Setup HubSpot for Your Business

Step 1: Audit Your Current Business Information

Before touching HubSpot, document your current business information needs. Start by examining how you currently manage customer information. What details do you collect about your contacts? How do you track sales opportunities? What customer service information do you need to maintain? As you perform this exercise, don't be afraid to omit information that you do not use. A cleaner setup makes for a cleaner maintenance experience.

Contact Information Audit

Process Audit

Lead Capture

Think about where your leads come from and what information you collect at first contact. Examine the information you currently collect about your customers.

• What information do you collect?
• Where does it come from?
• Who needs access to it?

Answers to these questions should help yield information like the following:

• Basic contact information like names, email addresses, and phone numbers
• Customer preferences and behaviors
• Purchase history and interactions Important dates and milestones

Sales Processes

Map out each stage from initial contact to closed deal, noting what information you need at each step. Consider what information you need to track at each stage, from initial contact through closing a deal.

• What are your sales stages?
• What information is needed at each stage?
• Who manages deals?

Your answers to these questions should inform things like:

• Lead source and initial contact information
• Customer requirements and preferences
• Quote or proposal details
• Deal stages and important dates
• Follow-up actions and notes

Customer Service

Consider what information your team needs to support customers effectively.

• How do customers contact you?
• What information do you track about interactions?
• What follow-up is needed?

This information should provide information like:

• Service history and previous interactions
• Product or service details
• Support preferences
• Response times and resolution rates

Real-World Example:

For example, when GearUP Outdoors began their HubSpot implementation, they first listed all the information they were tracking across various spreadsheets and tools. They discovered they had contact details scattered across email lists, customer service records in a separate system, and sales information in individual spreadsheets. This audit revealed not only what they were tracking but also highlighted gaps in their data collection.

Step 2: Planning Your HubSpot Structure

With your audit complete, it's time to plan how this information will be organized in HubSpot. This planning phase is crucial for creating a scalable system that grows with your business.

Property Planning

Properties in HubSpot are like individual fields in a database. When planning properties, think about both the information you need to store and how you'll use it.

For example, GearUP created properties for tracking customer experience levels. Rather than just using a simple "beginner" or "advanced" designation, they created a detailed property that included:

• Experience Level: A dropdown property with options for "Never Camped Before," "Occasional Weekend Camper," "Regular Camper," and "Experienced Backpacker." This detailed breakdown helped them provide more personalized equipment recommendations and support.
• Preferred Activities: They created a multi-select property allowing customers to indicate interests in hiking, camping, climbing, and other outdoor activities. This information helped them tailor their marketing and sales approaches.
• Equipment Interests: Another multi-select property tracking specific gear categories customers were interested in, helping with both inventory planning and targeted communications.

Naming Conventions

Creating consistent naming conventions is crucial for long-term success. Rather than random or inconsistent names, develop a systematic approach.

Best Practices

• Use Clear, Descriptive Names:
  • Instead of "type1" use "service_type" or "product_category"
  • Rather than "stat" use "account_status"
  • Avoid "misc" or "other" in property names
• Group Related Properties:
  • Customer service properties might start with "support_"
  • Marketing-related properties could start with "mkt_"
  • Sales properties could begin with "sales_"
• Use Consistent Formats:
  • All dates should follow the same pattern: "date_first_contact", "date_last_purchase"
  • Status fields should use similar structures: "status_account", "status_support"
  • Monetary values should have clear indicators: "amount_purchase", "value_contract"
• Use lowercase letters and underscores for all property names:

• • This ensures all properties are easy to read and work with
  • For example, "experience_level" rather than "ExperienceLevel" or "experience-level."
• Use the appropriate property type based on how the information will be used
  • Single-line text: For brief, simple information like names
  • Multi-line text: For detailed notes or descriptions
  • Dropdown select: For predetermined options that shouldn't change often
  • Multi-select: For multiple choice options
  • Date picker: For any date-related information
  • Number: For quantities, amounts, or scores

Step 3: Implementing Your Setup

Once you have your plan, it's time to implement it in HubSpot. Start with the most essential properties and build from there.

Phase One: Core Setup

Begin with essential contact and deal properties, focusing on information you absolutely need to operate. This may included basic contact information and fundamental deal tracking. This approach helps your team to avoid overwhelm while ensuring crucial information is captured.

Organize your contact properties into logical groups:

• Basic Information includes names, email addresses, and phone numbers. These were required fields for all contacts.
• Customer Profile tracks experience levels, preferred activities, and equipment interests. These helped personalize interactions but weren't always required.
• Engagement Information records interaction history, preferred contact methods, and communication preferences.

Phase Two: Enhancement

After the basics are established, look to add more detailed properties based on patterns observed. This may include specific tracking of customer preferences or other metrics. Consider focusing on three key areas:

• Basic company information captures standard details like company names, websites, and primary contacts.
• Relationship details tracks partnership levels, account status, and engagement history. This helped them manage different types of business relationships effectively.
• Business intelligence stores information about company size, annual revenue, and growth opportunities. These insights helped them tailor their B2B offerings and support.

Step 4: Setting Up Event Tracking

Event tracking in HubSpot helps you understand how contacts interact with your business. Focus on tracking meaningful interactions that indicate customer interest or intent, rather than trying to track everything possible.

• Website Interactions:
  • Key page visits that indicate buying intent
  • Time spent on important pages
  • Resource downloads
  • Form submissions
• Email Engagement:
  • Email opens and click patterns
  • Response rates
  • Content preferences
  • Unsubscribe reasons
• Sales Activities:
  • Meeting requests and attendance
  • Quote or proposal reviews
  • Product demonstration participation
  • Purchase decisions

Using Events Effectively

Create a clear purpose for each tracked event:

• Qualification Events: Track actions that help qualify leads, like downloading buyer's guides or attending webinars
• Sales Readiness Events: Monitor activities that indicate purchase intent, such as pricing page visits or consultation requests
• Customer Success Events: Record interactions that show customer health, like support ticket resolution or product usage

Implementation Process

Follow these steps for a successful implementation:

1. Start with Core Properties Begin with essential properties that your business can't function without. Add complexity gradually as you confirm the basic setup works well.
2. Test Your Structure Before full implementation, test your setup with a small sample of records. This helps identify and fix issues before they affect your entire database.
3. Document Everything Create clear documentation explaining:
   1. What each property means
   2. When and how to use it
   3. Who should update it
   4. What automation affects it
4. Train Your Team Provide thorough training on:
   1. Data entry standards
   2. Property usage guidelines
   3. Event tracking procedures
   4. Common troubleshooting

Common Challenges and Solutions

Data Standardization

Challenge: Inconsistent data entry across team members Solution: Create clear data entry guidelines and use dropdown properties where possible to enforce consistency

Property Proliferation

Challenge: Too many similar or redundant properties Solution: Regularly audit properties and consolidate where possible. Create a property request process to prevent unnecessary additions.

User Adoption

Challenge: Team members not using properties consistently Solution: Demonstrate the value of proper data entry through reports and automations that make their jobs easier