Canal Insurance Case Study | HubSpot + Guidewire Integration

When Canal Insurance, a legacy-rich commercial auto insurer, set out to replace outdated manual workflows with a modern CRM, they didn’t just need software, they needed a systems partner. As a new HubSpot customer, Canal replaced its legacy CRM and manual workflows with an enterprise-wide HubSpot deployment spanning General Agency distribution, Marketing, Service, and Operations.

The result was a fully integrated, insight-rich system that unified policy workflows, broker servicing, and telematics support, while slashing onboarding time by 60% and reducing manual handoffs by over 90%.

Before Learners.ai

Before the rebuild, Canal relied on a disjointed, hard to scale stack of systems.

Disparate Systems
Data lived across Less Annoying CRM, PLM spreadsheets, Guidewire, and email inboxes, without a single source of truth.

Manual Onboarding
Each new policy required more than 10 manual steps, including tracking UPS shipments, triggering JotForm emails, and coordinating billing confirmations.

Unstructured Customer Support
Without a formal helpdesk, support requests were buried in Outlook inboxes with no SLA ownership or visibility.

Disconnected Marketing
General Agents couldn’t be segmented or targeted, which limited renewals, onboarding, and communication campaigns.

The Challenge

Canal’s business had outgrown the patchwork of disconnected tools used to manage new policy onboarding and broker relationships. Telematics workflows were fragmented. SLA tracking was manual. Support teams lacked visibility into policy status or ticket ownership.

They needed a connected system that:

• Centralized policy onboarding, quoting, and SLA compliance
• Streamlined General Agent engagement
• Integrated with legacy systems (like policy admin and telematics tools)
• Equipped support teams with real-time insights

And they needed it fast — without disrupting operations or overcomplicating adoption.

The Solution

Learners.ai led a full-stack HubSpot Enterprise rollout, implementing:

• Marketing Hub Enterprise for onboarding journeys and producer lifecycle campaigns
• Sales Hub Enterprise for pipeline design, SLA workflows, and quoting automation
• Service Hub Enterprise for intake routing, ticketing, and resolution tracking
• Operations Hub Professional for syncing data, managing integrations, and automation governance

Our team delivered:

• Automated onboarding flows with tailored email journeys for brokers, insureds, and producers
• Agent service dashboards displaying real-time quoting and onboarding status
• Integrated SLA tracking to ensure timely response and resolution
• AI powered automations to reduce repetitive manual tasks and eliminate 8+ handoffs
• Custom objects to support complex policy onboarding and telematics processes

This project is part of our broader Insurance & Benefits solution for streamlining CRM and policy operations.

For a deeper walkthrough, see our HubSpot and Guidewire integration blog.

Key Systems Integrated & Replaced

Replaced

• Legacy CRM (or “Less Annoying CRM,” if you chose specific)
• Manual PLM and General Agent onboarding spreadsheets
• Shared inboxes and siloed policy status tracking

Integrated

• Guidewire (policy admin + claims data sync)
• Telematics platforms (device deployment & status tracking)
• Document signature and intake portals
• Internal email routing and SLA compliance systems
  
  

Results

Key results of the HubSpot Enterprise and Guidewire integration for Canal included:

Canal’s support, sales, and marketing teams now operate from a single pane of glass — with clear accountability, faster resolutions, and actionable insights.

Strategic Takeaway

This project marked more than a tech upgrade — it was a full-stack operational redesign. With Learners.ai, Canal replaced fragmented workflows with a unified, insight-rich CRM system that now supports broker growth, policy intake, and customer service at scale.

“Explore our Insurance CRM hub for carriers, MGAs, and brokers →”

Executive Reflection

"Canal now has a connected CRM foundation that supports not just our operations — but our General Agents, our customers, and our growth. Learners.ai understood our needs from day one, and helped us transform complex processes into automated, trackable workflows."

— Laura Beth, Vice President