Tired of leads falling through the cracks? Your lifecycle stages are either a revenue-driving machine or a bottleneck that's costing you growth. The good news? You can fix that in 3 easy steps. Let's dive in.

Step 1: Clean Up and Customize Your Lifecycle Stages

HubSpot's default lifecycle stages (Subscriber, Lead, MQL, SQL, Opportunity, Customer, Evangelist) are just the starting point. But relying on defaults could mean missed opportunities. Here's what to do:

Action Plan:

• Audit Your Stages: Go to Contacts > Lifecycle Stages. Look at the current setup and ask, "Is this how my buyers actually move?" If not, customize stages based on your specific sales and marketing funnel. Example: Do you need an extra "Post-Sale Nurture" stage to capture upsell opportunities? Add it.
• Remove Outdated Contacts: Pull contacts who haven't engaged in 6+ months. Use the Contact Property filter for "Last Activity Date" and automate a "Final Chance" email campaign to re-engage them. If they don't bite, auto-mark them as "Inactive."

<aside> Quick Win: Set HubSpot to automatically update lifecycle stages based on actions like deal creation or association with companies. This is a hands-off way to ensure contacts are progressing smoothly through your pipeline without manual effort.

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Step 2: Automate Lifecycle Movements Based on Real Engagement

The latest HubSpot features allow lifecycle stage movements to be fully automated when deals are created, won, or associated with contacts and companies. Use this automation to speed up your funnel and avoid manual data entry.

Action Plan:

• Automate Stage Progression: Set up workflows that auto-advance contacts from MQL to SQL when they take specific actions (e.g., requesting a demo, attending a webinar). Make sure you're using Lead Scoring to define when a lead is sales-ready.
• Deal-Triggered Automation: Enable Deal Lifecycle Sync so that when a deal is created or won, the contact or company's lifecycle stage is automatically updated. No more letting SQLs stagnate—let HubSpot do the heavy lifting for you.

<aside> Quick Win: Set up Lifecycle Stage Notifications for your sales team so they're immediately alerted when a contact moves into SQL. This keeps follow-up timely and effective.

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Step 3: Measure Lifecycle Stage Velocity and Optimize

HubSpot's latest update includes Lifecycle Stage Velocity, which tracks how fast contacts move between stages. Use this data to identify bottlenecks and accelerate conversions.

Action Plan:

• Track Conversion Velocity: Use the new Lifecycle Stage Velocity Report to see how long it takes for contacts to move from Lead to MQL, MQL to SQL, and beyond. If a stage is taking too long, investigate and optimize your workflows or re-engagement strategies.
• Optimize Based on Insights: For any lifecycle stage that shows high drop-offs, set up re-engagement campaigns or revise your lead nurturing content.

<aside> Quick Win: Automate lifecycle stage progression based on Deal Creation and Company Lifecycle Sync to keep all associated records up to date without extra manual work.

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