Standardizing the Sales Pipeline in HubSpot to Improve Visibility & Collaboration
Challenge
Before this project, quoting activity was chaotic. Sales reps managed deals across scattered email chains, files lived in multiple locations, and customers were asked the same questions repeatedly. Leadership had no reliable view of pipeline size or quote volume, and sales engineers struggled with incomplete or inconsistent information.
Approach
I led a full redesign of our HubSpot Deal pipeline, turning it into a central source of truth for all quoting activity. The goal was to standardize the quoting queue, streamline collaboration, and make sales data accessible and actionable.
Key improvements included:
Custom data fields to support qualification and forecasting:
Confidence Level dropdown (Low = 0%, Medium = 40%, High = 70%, Commit = 90%)
Highlight Deal tag to spotlight “must-win” opportunities in 1:1s and team meetings
Engineering-specific inputs: CAD upload field, Quote Due Date, Desired QTY, Key Challenges, and offshore tooling preference
User-friendly record layout with a top-down view that aligned with how reps ran qualification calls
Template-based intake emails for prospects who preferred asynchronous submission of quote information
To support adoption and consistency, I built a layer of automation and guardrails, including:
Required fields to progress deals through stages
Automated notifications to sales engineers when a deal moved to "Quotes in Progress"
Alerts to reps and managers when deals stagnated for over 90 days
Auto-updates to confidence ratings based on stage movement
Notification to sales reps when quote status changed to "Quote Complete"
Results
Eliminated confusion over quote ownership, file storage, and follow-up steps
Improved collaboration between Sales and Engineering by standardizing inputs and expectations
Enabled real-time visibility into quote volume and pipeline forecasts
Institutionalized HubSpot, making it essential to the quoting process instead of optional
Feedback
Reps appreciated the streamlined experience and improved handoffs. Leadership could finally view pipeline data at a glance and trust that key information was captured consistently. As one rep put it, “Everything’s in one spot now—and it actually helps us work as a team.”
Key Insight
Technology only works when it reflects the way people actually sell and collaborate. By designing a pipeline that supported real behaviors—and enforced consistency through automation—we turned HubSpot into a mission-critical quoting tool.
