This article documents the HubSpot lifecycle stage workflow finalized with Citrus America (Miriam Framson) during a working session on 2026-04-05. It covers the full lead progression from initial contact through opportunity creation, including stage-skipping rules, field requirements, and automation triggers.
See also: [1] | [2]
Prospect → Lead → MQL → SQL → Opportunity → Customer
Each stage is triggered automatically when the required fields on the contact record are populated. Fields may be set to "Unknown" to satisfy the trigger condition when information is not yet available — the workflow fires on the presence of a value, not its content.
| Stage | Trigger Fields | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Prospect | Name known, but insufficient data for Lead | Entry point for any identified contact |
| Lead | First name, last name, email, state, category | Basic qualification; all four fields required |
| MQL | Lead fields + juicing status ("Are they juicing?") | Intermediate qualification; may be skipped (see below) |
| SQL | MQL fields + juicing volume (gallons/cases), equipment details, fruit/juice preferences, application type, container type, operation style, location flexibility | Full sales qualification |
| Opportunity | BANT criteria met: Budget, Authority, Need, Timing | Triggers automated deal creation |
| Customer | Deal closed won | — |
If a sales rep gathers all MQL and SQL data in a single call, the contact may advance directly from Lead → SQL, bypassing the MQL stage. The MQL-specific field ("Are they juicing?") must still be answered (or set to "Unknown") before the SQL workflow triggers.
Rationale: Avoids penalizing efficient calls where a prospect is highly communicative and provides all information upfront.
In addition to the forward progression stages, the following stages handle contacts who exit the active pipeline:
| Stage | Use Case |
|---|---|
| Not Ready | Contact is interested but lacks budget or timing; enters a nurture drip |
| Unqualified | Contact is no longer interested or is a bogus lead; do not contact |
| Departed | Contact has left their company; record preserved with full activity history |
| Other | Catch-all for edge cases |
| Evangelist | Super-customer; available but unlikely to be used frequently |
| Subscriber | Email list subscriber; under review for removal |
Note on "Departed": This stage was added during this session. When a key contact leaves a company, mark them as Departed rather than deleting the record. Their full activity history is preserved. If a replacement contact is identified, create a new contact record and manually transfer the relevant lead stage and context.
Note on "Unqualified": Internally referred to as "disqualified" in some contexts (e.g., Brian uses "bogus lead"). The team should use Unqualified as the canonical term in HubSpot. Document this distinction in internal training materials.
When a contact's lifecycle stage is set to Opportunity (triggered by BANT criteria being met), a workflow automatically creates an associated deal record.
Opportunity[Company Name] - New DealThis automation was confirmed as buildable by Chris Østergaard, who has implemented similar flows for other clients.
All qualifying fields support an "Unknown" option. This allows workflows to trigger even when a rep cannot obtain a specific answer, while still signaling that the question was asked.
To improve sales team adoption, Chris Østergaard is researching a simplified data-entry interface — potentially a pop-up questionnaire or embedded form — that consolidates all required contact fields in one place. This would replace the need to navigate the full HubSpot contact profile for routine updates.
All lead stage data is stored on the contact (person) record, not the company record. A mirrored field on the company record can be configured to reflect the lead stage of the primary contact, enabling visibility at the account level without duplicating ownership.
A full contact cleanup is planned following workflow activation, led by Miriam Framson.
Priorities:
1. Mark all confirmed customers as Customer
2. Input stage data for all active sales conversations
3. Reassign all contacts currently owned by departed rep Jay to active reps
4. Push remaining contacts back to Lead or MQL if qualifying data is absent
Process:
1. Export all contacts to a spreadsheet (Mark Hope has done this previously for other clients)
2. Edit the spreadsheet — hide/delete irrelevant columns, update fields as needed
3. Re-import the spreadsheet to apply bulk changes
Constraint: Picklist fields in the spreadsheet must exactly match the option values configured in HubSpot. Freeform text in a picklist column will fail on import.
| Owner | Action |
|---|---|
| Chris Østergaard | Activate lead progression workflows (Prospect → Lead → MQL → SQL) |
| Chris Østergaard | Build Opportunity workflow to auto-create deals on lifecycle stage change |
| Chris Østergaard | Research simplified data-entry UI (pop-up questionnaire / embedded form) |
| Chris Østergaard | Investigate automation for Closed Won / Closed Lost deal outcomes |
| Miriam Framson | Test full lead-to-opportunity flow with the sales team |
| Miriam Framson | Lead contact cleanup project using export/import method |
[Company Name] - New Deal.