Your CRM should do more than store contacts — it should power your go-to-market engine.
For scaleups using HubSpot, one of the most underutilised levers is the Lifecycle Stage property. Done right, lifecycle stages give you visibility across the full buyer journey — from first touch to closed deal (and beyond). Done poorly, they create chaos, confusion, and reporting breakdowns.
In this post, we’ll walk through the best practices for setting up HubSpot lifecycle stages for scaling teams — including how to define them, automate them, and get your GTM teams aligned around a single source of truth.
Lifecycle stages are a default contact property in HubSpot that describes where someone is in their journey with your business. They’re different from deal stages (which apply to specific opportunities) — lifecycle stages apply to the relationship, not the sale.
By default, HubSpot includes the following lifecycle stages:
Subscriber
Lead
Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL)
Sales Qualified Lead (SQL)
Opportunity
Customer
Evangelist
Other
But for most scaleups, these defaults aren’t enough. You need clearer definitions, consistent triggers, and automation that reflects your actual funnel — not just a template.
As your company grows, you face new GTM complexity:
More lead sources
More handoffs between teams
Longer or multi-threaded sales cycles
More nuanced customer types and segments
If your lifecycle logic doesn’t evolve with your business, it becomes a liability. The wrong stages (or unclear definitions) lead to:
Leads sitting in the wrong stage for months
Reporting that doesn’t match what’s happening in real life
Sales and marketing fighting over attribution
Broken handoff workflows
Reps manually updating fields (or ignoring them entirely)
Lifecycle stages are foundational to HubSpot RevOps, and a key part of WaypointOS — our operating model for scalable revenue systems.
Here are the errors we see most often in client HubSpot portals:
This is the default stage for most new contacts. Without automation, everyone stays here — including high-intent buyers and disengaged form fillers alike.
Lifecycle stages aren’t mapped to workflows. Marketing and sales rely on manual updates or gut feel.
Reps move contacts between MQL and SQL to game dashboards — destroying data integrity.
You know how someone becomes an MQL, but not how (or when) they should progress to SQL or be disqualified.
Leads marked as SQL but no deal exists. Customers marked as “Opportunity.” Definitions break down.
Don’t just use HubSpot’s labels — make them your own. Here's an example structure tailored to scaleups:
| Stage | Definition | Trigger |
|---|---|---|
| Lead | A known contact who has entered your database | Filled out form, added manually, imported list |
| MQL | Fits your ICP and shows interest | Met scoring threshold, viewed key pages |
| SQL | Accepted by sales for follow-up | Booked meeting, rep-reviewed |
| Opportunity | In an open deal pipeline | Deal created and associated |
| Customer | Signed deal, active client | Deal marked Closed-Won |
| Evangelist | Referred new business or case study client | Manually set or workflow-driven |
| Disqualified | Doesn’t fit target profile | Manual or auto-based on disqualify triggers |
Clear definitions allow automation, handoff, and reporting to work seamlessly.
Wherever possible, use HubSpot workflows to set and update lifecycle stages.
Example transitions:
MQL → SQL: When a meeting is booked via HubSpot Meetings or SDR marks contact as “qualified”
SQL → Opportunity: When a deal is created and associated
Lead → MQL: When score threshold is met and email is verified
Opportunity → Customer: When associated deal stage is “Closed Won”
Pro Tip: Always use “Set if blank” logic initially, then “Overwrite only if…” conditions to prevent unintentional backslides.
Lifecycle alone can’t do all the heavy lifting — scoring supports qualification. Your lead scoring model should:
Reward both fit (ICP traits like industry, company size) and intent (behavioural signals like page views, demo requests)
Feed into your MQL criteria — but not become your only criteria
Be transparent and adjustable, with sales and marketing input
We often build dual-score systems for clients at Project36 to separate interest from ideal-fit — making MQL-to-SQL transitions more reliable.
Once your lifecycle stages are automated and consistent, your reports become a goldmine.
Build dashboards that show:
MQL to SQL conversion rate
SQL to Opportunity rate
Sales velocity by lifecycle segment
Lifecycle-to-revenue attribution (source → close rate)
This is the foundation of forecasting and funnel visibility — something most scaleups can’t do until lifecycle tracking is clean.
Lifecycle stages aren’t just for ops — they’re essential for marketing too.
Use them to:
Personalise nurture tracks (e.g. MQLs get case studies, SQLs get sales nudges)
Filter newsletter audiences
Trigger retargeting or email suppression
Drive re-engagement campaigns for long-stalled leads
Lifecycle gives marketing the context needed to be relevant — not just visible.
Even great systems drift. We recommend auditing lifecycle logic every 90 days to check:
Are workflows still firing correctly?
Are there contacts stuck in stages for too long?
Have definitions or handoffs changed since last review?
Our HubSpot Auditor helps identify hidden issues like:
Mismatched lifecycle and deal stages
Contacts with conflicting property values
Workflow misfires and abandoned logic
Use it as a low-lift entry point to lifecycle cleanup.
For scaleups, lifecycle stages aren’t just a reporting tool — they’re a foundational element of RevOps.
Done right, they enable:
Clear handoffs
Better forecasting
Cleaner CRM data
Smarter marketing automation
Aligned GTM teams
Done wrong, they’re just another field no one trusts.
At Project36, we help scaleups rebuild their lifecycle logic inside HubSpot using our WaypointOS framework — so teams stop guessing, and start growing.
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Need help fixing or redesigning your lifecycle structure?
→ Run a free audit
→ Talk to a RevOps expert
→ See how WaypointOS works