If your “forecast” is always a shot in the dark or you’re tired of chasing ghosts in your CRM, this is for you. We’ll get into the nuts and bolts of setting up and running sales pipelines in Hubspot so you can actually trust your deal projections. No fluff, no magic-bullet promises—just stuff that works, stuff that doesn’t, and what you can skip.
Why Your Pipeline Is Probably a Mess
Let’s be honest: most sales pipelines are either too simple (everything’s an “opportunity”) or so complicated no one updates them. If you can’t answer “What’s likely to close this month?” without guessing, your pipeline isn’t helping.
Common issues:
- Too many stages. More isn’t better. If reps can’t remember what each step means, they’ll just pick anything.
- Garbage in, garbage out. If deals linger for months (or years!) without movement, your forecast will always be off.
- No buy-in. If updating Hubspot feels like busywork, reps won’t do it and managers won’t trust the data.
- Wishful thinking. Deals marked “likely to close” just because someone’s “excited” don’t help anyone.
If any of that sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Here’s how to fix it.
Step 1: Get Real About Your Sales Process
Before you touch Hubspot, sketch out your actual sales process. Not the fantasy version—the real one, warts and all.
What to map: - The actual steps a deal goes through, from first contact to closed/won or closed/lost. - Where deals most often get stuck or lost. - What “good” looks like at each stage (not just “sent proposal,” but what needs to be true).
Pro tip: Ask your top reps what really happens. Ignore the official playbook if it doesn’t match reality.
Don’t: Build your pipeline around edge cases or wishful thinking. If “legal review” is rare, don’t make it a main stage.
Step 2: Set Up Your Pipeline in Hubspot (But Keep It Simple)
Now, jump into Hubspot and create (or clean up) your pipeline.
How to keep your pipeline useful:
- Limit stages. For most teams, 5–7 stages is plenty. More than that, and you’re just making busywork.
- Name stages clearly. “Discovery call booked” is better than “Qualification.” Avoid jargon.
- Add clear criteria for each stage. Everyone should know exactly when to move a deal forward.
Example:
| Stage Name | What Must Be True | |------------------------|------------------------------------------------------| | Initial Contact | Prospect responded—real conversation started | | Discovery Scheduled | Meeting booked (not just “sent email”) | | Proposal Sent | Proposal actually sent to prospect | | Negotiation | Prospect requested changes or is actively negotiating| | Verbal Commit | Prospect has said yes, waiting on paperwork | | Closed Won | Contract signed | | Closed Lost | Deal is dead (not just “stuck”) |
To do this in Hubspot: 1. Go to “Settings” > “Objects” > “Deals” > “Pipelines.” 2. Edit or create your pipeline, then add/edit stages. 3. Add stage descriptions and required fields. This helps keep things clear.
Don’t: Overthink probabilities at first. Just get the flow right.
Step 3: Make Updating the Pipeline the Path of Least Resistance
If your team hates updating deals, your pipeline will die a slow death.
Ways to make it painless: - Automate where possible. Use Hubspot’s workflows so, for example, sending a proposal moves the deal to “Proposal Sent.” - Keep required fields minimal. Only ask for what you’ll actually use. - Set up reminders. Use Hubspot tasks or Slack alerts for stale deals.
What doesn’t work: - Adding a dozen custom fields at every stage. No one fills these out. - Relying on guilt or nagging. If it feels like a chore, it won’t stick.
Pro tip: Explain why updating matters (“This helps us not waste time chasing dead deals”) and show how it improves their life (less pipeline review pain).
Step 4: Clean Your Data Regularly (No, Really)
Your pipeline is only as good as the data in it. Build a habit of cleaning it up—monthly is ideal.
How to keep it clean: - Set an “aging” limit. If a deal sits in a stage longer than your sales cycle, review or close it. - Use Hubspot filters. Find deals with no activity in X days and follow up or close them. - Review stuck deals in pipeline reviews. Don’t just look at the pretty charts—ask why deals are stuck.
What to ignore: Vanity metrics (total pipeline value, number of deals) if half your deals are zombie deals. Focus on real opportunities.
Step 5: Use Deal Forecasting the Right Way
Hubspot has forecasting tools, but they’re only as good as your pipeline. Here’s how to use them without getting burned:
- Set realistic close probabilities for each stage. Don’t just use the defaults (“Proposal Sent” is not 90% likely to close unless you’re superhuman).
- Customize views. Create dashboards that show what’s likely to close this month.
- Teach reps to update close dates. If every deal is set to close on the last day of the quarter, your forecast is fantasy.
What works: - Reviewing forecasts with your reps, not just by yourself. - Adjusting probabilities as you learn. If your “Negotiation” stage only closes 30% of the time, change it.
What doesn’t: - Blindly trusting the forecast because “the numbers say so.” - Pushing deals forward to hit a number. It’ll bite you next month.
Step 6: What to Automate, What to Leave Manual
Automation is great—until it isn’t. Here’s where it helps (and where it hurts):
Automate: - Creating tasks for follow-ups. - Moving deals when emails are sent or meetings booked. - Notifying reps of stuck deals.
Manual (on purpose): - Qualifying deals (humans are still better at nuance). - Marking deals as “Lost” and noting why. - Updating deal value (automation guesses, but people know best).
Ignore: Overcomplicated “AI” scoring unless you have a ton of clean data. Most teams don’t, and you’ll waste hours tuning a model that guesses wrong.
Step 7: Regular Pipeline Reviews That Don’t Suck
Most pipeline meetings are finger-pointing sessions or endless status updates. Make yours useful:
- Focus on deals that have changed (moved stages, values updated, etc.).
- Ask about deals that haven’t moved in X days—should we close them?
- Look for patterns: Where do deals stall? Are forecasts matching reality?
Pro tip: Use Hubspot’s deal change history to avoid “he said, she said” about deal status.
Step 8: Keep Improving (But Don’t Tweak Weekly)
Your first pipeline won’t be perfect. That’s fine.
- Review every quarter: Are stages clear? Are forecasts close to reality?
- Cut stages that get skipped or confuse people.
- Add automation only when it actually saves time.
Don’t: Change your pipeline every week. You’ll just annoy your team and lose trust in the numbers.
Wrapping Up: Keep It Simple, Stay Honest
A good sales pipeline in Hubspot isn’t about fancy features or endless customization. It’s about making it dead simple for reps to keep deals up to date, so you can actually forecast what’s coming in. Start simple, get buy-in, and clean up regularly. Most importantly: don’t let wishful thinking creep in. The more honest your pipeline, the better your forecast—and the less time you’ll waste chasing deals that were never real in the first place.
Keep it simple, keep it honest, and don’t be afraid to prune. That’s how you get a pipeline you can trust.