Alex Stickelman joined Root Financial as COO, the firm was already experiencing rapid growth. Assets under management had increased dramatically in a short period of time, and client demand continued to accelerate. But the workflows behind that growth told a different story. “There was a lot happening behind the curtain when I arrived,” Alex recalls. “To advisors, it looked like things were automated. In reality, we had team members doing things behind the scenes to make it feel automated to advisors and clients." Root was using another CRM and had a mix of shared folders and links to collect and store client documents. Every time a new prospect appeared, or a client moved to a new stage, that work flowed through the operations team. They created folders, watched for uploads, moved files into place, and cleaned up old links so the advisors could use them. "If that work didn’t happen quickly and an advisor needed a document for a meeting, it made them look unprepared,” Alex notes. "This process worked well when we were smaller, but as we added more advisors and more clients, it was obvious this wouldn’t scale. We were spending a lot of human energy on something that should be an automated workflow.”

The Problem: Growth Outpacing Manual Work

When Alex Stickelman joined Root Financial as COO, the firm was already experiencing rapid growth. Assets under management had increased dramatically in a short period of time, and client demand continued to accelerate. But the workflows behind that growth told a different story. “There was a lot happening behind the curtain when I arrived,” Alex recalls. “To advisors, it looked like things were automated. In reality, we had team members doing things behind the scenes to make it feel automated to advisors and clients." Root was using another CRM and had a mix of shared folders and links to collect and store client documents. Every time a new prospect appeared, or a client moved to a new stage, that work flowed through the operations team. They created folders, watched for uploads, moved files into place, and cleaned up old links so the advisors could use them. "If that work didn’t happen quickly and an advisor needed a document for a meeting, it made them look unprepared,” Alex notes. "This process worked well when we were smaller, but as we added more advisors and more clients, it was obvious this wouldn’t scale. We were spending a lot of human energy on something that should be an automated workflow.”

The Decision: “HubSpot and Box Should Feel Like One System”

The Root team wanted an infrastructure that reflected the seriousness of the firm’s work. HubSpot would be the home for marketing, relationships and sales/service activity. Box would be the secure system of record for files. The missing piece was a better way to connect the two so people weren’t stuck playing middle‑person between tools. Alex had used HubSpot for years in previous roles and had always felt the friction around files. “I’d used HubSpot for seven years and never really solved the file problem,” she says. “Documents always ended up in some separate system with a lot of manual steps in between. I wanted HubSpot to drive the process, while Box stayed the source of truth for files." As Root standardized on HubSpot and Box, Alex went looking for a cleaner answer. In the HubSpot App Marketplace, she found SparkGrid’s Box Connector. “What caught my attention,” Alex explains, “was that it respected Box as the system of record. It wasn’t trying to copy files into HubSpot. It let us keep Box as our file home and use HubSpot workflows to decide what happens when.”

The Decision: “HubSpot and Box Should Feel Like One System”

The Root team wanted an infrastructure that reflected the seriousness of the firm’s work. HubSpot would be the home for marketing, relationships and sales/service activity. Box would be the secure system of record for files. The missing piece was a better way to connect the two so people weren’t stuck playing middle‑person between tools. Alex had used HubSpot for years in previous roles and had always felt the friction around files. “I’d used HubSpot for seven years and never really solved the file problem,” she says. “Documents always ended up in some separate system with a lot of manual steps in between. I wanted HubSpot to drive the process, while Box stayed the source of truth for files." As Root standardized on HubSpot and Box, Alex went looking for a cleaner answer. In the HubSpot App Marketplace, she found SparkGrid’s Box Connector. “What caught my attention,” Alex explains, “was that it respected Box as the system of record. It wasn’t trying to copy files into HubSpot. It let us keep Box as our file home and use HubSpot workflows to decide what happens when.”

