Every HubSpot admin knows that keeping a HubSpot portal in top shape is an ongoing challenge. As your business grows and processes evolve, your HubSpot CRM can become cluttered with outdated workflows, misaligned lifecycle stages, or dirty data. Auditing your HubSpot regularly is essential to ensure your CRM is optimized, aligned with your revenue operations (RevOps) strategy, and delivering value to your marketing and sales teams. In this post, we introduce Ziel Lab’s 8‑pillar HubSpot audit rubric – a professional framework that helps HubSpot admins assess their portal’s maturity across key areas. This comprehensive rubric not only flags quick-win fixes but also highlights longer-term optimization opportunities to drive RevOps success.
Our audit rubric scores each pillar on a 0–5 maturity scale. Each score corresponds to how developed and effective the processes are for that aspect of your HubSpot instance:
0 – Non-existent: No process, tool, or policy exists for this area. (It’s not being addressed at all.)
1 – Ad-hoc: Something happens, but it’s done manually, inconsistently, and without documentation.
2 – Defined: A documented process or standard configuration exists and is followed most of the time.
3 – Measured: The process is not only defined but also measured – relevant KPIs or SLAs are tracked, and data is reviewed regularly to enforce the process.
4 – Optimized: Continuous improvement is in play. You have feedback loops, automation, and experimentation to refine this area over time.
5 – Innovating: Best-in-class. The organization is pushing boundaries, adopting cutting-edge practices, and even influencing industry standards in this area.
In an audit, each pillar of your HubSpot/RevOps setup is evaluated against these levels. A score of 0–2 indicates significant gaps or firefighting mode; 3 shows a solid foundation with room to improve; 4–5 mean you’re leading the pack, though even these should be monitored for any regression.
Ziel Lab’s framework divides a HubSpot portal audit into 8 key pillars. These pillars cover everything from data cleanliness to sales pipeline management. Below we outline each pillar’s focus, what to look for, and how to gauge your maturity level in that area. Use these as a checklist to identify where your HubSpot instance stands strong and where it needs improvement.
Focus: Data hygiene, deduplication, property governance, enrichment.
Your CRM data is the foundation of all marketing, sales, and reporting activities. If this foundation is shaky – e.g. filled with duplicate contacts, inconsistent properties, or missing owner assignments – everything built on it will suffer. In a HubSpot audit, you should examine how well your data is managed and maintained. Key audit questions for Data Foundations include:
Are contact and company owners consistently enforced for every record?
Are duplicate records under control (e.g. less than 1% of the database)?
What data enrichment routines run on record create/update (for example, do you automatically append firmographic info or validate emails)?
If you have no formal data governance or cleanup processes, you’d score low on this pillar (likely “Non-existent” or “Ad-hoc”). On the other hand, if you leverage HubSpot’s deduplication tools, enforce required fields/owners, and perhaps use third-party enrichment and regular data audits, you could be “Optimized” or even “Innovating.” Clean, well-governed data pays off by enabling accurate reporting and efficient automation, so this pillar often carries heavy weight in the overall audit.
Focus: Forms, landing pages, integrations, tracking code, UTM hygiene, original source accuracy.
This pillar evaluates how leads enter your system and whether you correctly attribute them to marketing efforts. It covers the mechanics of forms and lead capture tools, as well as tracking parameters that feed your attribution reports. An audit will consider:
Do all lead entry points (forms, chatbots, lead ads, integrations, etc.) stamp full-funnel attribution data? (E.g. capturing UTM parameters, original source, campaign, etc.)
Are offline sources or manual lead uploads reconciled with an attribution method? (For instance, do you log sources for leads from trade shows or purchased lists?)
If your lead capture process is ad-hoc – say, some forms don’t record the source properly, or your sales team imports contacts without source info – you’ll likely score a 1 or 2 here. A high-maturity organization will have consistent tracking: every form or integration uses HubSpot tracking codes and UTM parameters correctly, and even offline or non-digital leads are accounted for in your source data. At the “Optimized” level, companies often automate UTM governance (to prevent messy or inconsistent tags) and have a clear attribution model, ensuring that marketing and sales can trust the source data in reports.
