Recommendations for Custom Lead Statuses

1. Why a More Detailed Lead Status?

• Better Organization: Having distinct stages (like “Reached Out #1” or “Had Conversation”) helps you know exactly what happened last with each contact.
• Consistent Process: If you’re doing a campaign of outreach, these statuses guide you systematically: you won’t miss a contact stuck in an old stage.
• Actionable Sorting: By filtering contacts by lead status, you see who needs a second follow-up or who’s scheduling a call.

2. Suggested Lead Status Options

You can pick some or all of these. They’re especially useful for independent consultants managing cold or warm outreach:

1. New
   • For newly added contacts. They might be imported in bulk, or you just added them individually.
   • You haven’t verified info or started any outreach.
2. Need Contact Info
   • If you don’t yet have the contact’s email or phone, place them here until you research.
   • Once you find their email/phone, you’ll move them to “Audited” or another relevant stage.
3. Audited
   • You’ve verified their details (e.g., correct email, still at the same company).
   • They’re ready for outreach, or you can decide to skip them if they’re no longer relevant.
4. Sent Connection Request
   • If your first outreach step is to connect on LinkedIn, log this status after sending the request.
   • If they accept, you might move them to “Reached Out #1” or “Interested,” depending on their response.
5. Reached Out #1
   • First official outreach attempt (email, phone call, LinkedIn message, text).
   • You’ll see who’s had that initial contact vs. who hasn’t.
6. Reached Out #2
   • After a second follow-up attempt if no response.
   • You can do similarly: Reached Out #3 if you do a third attempt.
7. Responded
   • The contact replies, but is not yet actively exploring your services (maybe they said “Thanks, but not interested” or asked a clarifying question).
   • They responded, so you’re no longer just sending outreach blindly.
8. Interested
   • They explicitly want to chat or have shown real interest in your offering. You might be scheduling a call or sending them more info.
9. Call Scheduled
   • You have a meeting or call on the calendar. Good to see at a glance who’s about to have a discovery call with you.
10. Had Conversation
    • The call/meeting happened. You might then decide to move them to “On Hold,” “Removed,” or discuss next steps.
11. On Hold
    • They said “Not right now, but let’s talk next quarter” or gave another reason to pause.
    • Periodic re-check can identify who is waiting for a better time.
12. Removed
    • If they’re no longer relevant, or you’ve chosen to stop outreach for any reason, mark them removed.
    • Ensures they aren’t cluttering “active” statuses.

Note: You can adapt or skip certain stages. For instance, some prefer a single “Reached Out” stage to avoid multiple “Reached Out #1 / #2 / #3.”

3. How to Update HubSpot with These Lead Statuses

While HubSpot provides default Lead Status options (e.g., “New,” “Open,” “In Progress,” “Open Deal,” “Unqualified”), you can rename or add new labels within the Lead Status property:

1. Navigate to HubSpot Settings
   • Click the gear icon (top-right), then go to Properties in the left sidebar.
2. Search “Lead Status” (Under Contact Properties)
   • You’ll see a dropdown with default statuses.
3. Edit or Add
   • You can rename an existing label (e.g., “Open” → “Reached Out #1”).
   • Or click “Add an option” to create a new stage like “Need Contact Info” or “Call Scheduled.”
4. Save
   • HubSpot saves your changes. These statuses appear in the “Lead Status” dropdown for each contact.

Plan Limitations:

• Free: You can generally rename or add statuses, but you have a total property usage limit of 10 custom properties across all objects. The good news is that “Lead Status” is a single default property—adding new dropdown options typically doesn’t count as creating a whole new property. However, the system might block you if you heavily modify the property.
• Starter: Less restrictive—1,000 custom properties per object. You can add as many dropdown options to “Lead Status” as you need.
• Professional: Same 1,000 property limit, but also advanced workflows that can auto-set lead statuses. For instance, if you schedule a call in HubSpot, it can automatically change the contact’s lead status to “Call Scheduled.”

Note: The exact allowance or method to add statuses might change based on HubSpot updates, but typically renaming or adding options in a default dropdown property is allowed in all paid tiers—and often in Free to some extent.

4. Next Steps in Managing Your Lead Statuses

• Keep It Manageable: Having 10 or more statuses might be overkill if your outreach is simple. If you see stages never used, remove them for clarity.
• Use Filtered Views: For example, create a “Need Contact Info” view to quickly see who needs an email search, or a “Reached Out #2” view to see who needs a final attempt.
• Regularly Refresh: People may stay stuck in “On Hold” or “Responded” for too long. Make a habit of reviewing statuses monthly to decide next steps.