The Decision: “HubSpot and Box Should Feel Like One System”

The Root team wanted an infrastructure that reflected the seriousness of the firm’s work. HubSpot would be the home for marketing, relationships and sales/service activity. Box would be the secure system of record for files. The missing piece was a better way to connect the two so people weren’t stuck playing middle‑person between tools. Alex had used HubSpot for years in previous roles and had always felt the friction around files. “I’d used HubSpot for seven years and never really solved the file problem,” she says. “Documents always ended up in some separate system with a lot of manual steps in between. I wanted HubSpot to drive the process, while Box stayed the source of truth for files." As Root standardized on HubSpot and Box, Alex went looking for a cleaner answer. In the HubSpot App Marketplace, she found SparkGrid’s Box Connector. “What caught my attention,” Alex explains, “was that it respected Box as the system of record. It wasn’t trying to copy files into HubSpot. It let us keep Box as our file home and use HubSpot workflows to decide what happens when.”

Building the Lifecycle Once and Letting It Run

With Box Connector in place, Alex and the team mapped how a client moves through HubSpot, from first touch to long‑term relationship, and then designed how Box should mirror that journey. “When a prospect reaches the right stage in HubSpot now, we don’t tap an ops person on the shoulder,” Alex says. “Box Connector creates the household folder in Box, generates a clean, branded upload link, and drops that link on the HubSpot record so we can use it in our marketing emails.” Clients receive a Root‑branded Box link that clearly references their name or household instead of a generic upload URL. Whatever they send lands directly in the right place in Box. Nobody has to drag and drop files behind the scenes. “When that household becomes a client,” she continues, “another workflow moves their folder into our active client structure in Box, renames it to match our household format, and pins it to the client record in HubSpot. Advisors click once from HubSpot and they’re exactly where they need to be.” “Once we turned on Box Connector,” Alex says, “our team stopped touching documents. The workflows just run.”

Building the Lifecycle Once and Letting It Run

With Box Connector in place, Alex and the team mapped how a client moves through HubSpot, from first touch to long‑term relationship, and then designed how Box should mirror that journey. “When a prospect reaches the right stage in HubSpot now, we don’t tap an ops person on the shoulder,” Alex says. “Box Connector creates the household folder in Box, generates a clean, branded upload link, and drops that link on the HubSpot record so we can use it in our marketing emails.” Clients receive a Root‑branded Box link that clearly references their name or household instead of a generic upload URL. Whatever they send lands directly in the right place in Box. Nobody has to drag and drop files behind the scenes. “When that household becomes a client,” she continues, “another workflow moves their folder into our active client structure in Box, renames it to match our household format, and pins it to the client record in HubSpot. Advisors click once from HubSpot and they’re exactly where they need to be.” “Once we turned on Box Connector,” Alex says, “our team stopped touching documents. The workflows just run.”

Building the Lifecycle Once and Letting It Run

With Box Connector in place, Alex and the team mapped how a client moves through HubSpot, from first touch to long‑term relationship, and then designed how Box should mirror that journey. “When a prospect reaches the right stage in HubSpot now, we don’t tap an ops person on the shoulder,” Alex says. “Box Connector creates the household folder in Box, generates a clean, branded upload link, and drops that link on the HubSpot record so we can use it in our marketing emails.” Clients receive a Root‑branded Box link that clearly references their name or household instead of a generic upload URL. Whatever they send lands directly in the right place in Box. Nobody has to drag and drop files behind the scenes. “When that household becomes a client,” she continues, “another workflow moves their folder into our active client structure in Box, renames it to match our household format, and pins it to the client record in HubSpot. Advisors click once from HubSpot and they’re exactly where they need to be.” “Once we turned on Box Connector,” Alex says, “our team stopped touching documents. The workflows just run.”

