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Mastering Hubspot Sales pipeline & Deal stages

Written by Jennelle McGrath | September 5, 2024

However, this end result is only possible by successfully moving customers through the sales pipeline. Succeeding in this task is practically impossible if you don’t have a well-structured sales pipeline and understand proper pipeline management. Thankfully, you can perfect this all-important process by educating yourself on HubSpot’s Pipeline and learning how to optimize your deal stages to meet these phases.

What Are Sales Pipelines and Deal Stages in HubSpot?

The term deal stages or sales funnel stages as defined by HubSpot are “the steps in your pipeline that signal to your sales team that an opportunity is moving toward the point of closing.” Another way of putting this is by stating that these stages are the foundation of your sales process. They effectively provide you with a real-time view of each stage of the pipeline, so you can instantly know where prospects are in each stage. You can customize deal stages to best meet your goals.

HubSpot Sales Pipeline Stages and Key Features

A good sales pipeline should, of course, correspond with steps in the customer’s purchasing journey. One example of a sales pipeline includes features like the following:

  • Demo: This is showcasing the product or service and reviewing the offerings available. 
  • Proposal: This could include HubSpot quotes.
  • Contract: This could include a PandaDoc contract.
  • Sale: The part of the process where prospects make payments, moving them from prospect to customer.

HubSpot offers some foundational or standard sales pipeline options, but this can be customized through HubSpot to better meet your team’s overall goals.

HubSpot Deal Stages & Standard Deal Stages

HubSpot features a standard sales pipeline and deal stages that can be customized for your specific goals. The default sales pipeline includes seven distinct deal stages that fall within the sales pipeline. They serve as “steps” in the building process toward a sale:

  • Appointment Scheduled
  • Qualified to Buy
  • Presentation Scheduled
  • Decision Maker Bought-in
  • Contract Sent
  • Closed Won
  • Closed Lost

You can change or alter any of these stages to meet your brand’s needs. HubSpot gives you the freedom to make this system work for you. Customizing this makes sense if your sales pipeline flows a bit differently. For example, if you have a high volume of leads who become disqualified within the initial meeting, you could optimize your stages to qualify leads before the initial meeting to avoid wasting time with prospects who won’t qualify.