Focus: Lifecycle stage logic, marketing vs. sales ownership definitions, segmentation by persona and ICP (Ideal Customer Profile) lists.
This pillar looks at how you manage contact lifecycle stages (Subscriber, MQL, SQL, Opportunity, Customer, etc.) and how you segment your database for targeted marketing. Key considerations include:
Do lifecycle stage definitions align across objects and teams? (For example, are the criteria for a Marketing Qualified Lead vs. Sales Qualified Lead clearly defined and agreed upon by Marketing and Sales?)
How do you handle unengaged or stale contacts? Are they suppressed from marketing or recycled in some way after a period of no activity?
Do you maintain persona-based or ICP-based lists for segmentation, and are these definitions kept up to date?
In a mature RevOps setup, lifecycle stage logic is clearly documented and automated – e.g. when a lead hits certain criteria, they progress to MQL, then upon sales acceptance to SAL (Sales Accepted Lead) and SQL, etc., with automation moving them along and notifying teams. Segmentation is proactive, using dynamic lists for personas or target account lists, and unengaged contacts might be quarantined or nurtured in a re-engagement campaign rather than left to rot. If your stages are misaligned (say, Sales and Marketing use different definitions) or many contacts sit indefinitely in one stage without rules, that’s a sign of ad-hoc processes (low score). Aim for a defined lifecycle with regular audits of segment health – that will put you in the “Measured” or “Optimized” range for this pillar.
Focus: Deal pipelines and stages, win probabilities, required fields, lead-to-deal conversion workflows.
This pillar assesses how well your sales pipeline in HubSpot is structured and maintained. It asks whether your deal stages reflect real buyer journey milestones and whether your sales team follows a consistent process in moving deals through stages. Key audit questions:
Are deal stages mapped to buyer milestones and clearly defined? (Each stage should correspond to a meaningful step in the sales process, with entrance/exit criteria. For example, “Proposal Sent” or “Demo Completed” should mean the same thing to all reps.)
Is forecasting reliable? (Do you have close dates, deal amounts, and probabilities set such that you can forecast sales? And are those kept up to date?)
Are there required fields or automations when moving a deal to a new stage (to collect key data or trigger the next steps)?
When this pillar is at a high maturity, your HubSpot deals pipeline is clean and predictable: no deals languishing indefinitely, no ambiguous stages, and perhaps automation to create deals from qualified leads or to prompt reps for updates. A low maturity scenario might be a pipeline that’s not really used (deals not updated, or everyone just uses one stage like “Proposal” and then “Closed Won/Lost”), which would score near 0 or 1. To improve, define the sales process clearly, train the team on it, and use HubSpot features (like required fields, automated task creation, or deal stage properties) to enforce consistency. A reliable pipeline not only helps sales efficiency but also gives management a trustworthy forecast.
Focus: Lead routing, data management workflows, hand-offs between teams, SLAs, error handling in automation.
HubSpot is powerful for automating routine tasks – if those automations are well-built. This pillar checks the critical workflows and automation rules that keep your CRM data and processes flowing. Consider:
How many “critical path” workflows exist, and how complex are they? (These could include lead assignment workflows, data sync workflows, or any automation that, if broken, would seriously impact operations.)
What’s the error rate or failure rate of your workflows? (Do you routinely see workflows failing, or data not being set as expected, indicating broken logic?)
Are there clear hand-off points between teams with SLAs? For example, when Marketing passes a lead to Sales (MQL to SQL), is there an automated notification or task, and an SLA for Sales to follow up within X days? Is there an automated escalation if that doesn’t happen?
If your HubSpot is full of manual work and very few workflows, or conversely has a tangle of outdated/inefficient workflows causing errors, you’d score low (ad-hoc or defined at best). A mature setup will have streamlined, documented workflows for all key processes – e.g. routing new leads to the right owner instantly, updating contact properties when certain triggers happen, and managing inter-team hand-offs with clear SLAs (Service Level Agreements) tracked. High maturity (4 or 5) also means continuous optimization: you regularly review workflow performance and adjust or consolidate where needed to keep automation efficient and error-free.
Focus: Marketing email campaigns, sales sequences, chatbots, and content personalization strategies.
