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An Expert Guide to Customizing the Default HubSpot Lifecycle Stages

  Admin  ·  8 minute read
Mapping the buyer journey is an important aspect of any business plan. The insights gained from this can help identify what’s working and what’s not. This data can be further utilised to create better marketing and sales strategies. A powerful feature that helps achieve this is the HubSpot lifecycle stages. The default lifecycle stages in HubSpot begin from Subscriber and end at Evangelist stage.  A common question however, intrigues most HubSpot users, “Can the default HubSpot lifecycle stages be customised?”.  This blog will resolve this query by delving into the basics of HubSpot contact stages in HubSpot CRM, what they entail, and how they can be utilised for maximum conversion.

What are HubSpot Lifecycle Stages?

Hubspot lifecycle stages map out the entire journey of a customer in the buying process. This default stages’ mapping allows better alignment between the sales and marketing team to strategise on conversion and retention. Let’s take a look at the different lifecycle stages in HubSpot and explore relevant examples to understand them: HubSpot Lifecycle Stages

  • Subscriber 

A subscriber is essentially someone who has subscribed to any sources on your website, be it a newsletter, or blog update etc. A good example of a subscriber is someone who has subscribed to your newsletter by filling out a form.

  • Lead 

A person enters the lead stage once they take an action that indicates their interest in your product/services. For instance, if someone downloads an ebook or uses an online tool on your website then they are considered a lead.

  • MQL or Marketing Qualified Lead 

An MQL is someone who has engaged with the marketing efforts of the company. People can also be qualified as MQL based on a scoring system (lead scoring) in HubSpot. For example someone who has viewed the pricing page or checked out the product guide.  

  • SQL or Sales Qualified Lead 

An MQL is promoted to SQL once they have interacted with the sales team. This ensures their interest in utilising your product/ service. For instance, the actions could be a demo booking or a one-on-one conversation with a sales rep. 

  • Opportunity 

A user enters the opportunity stage once it is established what product/service of your organisation they want to avail. It is at this stage that the customer is associated with a deal. For instance a customer who asks and makes an inquiry about a proposal.

  • Customer 

Completing a deal is what qualifies a contact as a customer For instance,  someone who has made a purchase of the product/ services of your organisations is a customer in the HubSpot default stages. 

  • Evangelist

A customer becomes an Evangelist once they start promoting your product/ services. For instance, a custom referring your services to others is an Evangelist.  

  • Other 

Somebody who doesn’t fit in the above categories like a vendor or a media contact person. 

HubSpot Lifecycle Stage vs Lead Status (Quick Refresher)

HubSpot lifecycle stage and lead status are related terms that most users confuse each other with. In simple terms, lifecycle stages track the entire journey of a customer from their first contact to when they closed the deal/ started promoting the brand. Whereas, the lead status in HubSpot indicates a customer’s position in the sales process. Let’s  take a look at the difference between lifecycle stage and lead status through a table:

How to Edit or Change a Contact’s Lifecycle Stage

The feature to edit lifecycle stages in HubSpot comes in handy to tailor the lifecycle stages to suit individual business needs. They can be edited either manually or via automated workflows. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to update HubSpot lifecycle stage for a contact: 

Updating the Lifecycle Stage Manually

  • In the HubSpot CRM, navigate to the Contacts section. 
  • Open the contact record and click on the name of the contact you want to update.
  • Scroll down to the Lifecycle Stage property. 
  • Click on the current lifecycle stage and a dropdown opens from which you can select the new stage.
  • Click on Save to apply the changes to the contact record. 

Automating Lifecycle Stage Update with Workflows 

  • Open your HubSpot account, navigate to Automation.
  • Select Workflows from the dropdown menu. 
  • Click on "Create workflow" on the right side of the page. 
  • Select "Contact-based" workflow.
  • Set Enrollment Triggers to define the criteria that will enroll contacts into the workflow (For instance, you might enroll contacts who submit a specific form, or have a certain lead score).
  • Click the "+" icon to add an action.
  • Select "Set property value" as the action type.
  • Choose "Contact" as the target property type. Then, select "Lifecycle Stage" as the property to set.
  • Select the desired lifecycle stage from the dropdown menu.
  • Review and publish the workflow. The workflow will now automatically update the lifecycle stage for contacts that meet the enrollment criteria. 

