How to Setup your HubSpot Lifecycle Stages

Setting up lifecycle stages in HubSpot is crucial for tracking the journey of leads from initial contact to becoming customers. This blog post, part of my complete HubSpot setup guide, will walk you through the importance of lifecycle stages, how to customize them, and best practices to follow. By the end of this post, you'll have a clear understanding of how to set up and use lifecycle stages effectively.

What is HubSpot Lifecycle?

The HubSpot lifecycle is one of the core native properties provided when you create your HubSpot portal. This property represents the different stages a lead goes through, from being generated to becoming a customer. It serves as a reporting property that allows you to build conversion funnels, helping you to identify the performance of your various processes.

HubSpot offers default lifecycle stages, such as Lead, MQL (Marketing Qualified Lead), SQL (Sales Qualified Lead), and Customer. These stages are generally sufficient for most businesses, but you can customize them to better fit your specific sales process.

Why Customize Lifecycle Stages?

Customizing lifecycle stages is crucial for:

1. Accurate Tracking: It helps in precisely tracking where each lead is in the sales funnel.
2. Enhanced Reporting: Customized stages allow for better reporting and analysis, providing insights into the effectiveness of different stages.
3. Process Optimization: Understanding where leads drop off or convert helps in optimizing your sales and marketing strategies.

The Two Rules for Lifecycle Stages

1. One-Way Evolution:

   • Leads should only move forward through the stages and never backward. For example, if a lead reaches the SQL stage but does not make a purchase, they should remain in SQL and not revert to Lead. This rule ensures that the lifecycle property accurately reflects the progress and potential of each lead.
     
     

2. Complete Stage Progression:

   • Leads must go through all stages to ensure accurate reporting. Skipping stages can distort your funnel and reduce the quality of your analysis. For example, if a lifecycle stage like "Opportunity" is added between SQL and Customer, all leads must pass through this stage before becoming customers.

HubSpot has recently introduced time tracking for each stage, allowing you to analyze how long leads spend in each stage. This feature can provide deeper insights into your sales processes and help identify bottlenecks.

How to Customize Your Lifecycle Stages

1. Accessing Lifecycle Stages:

   • Go to the Settings icon in your HubSpot portal, then navigate to Data Management > Contacts. Click on the Lifecycle Stages tab.
     
     

2. Review and Customize Stages:

   • Review the default stages provided by HubSpot. In our example, we have Lead, MQL, SQL, Opportunity, and Customer. You can rename these stages or add new ones as needed.
   • To rename a stage, click on Edit, make your changes, and save. To remove a stage, click on the Delete button. For example, if your business does not use stages like "Evangelist" or "Subscriber," you can delete them.
     
     

3. Adding New Stages:

   • If you need additional stages, such as "Opportunity" or "Closed Won," you can add them by clicking on Add Stage. Ensure the order reflects your sales process, as lifecycle stages should mirror the journey a lead takes.
     
     

4. Saving Your Configuration:

   • After making the necessary adjustments, click Save to ensure all changes are applied to your HubSpot portal.

Automating Lifecycle Stage Transitions

While automation typically requires a Professional or Enterprise subscription, HubSpot provides basic automation options even for Starter users. These automations can automatically move leads from one stage to another based on specific triggers, such as form submissions or email engagements.

Basic Automations:

• HubSpot offers three default automations:
  • When a lead converts on a form, they can be moved to MQL.
  • After a sales call, leads can be moved to SQL.
  • After a purchase, leads can be transitioned to Customer.

If these automations match your needs, you can enable them; otherwise, you may need to turn them off and use workflows to create more customized automation paths.

Conclusion

Setting up and customizing lifecycle stages in HubSpot is essential for accurately tracking and managing your leads through the sales funnel. By following the rules of one-way evolution and complete stage progression, you can ensure that your reporting is accurate and that your sales processes are well-optimized. Regularly review and adjust your lifecycle stages as your business evolves to maintain accurate and actionable insights.

Stay tuned for more detailed posts in our HubSpot setup guide, where we will explore other key aspects of leveraging HubSpot to its full potential.