If your HubSpot portal feels messy, inconsistent, or hard to report on, the issue usually isn’t automation.
It’s structure.
In this FAQ breakdown, we answer five foundational CRM setup questions that determine whether your portal scales - or spirals.
1. Should You Track Everything on Companies, Contacts, or Deals?
Start with this question:
When you say “customer,” do you mean a person or a business?
For most B2B companies, the answer is: the company.
Our General Rule
If a data point is true for everyone at the organization, track it on the company record.
Examples:
- Client start date
- Products purchased
- Industry
- Internal client ID
- Contract status
Contact records should store:
- Name
- Email
- Phone
- Job title
- Persona
- Engagement behavior
Deals represent a moment in time - a specific sales process - and should store:
- Deal amount
- Close date
- Deal owner
- Source
- Close reason
If you structure it correctly at the company level first, everything else becomes cleaner.
2. How Many Life Cycle Stages Do You Actually Need?
As many as you need - as few as possible.
Too many life cycle stages dilute reporting.
Too few prevent meaningful segmentation.
Most B2B companies benefit from:
- Subscriber
- Lead
- Opportunity (or Qualified Prospect)
- Customer/Client
- Partner/Referral
- Former Customer
- Archived/Disqualified
The “Archived” stage is critical. It keeps inactive records from cluttering reporting without deleting historical data.
The key isn’t just defining stages - it’s automating transitions between them using workflows.
3. What Properties Should Be Required?
There are two major places to enforce required properties:
When Creating Records
At a minimum, most teams should require:
- Name
- Email
- Owner
- Life Cycle Stage
- Source
If it’s mission-critical for reporting or automation, make it required.
If it’s “nice to have,” leave it optional.
When Moving Deals Through Stages
You can require certain properties before allowing a rep to move a deal forward.
For example:
Before moving to “Needs Analysis Complete,” require:
- Current provider
- Pain points
- Product interest
This enforces internal standards and ensures data quality.
4. How Do You Stop Reps from Skipping Fields?
Simple answer: Make fields required.
If commission depends on a closed deal, and a deal cannot close without the required data, reps will fill it out.
The harder problem is junk notes.
That’s not a CRM problem - that’s a management issue.
If data isn’t being used for:
- Reporting
- Handoffs
- Segmentation
- Automation
Then reps won’t value entering it.
Tie required fields directly to outcomes and explain why they matter.
5. What’s the Best Way to Handle Duplicates?
The best strategy is prevention.
Common causes:
- Poor import hygiene
- Multiple form submissions
- Manual entry without checking existing records
Use HubSpot’s duplicate management tool to review and merge records carefully.
Avoid bulk auto-merging unless you fully understand the logic.
Prevent first. Merge second.
Final Thoughts
CRM success isn’t about complexity.
It’s about clarity.
If you:
- Define where data lives
- Simplify life cycle stages
- Enforce critical fields
- Manage duplicates intentionally
Your automation, reporting, and sales process will work exponentially better.
If you have a CRM setup question you’d like answered in our next FAQ video, send it our way.
Ready to Put HubSpot to Work for You?
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