Can Lifecycle Stages be Moved Backwards?

Although not generally advised, you can move a lifecycle stage backward both manually and via automated workflows. Before doing this, it is important to clear the existing lifecycle stage value and then set a new one.  Manually:
  • Open the Contact record in HubSpot. 
  • Navigate to the Lifecycle Stage property. 
  • Clear the current value. 
  • Select the desired previous Lifecycle Stage from the dropdown. 
Using Workflows:
  • To remove the current Lifecycle Stage in a workflow, use the "Clear property value".
  • Utilise the "Set a property value" action next, to set the desired earlier Lifecycle Stage. 

How to Customise HubSpot Lifecycle Stages (And Should You?)

HubSpot allows customisation of the lifecycle stages for your contacts and companies to suit individual business needs. This HubSpot lifecycle customisation allows performing actions such as adding custom lifestages in HubSpot, renaming an existing lifecycle stage, rearranging the lifecycle stages, and deleting a lifecycle stage. Before learning how to perform each, let’s take see how you can access the lifecycle stages in HubSpot:
  • Open your HubSpot account, click on the settings icon. 
  • Under the Data Management Section, navigate to Objects.
  • Select the Contacts next.  
  • Click the Lifecycle Stage tab.
  • Now, you can make the necessary edits here.

Adding a new lifecycle stage 

  • In the Lifecycle Tab, click on + Add stage.
  • Enter the name of the new stage. 
  • Click on the Create Lifecycle Stage option to save the new stage 

Renaming a lifecycle stage 

  • Open the Lifecycle Tab under contacts.
  • Go to the required lifecycle stage and click on Edit. 
  • Enter the new stage name.
  • Click on the Edit Lifecycle Tab to save the desired changes.

Rearranging the lifecycle stages 

  • In the Lifecycle Tab, click on the ten dots present before each lifecycle stage. 
  • Use this tab to drag the stage to its desired location. 

Deleting a lifecycle stage

  • Open the Lifecycle Tab in Contact record.
  • Go to the required lifecycle stage and then click on Delete.
Note: Before deleting any lifecycle stage it is important to check whether the lifecycle stage holds any records or if it is still in use (in other HubSpot tools). If this is the case then move the records to either a new stage or remove the stage as a reference in the Hubspot tools, respectively. Moreover, a stage can also not be deleted if it is being used as a default for any of the apps connected to Hubspot. 

Why Your Lifecycle Stage Setup Might Not Be Working

Hubspot lifecycle stages are an important tool for any business. The mapping of a customer’s journey through the entire marketing and sales process, does not just help with conversions but also serve as a reference point for future strategies. Many businesses however struggle to see any real growth even while utilising the lifecycle stages in HubSpot.  It is thus important to review whether you are using the HubSpot lifecycle stages correctly or not. Let’s take a look at the common mistakes made while using the lifecycle stages:
  • Misaligned Definitions
One of the most common errors when it comes to lifecycle stages is not setting up a single definition for each lifecycle stage across the entire organisation. For instance, the criteria for qualifying an MQL may not be the same for the sales and marketing team, leading to missed opportunities. How to troubleshoot this error? This error can be corrected by aligning the definition of each stage by the sales and marketing team. This will ensure that there are no confusions and each record is utilised efficiently.
  • No setting up the Property Values correctly 
Property values are an important source of information for the sales and marketing teams. Insufficient data in records can create a hindrance in qualifying leads. How to troubleshoot this error? Ensure that the data is fit so the sales team can focus on the right customers, using a behavioural scoring model can also help determine the engagement quality and not just quantity. Custom fields can also be added for any additional sales-related data. Lifecycle stages should represent how far a contact has reached in the customer journey and not their current engagement status. Using them for current status can lead to inaccuracies, which impacts the marketing and sales efforts.  How to troubleshoot this error? This error can be easily corrected by utilising the “Lead Status” property alongside the lifecycle stages. Lead Status helps to identify the current status of a contact, so marketing and sales efforts can be aligned accordingly. 
  • Lack of History Tracking
Customising the lifecycle stages in HubSpot allows deletion of a lifecycle stage, this leads to a loss of valuable historical data about the contact's journey.  How to troubleshoot this error? It is important to document each change you make to the lifecycle stages to avoid any confusion and not lose important information. 

