Setting up a HubSpot sales pipeline and deal tracking system requires customizing pipelines to match your sales process, defining clear stages, and leveraging automation to maintain accuracy. HubSpot’s pipeline tools allow you to visualize deals as they progress from initial contact to closure, with features like predictive scoring, customizable stages, and real-time performance tracking. The process begins with creating or editing pipelines in HubSpot’s object settings, where you can tailor stages to your team’s workflow, set conditional properties, and assign user permissions. For optimal results, align pipeline stages with your buyer’s journey, regularly audit deal health, and use automation to reduce manual tasks.

Key takeaways from the sources:

• HubSpot pipelines can be created for deals, tickets, or custom objects, with stages representing steps in your sales process ^[1].
• Default stages (e.g., "Prospecting," "Negotiation," "Closed Won") can be modified or expanded to fit your business model ^[3].
• Automation rules, such as stage approvals and task triggers, help keep deals on track and reduce administrative workload ^[2].
• Regular pipeline reviews and data cleaning (removing stagnant leads) are critical for maintaining accuracy and forecasting reliability ^[3][8].

Step-by-Step Guide to HubSpot Sales Pipeline Setup

Creating and Customizing Pipelines

HubSpot pipelines are structured as a series of stages that represent the progression of a deal, ticket, or custom object. To set up a pipeline, navigate to Settings > Objects > Deals (or Tickets/Custom Objects) > Pipelines in your HubSpot account. Users with "edit property settings" permissions can create new pipelines or modify existing ones ^[1]. The process involves defining the pipeline’s name, selecting the object type (e.g., deals), and adding stages that reflect your sales workflow.

For deals, HubSpot provides default stages like "Appointment Scheduled," "Qualified to Buy," and "Closed Lost," but these can be fully customized. Each stage should align with a specific action or milestone in your sales process. For example:

• Early-stage pipeline: "Lead Captured," "Initial Contact Made," "Discovery Call Scheduled" ^[9].
• Mid-stage pipeline: "Proposal Sent," "Contract Review," "Negotiation" ^[3].
• Late-stage pipeline: "Closed Won," "Closed Lost," "Renewal" ^[8].

Key customization options include:

• Stage probabilities: Assign a percentage (e.g., 10% for "Initial Contact," 80% for "Contract Sent") to reflect the likelihood of closing at each stage. This aids in revenue forecasting ^[5].
• Conditional stage properties: Set rules to automatically move deals between stages based on criteria like deal amount, contact properties, or task completion ^[1].
• Multiple pipelines: Create separate pipelines for different products, services, or sales teams (e.g., "Enterprise Deals," "SMB Deals") to streamline tracking ^[5].
• Stage approvals: Require managerial approval before deals advance to critical stages (e.g., "Contract Sent"), ensuring quality control ^[2].

Once stages are defined, you can reorder them by dragging and dropping in the pipeline editor. HubSpot also allows you to archive unused stages or delete them entirely, though deleting a stage will remove all associated deal data ^[1].

Tracking Deals and Optimizing Pipeline Performance

Deal tracking in HubSpot begins with creating deal records, which can be done manually or automated via workflows triggered by actions like form submissions or email responses ^[7]. Each deal should include key details such as:

• Deal name (e.g., "Company X – Enterprise License").
• Associated contacts/companies (linking deals to CRM records).
• Amount (for revenue forecasting).
• Close date (to prioritize time-sensitive opportunities) ^[2].

HubSpot’s Deal Dashboard provides a visual overview of all active deals, categorized by stage. The "Pipeline" view displays deals as cards that can be dragged between stages, while the "List" view offers a tabular format for sorting by amount, close date, or owner ^[5]. To enhance tracking:

• Use deal scoring: HubSpot’s AI-driven scoring predicts deal health based on engagement (e.g., email opens, meeting attendance) and historical data, flagging at-risk deals for intervention ^[2].
• Set up automation: Create workflows to:
• Send follow-up emails when deals stall in a stage for >7 days ^[5].
• Assign tasks to sales reps when deals reach specific stages (e.g., "Schedule Demo" task triggered by "Discovery Call Completed") ^[7].
• Update deal properties automatically (e.g., mark as "High Priority" if deal amount exceeds $10,000) ^[1].
• Monitor key metrics: Track performance indicators such as:
• Conversion rates between stages (e.g., 30% of "Proposal Sent" deals become "Closed Won") ^[3].
• Average deal size and sales cycle length to identify trends ^[8].
• Pipeline velocity (speed at which deals move through stages) ^[10].

Best practices for pipeline health include:

• Regular audits: Remove deals stagnant for >90 days or with no recent activity to avoid skewed forecasting ^[3].
• Stage-time limits: Set expectations for how long deals should remain in each stage (e.g., "Proposal Sent" for ≤14 days) ^[8].
• Team alignment: Ensure sales and marketing teams agree on stage definitions to avoid misclassification (e.g., what qualifies as "Marketing Qualified Lead" vs. "Sales Accepted Lead") ^[9].
• Separate early-stage tracking: For B2B SaaS or complex sales cycles, create a "Pre-Deal Pipeline" to track leads before they become formal opportunities, using properties like "Lead Score" or "Budget Confirmed" to filter ^[9].

HubSpot’s Sales Hub integrates with the pipeline to provide additional tools like email templates, meeting scheduling, and forecasting reports. For example, the Forecast Tool uses pipeline data to predict monthly revenue based on deal probabilities and historical close rates ^[2]. Advanced users can also create custom reports to analyze pipeline bottlenecks or rep performance by stage ^[10].