If you’ve just started using HubSpot CRM — or you’re considering it — you’re in good company. HubSpot’s CRM is used by tens of thousands of businesses worldwide, and for good reason: it’s intuitive, powerful, and deeply integrated with HubSpot’s marketing, sales, and service tools.
But like any platform, you only get out what you put in. Here’s a practical beginner’s guide to setting yourself up for success with HubSpot CRM.
Start With Clean, Well-Structured Data
Before you do anything else, think about your data. HubSpot CRM is built around Contacts, Companies, and Deals — and the relationships between them. Take time to understand how these objects connect, decide which properties matter most to your business, and make sure any data you import is clean and consistently formatted. A well-structured CRM from the start saves significant time and frustration later.
Set Up Your Deal Pipeline to Reflect Reality
HubSpot’s default deal pipeline is a starting point, not a blueprint. Your pipeline stages should reflect the actual stages of your sales process — from initial contact through to closed won. Define clear entry and exit criteria for each stage so your team knows exactly when to move a deal forward. A pipeline that mirrors reality gives you reporting you can actually trust.
Use Custom Properties to Capture What Matters to You
HubSpot CRM comes with a wide range of default properties, but every business has unique data requirements. Custom properties allow you to capture the information that’s specific to your business — whether that’s the industry sector of a contact, the size of a deal, or the source of a lead. Think carefully about what information your sales and marketing teams need, and build it into your CRM from the outset.
Connect Your Email and Calendar
One of the quickest wins in HubSpot CRM is connecting your email inbox and calendar. This automatically logs emails and meetings against the relevant contact and deal records, giving you a complete picture of every customer interaction without any manual data entry. Your team spends less time on admin and more time selling.
Learn to Love Lists and Views
HubSpot’s lists and saved views are incredibly powerful for segmenting your database and keeping your team focused on the right contacts at the right time. Create views for your most important segments — hot leads, deals closing this month, contacts without recent activity — and make them part of your daily workflow. The more your team uses the CRM, the more valuable the data inside it becomes.
Review Your Data Regularly
A CRM is only as good as the data inside it. Schedule regular data hygiene reviews — monthly or quarterly — to check for duplicates, outdated information, and incomplete records. HubSpot has built-in tools to help with this, including duplicate management and data quality reporting.
Getting Expert Help
HubSpot CRM has a lot of depth — and the more you use it, the more you’ll discover. If you want to shortcut the learning curve and get your CRM set up properly from day one, talk to the Big Presence team. We help businesses implement and optimise HubSpot so you can focus on what you do best.