Lifecycle Stage Best Practices (that Actually Work)

With the understanding of what lifecycle stages are and how they can be customised to suit individual business needs. Let’s move on to the HubSpot lifecycle stages best practices, these ensure that you make the most out this powerful tool in the CRM:
  • Define clear stages 
Define each lifecycle stage properly to reflect the marketing and sales efforts. This alignment will ensure that there are no confusions and the position of each customer is correctly mapped.This information helps in seamless handover from the marketing team to the sales team, improving the conversion rates with appropriate sales efforts.
  • Customise content 
The content available to each customer should be customised as per his buyer journey. This improves customer engagement and allows customers to have the relevant information. For instance an early-stage customer should receive educational resources while an SQL should receive a product demo.
  • Utilise reporting stats
Tracking the movement of customers is only rewarding if it is followed by proper analysis. For instance, the time spent in each lifecycle stage can help identify any bottlenecks. Similar metrics that should be analysed include mapping the customer’s most common path through the lifecycle stages, what type of content is most effective at moving customers through each stage, etc. 
  • Combine lifecycle stages and lead status
Lifecycle stages are helpful to gain a bird’s eye-view of the buyer journey but to know the current status of each stage it is crucial to combine lead status with lifecycle stages. Doing this removes ambiguity and presents a clear picture of where the customer is to align the sales efforts accordingly.
  • Integrate Contact and Company Stages
Keeping the contact and company lifecycle stages synchronised is also very important for a holistic view of your customer relationships. This ensures there are no misalignments, allowing appropriate sales or marketing efforts to reach the customer. 
  • Rename instead of creating new stages
Although HubSpot does provide the option to create new lifecycle stages, instead of scrapping off the entire default lifecycle stages and creating new ones, it is better to rename them. It ensures that you do not lose important historical data pertaining to each stage. 
  • Add an additional lifecycle stage “Delete”
To better manage the customers that have not responded to any sales efforts or are no longer viable, you can add a new lifecycle stage named “Delete”. This allows proper cleaning of the data so all data in the CRM serves its purpose. 

Advanced Tips: Syncing Lifecycle Stages Across HubSpot Tools

HubSpot lifecycle stage syncing allows for automating the progression of lifecycle stages across the CRM, and marketing, tools. This ensures that the data is consistent across all HubSpot tools. The default sync behavior is one-way i.e. from company to contact, however it can be extended to synchronise contact and company stages using workflows or other integrations. 
  • Default Company to Contact Sync When a company's lifecycle stage is updated, the lifecycle stages of all its associated contacts are also automatically updated to match. 
  • Workflows: Workflows can be used to automate lifecycle stage updates based on specific criteria, such as lead scoring or form submissions. 
Professional and Enterprise plans in HubSpot also allow the creation of workflows that can update the company lifecycle stages based on changes in the contact stage.
  • Lists and Views: Contacts and companies can be segmented based on their lifecycle stage in saved views and lists, enabling targeted marketing and sales efforts.
  • Reports: Lifecycle stage data is used in various HubSpot reports, this allows track of the entire sales process and identify areas for improvement. 

Conclusion

HubSpot Lifecycle stages is an important feature in the HubSpot that allows tracking of where the customer is, in his buyer journey. This bird’s eye-view helps to track the movement of customers and fosters better hand-offs from marketing to sales team.   In addition to utilising the default HubSpot stages, HubSpot also allows customisation of lifecycle stages to suit individual business needs. It however should be treated with caution ensuring the organisation does not lose out on precious history records. This is where joining hands with a HubSpot expert can help to maximise the benefits of using lifecycle stages while utilising its customisation. Contact our experts here to customise lifecycle stages for your business.

Need Help Customising Lifecycle Stages in HubSpot?

At WeSimplifi, we make sure you get the most out of the record in lifecycle stages with tailored customisation aligned with your business needs. Our expert team ensures seamless handovers and trains your employees to leverage all HubSpot features. Contact us here for customised HubSpot solutions!

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