After: A Full Role’s Worth of Work, Freed Up

The most obvious change was in workload. The file handling that had once lived with a single team member became a set of predictable, visible workflows inside HubSpot. “Before, we had someone spending a big part of their week creating folders, monitoring uploads, and cleaning things up,” Alex explains. “Now, that effort is essentially gone and can be used for other priorities. I’d confidently say we freed up a full role’s worth of repetitive work.” That reclaimed capacity has gone into work that supports growth and client experience, instead of moving files from one place to another. Advisors feel the difference as well. They no longer have to ask Operations for status updates, or hunt through confusing folder structures before a meeting. “It’s a different feeling when an advisor opens a HubSpot record and knows the Box folder pinned there is the source of truth,” Alex says. “They’re not wondering, ‘Is this the right place? Did someone remember to move those documents?’ It removes a lot of cognitive load.” The consistency and reliability of the workflows also gave Alex room to rethink onboarding. With the basics handled, the team could safely experiment with faster paths for high‑intent prospects. “Box Connector was an enabler,” Alex says. “It gave us the foundation to introduce a priority‑style onboarding track without worrying that the document side would fall apart. We can move faster because the steps behind the scenes are repeatable.” Compliance sits in the background of all of this. Active and archived clients now live in clearly defined structures in Box. Files follow the lifecycle that HubSpot defines, which makes internal reviews and external exams smoother. “Having everything where it’s supposed to be, instead of running big cleanup projects, has made us more prepared for any kind of review,” Alex notes. “But what I love most is that it doesn’t feel like a heavy compliance project. It feels like we finally aligned our systems with the way we work.”

After: A Full Role’s Worth of Work, Freed Up

The most obvious change was in workload. The file handling that had once lived with a single team member became a set of predictable, visible workflows inside HubSpot. “Before, we had someone spending a big part of their week creating folders, monitoring uploads, and cleaning things up,” Alex explains. “Now, that effort is essentially gone and can be used for other priorities. I’d confidently say we freed up a full role’s worth of repetitive work.” That reclaimed capacity has gone into work that supports growth and client experience, instead of moving files from one place to another. Advisors feel the difference as well. They no longer have to ask Operations for status updates, or hunt through confusing folder structures before a meeting. “It’s a different feeling when an advisor opens a HubSpot record and knows the Box folder pinned there is the source of truth,” Alex says. “They’re not wondering, ‘Is this the right place? Did someone remember to move those documents?’ It removes a lot of cognitive load.” The consistency and reliability of the workflows also gave Alex room to rethink onboarding. With the basics handled, the team could safely experiment with faster paths for high‑intent prospects. “Box Connector was an enabler,” Alex says. “It gave us the foundation to introduce a priority‑style onboarding track without worrying that the document side would fall apart. We can move faster because the steps behind the scenes are repeatable.” Compliance sits in the background of all of this. Active and archived clients now live in clearly defined structures in Box. Files follow the lifecycle that HubSpot defines, which makes internal reviews and external exams smoother. “Having everything where it’s supposed to be, instead of running big cleanup projects, has made us more prepared for any kind of review,” Alex notes. “But what I love most is that it doesn’t feel like a heavy compliance project. It feels like we finally aligned our systems with the way we work.”

After: A Full Role’s Worth of Work, Freed Up

The most obvious change was in workload. The file handling that had once lived with a single team member became a set of predictable, visible workflows inside HubSpot. “Before, we had someone spending a big part of their week creating folders, monitoring uploads, and cleaning things up,” Alex explains. “Now, that effort is essentially gone and can be used for other priorities. I’d confidently say we freed up a full role’s worth of repetitive work.” That reclaimed capacity has gone into work that supports growth and client experience, instead of moving files from one place to another. Advisors feel the difference as well. They no longer have to ask Operations for status updates, or hunt through confusing folder structures before a meeting. “It’s a different feeling when an advisor opens a HubSpot record and knows the Box folder pinned there is the source of truth,” Alex says. “They’re not wondering, ‘Is this the right place? Did someone remember to move those documents?’ It removes a lot of cognitive load.” The consistency and reliability of the workflows also gave Alex room to rethink onboarding. With the basics handled, the team could safely experiment with faster paths for high‑intent prospects. “Box Connector was an enabler,” Alex says. “It gave us the foundation to introduce a priority‑style onboarding track without worrying that the document side would fall apart. We can move faster because the steps behind the scenes are repeatable.” Compliance sits in the background of all of this. Active and archived clients now live in clearly defined structures in Box. Files follow the lifecycle that HubSpot defines, which makes internal reviews and external exams smoother. “Having everything where it’s supposed to be, instead of running big cleanup projects, has made us more prepared for any kind of review,” Alex notes. “But what I love most is that it doesn’t feel like a heavy compliance project. It feels like we finally aligned our systems with the way we work.”