This pillar examines how you engage your contacts and leads over time, especially how you nurture prospects through the funnel. It covers both marketing automation (e.g. drip email campaigns) and one-to-one sales engagement tools (like HubSpot Sequences), as well as personalization of content. Key questions include:
Are you using email sequences or automated cadences to accelerate leads from SAL → SQL? (For instance, once Sales accepts a lead, do they enroll them in a structured sequence of personalized emails/calls to work the opportunity?)
How is content mapped to persona and lifecycle stage? (Do you have tailored content offers or email nurtures for different personas in different stages, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach?)
Are chatbots or live chat being leveraged on your site to engage visitors and route inquiries appropriately, if relevant to your strategy?
At a basic level (score 1–2), a company might send occasional newsletters or one-off emails but lack a cohesive nurture strategy. Leads could be sitting in the CRM with no follow-up sequence, or every prospect gets the same generic messaging. With higher maturity, you’ll see segmented nurture tracks – e.g. separate email workflows for different personas or product interests, triggered at the right time. Sales teams at an optimized level use sequences to consistently follow up with MQLs or Opportunities, rather than each rep handling follow-ups ad-hoc. Content personalization is also a hallmark of high maturity: the website, emails, and even ads might dynamically adapt to the viewer’s segment. If your HubSpot is well-tuned in this pillar, nurtures and engagements are continuously tested and improved (experimentation with content, send times, etc.), indicating a level 4 or 5 practice.
Focus: Dashboards and reports, funnel conversion metrics, cohort analysis, attribution reporting.
Even a perfectly configured HubSpot portal is only as good as the insights you can glean from it. This pillar assesses how well you turn data into actionable intelligence. An audit will ask:
Do you have clear dashboards showing the full funnel (e.g. MQL → SQL → Closed Won) conversion rates by channel or campaign? Can leadership easily see where leads drop off or which sources yield the best opportunities?
Are your report definitions and metrics trusted across the organization? (For example, is there a single agreed definition of an “MQL” or “SQL” that the reports use, versus every team using a different calculation?)
Do you perform cohort analysis or pipeline velocity tracking to get deeper insights into trends over time? And is multi-touch attribution reporting in place to credit all contributing touchpoints in a sale?
A low maturity score here might be characterized by piecemeal or manual reporting – perhaps marketers exporting data to Excel to analyze, or sales managers tracking metrics outside of HubSpot due to mistrust in the dashboards. In contrast, an optimized HubSpot portal will have robust, real-time dashboards that different stakeholders actually use in meetings. All the key RevOps metrics (lead velocity, conversion rates, revenue attribution, lifecycle stage distributions, etc.) are readily available and regularly reviewed. Achieving this often depends on the earlier pillars (data cleanliness, defined lifecycles, proper attribution); hence, Reporting & Insights is often one of the last pillars to fully mature. When you reach level 4 or 5 here, you not only have great reports but also a culture of data-driven decision making – the organization relies on HubSpot’s insights to guide strategy, and there’s continuous refinement of reporting as needs evolve.
Focus: User permissions, audit logs, integrations management, cookie/tracking compliance, GDPR and data privacy practices.
The final pillar is all about governance – the guardrails and policies that keep your HubSpot instance (and the data in it) secure, compliant, and well-maintained. An audit looks at:
Are user permissions and team access levels set appropriately? (Each user should have the right level of access – not too much or too little – and former employees or unused accounts should be removed promptly.)
Is there a practice of reviewing audit logs or using features like field history/versioning to track changes in critical data?
Are integrations connected to HubSpot monitored and documented? Do you know which apps have access and what data they sync?
Is your use of cookies and tracking codes compliant with regulations (GDPR, CCPA, etc.)? For example, do you have cookie consent banners properly implemented if needed, and is cross-domain tracking configured if you use multiple web domains?
Are data retention policies enforced? (E.g. deleting or anonymizing personal data after a certain period if required by law or policy.)
Many HubSpot admins focus on features and forget the governance side until something goes wrong (like a security issue or a compliance complaint). A non-existent (0) or ad-hoc (1) score here means you might not have any formal oversight – anyone can integrate any app, no one regularly checks user access, and there’s little awareness of compliance settings. As maturity increases, companies institute admin policies: perhaps quarterly permission reviews, a checklist for adding new integrations, documented GDPR compliance steps, and so on. At the “Innovating” level, organizations not only comply with current standards but often anticipate changes (for instance, adapting to new privacy laws quickly) and make governance a shared responsibility across teams. Good governance and compliance practices protect your data and reputation, and they also ensure HubSpot runs smoothly with minimal disruptive surprises.
After assessing each pillar, how do you turn the findings into an action plan? Here’s how to apply this rubric in practice:
Score Each Pillar: For each of the 8 pillars above, assign a score from 0 to 5 based on evidence from your HubSpot portal and stakeholder interviews. Be honest and objective – look for documentation, data, and consistency to justify a score. (For example, if you have documented processes that are usually followed, that’s at least a 2; if you also track metrics on it, maybe a 3, etc.)
Weight by Impact: Not all pillars are equal in their influence on your outcomes. In our experience, Data Foundations and Lead Capture & Attribution carry more weight because issues there trickle down and affect everything else (bad data or missing attribution can cripple multiple teams). So, consider giving extra attention to those scores. A weakness in a high-impact pillar should probably be addressed first.
Prioritize Improvements: Use the scores to surface your priorities. Anything scoring 2 or below is a red flag – these are immediate, short-term fixes to tackle (you might even call them “quick wins” if they’re easy to fix, or “fire-fighting” if critical processes are broken). Pillars that scored a 3 (Defined/Measured) are good candidates for your 90-day roadmap – you have a foundation, and with focused effort you can level up to Optimized. For pillars at 4 or 5, you’re in great shape; those go into a monitoring plan, meaning you’ll keep an eye on them to prevent any drift or degradation over time, but they don’t need massive changes today.
By scoring and prioritizing this way, your HubSpot audit report essentially turns into an action plan. For example, you might discover that Automation & Workflows (Pillar 5) is a 1 – perhaps critical lead routing rules are manual or inconsistent. That would be a high-priority fix to automate and document those workflows ASAP. Meanwhile, you might score a 3 in Engagement & Nurture (Pillar 6), meaning you have some nurtures but could improve; that becomes a project to optimize email campaigns in the next quarter. This structured approach ensures you focus on what matters most for revenue impact and not get lost in the weeds of less important issues.
Conducting a comprehensive HubSpot audit using this 8-pillar rubric gives you a 360° view of your CRM’s health. It empowers HubSpot admins to identify where processes are broken or absent, where things are working but could be better, and where you’re truly excelling. The goal isn’t just a one-time report – it’s to establish a cycle of continuous improvement. As your business and go-to-market strategies evolve, revisiting these pillars regularly will help keep your HubSpot instance aligned with your needs and industry best practices.
Remember, even if you score a 5 (Innovating) today in a pillar like Reporting & Insights, changes in team structure, market conditions, or HubSpot’s features might require adjustment down the line. Make auditing and optimization a habit. Many organizations perform a full HubSpot portal audit annually (or even quarterly for fast-growing companies) to stay ahead of issues.
By using a structured rubric, you take the guesswork out of the audit process. You can confidently present to leadership where the CRM stands and what investments or tweaks will drive better ROI from HubSpot. For instance, tightening up Data Foundations and Lead Capture can improve every downstream metric, from campaign performance to sales productivity. Optimizing Automation or Nurturing can directly boost conversion rates and revenue. In short, a well-audited and optimized HubSpot portal is a competitive advantage – it means your RevOps engine is running smoothly, allowing your teams to focus on growth rather than fighting CRM fires.
Auditing HubSpot may sound like a daunting project, but with the 8-pillar framework, it becomes a systematic and manageable process. Start by scoring your own portal across these pillars. If you find gaps, you’ll know exactly where to focus your efforts. And if you’re unsure how to level up a low-scoring area, consider reaching out for expert help or additional resources – sometimes a fresh set of eyes can identify solutions and best practices you might not be aware of.
By taking a proactive approach to auditing and improving your HubSpot CRM, you ensure that your technology truly supports your business strategy. A cleaner, more efficient HubSpot instance means better alignment between Marketing, Sales, and Service – and ultimately, more revenue and happier customers. Here’s to continuously optimizing your processes and pushing toward that “Innovating” level on every pillar!