HubSpot CRM Audit - A simplified checklist
You probably check your car's engine before a long road trip. You do this because you want to be sure it's in good shape to avoid any unexpected breakdowns.
So, why not apply the same principle to your HubSpot CRM?
In my years of working with HubSpot since 2018, I've seen how important it is to run audits and not only at the beginning of working with a HubSpot account, but also regularly. Your HubSpot account is like the engine of your marketing efforts, and it needs some regular maintenance to keep it running smoothly.
I've prepared a simplified HubSpot CRM Audit checklist for you below. You can use it for your clients or your company's HubSpot account. It will help you take the pulse of the CRM and identify areas for improvement. It will also allow you to detect errors that might hurt your account on the long run and cost you time and money. After all, there’s nothing worse than finding out that 70% of our CRM is composed of duplicate contacts (and you’re paying for that space).
Consider this checklist as your launchpad. Of course you can add more as you go. I suggest you to go through each and every item as you are auditing the CRM, and add your notes to a Google Doc.
If you're uncertain about HOW to analyze these aspects, scroll down to the end of this blog post. I’ve included some information on how you can learn the step by step of this audit.
HubSpot CRM Audit checklist
BASIC SETTINGS
Before you start, verify if you have HubSpot Super Admin access.
CRM REVIEW
Take the pulse of the HubSpot CRM using advanced filters to gather the following data:
Out of the total number of contacts in the CRM:
Number of contacts without an assigned Contact Owner.
Number of contacts without a Lifecycle Stage.
Number of possible duplicate contacts (use the deduplicate tool!)
Number of contacts with Original Source = Offline Sources. Investigate the sources a little bit deeper. Look at the drill-downs to ensure your contacts are getting created from legitimate tools.
Understand the significance of these data points and add action items as needed.
Look at unengaged contacts using advanced filters to gather the following data:
Number of contacts with an Email hard bounce reason known.
Number of contacts who have unsubscribed from all emails.
Number of contacts with Last Engagement Date more than 3 months ago.
Number of contacts with Last Marketing Email Open Date more than 3 months ago.
See if there is an increase trend in these metrics and try to investigate the issue. It might be helpful too look at a few different contact profiles to have a better overview.
Identify poorly imputed data:
Examine data formatting issues such as inconsistent capitalization, phone number formatting, and job title abbreviations. For this, you can look at the latest 2 or 3 pages of contacts.
Identify empty data trends, such as missing first names.
Look at the sources from these contacts. Are contacts without a first name being created from a specific tool? This will help you tackle the root of the problem.
Check the HubSpot Tracking Code:
Verify the installation of the HubSpot Tracking Code on the website. We want to ensure you are tracking engagement!
Take a closer look at Lifecycle Stage:
Review the distribution of contacts across Lifecycle Stages.
Investigate gaps in the funnel and potential issues with lead qualification. Do we have stages with too many contacts, while others are empty?
Ensure proper usage of Lifecycle Stages and add action items as needed.
Analyze list management:
Evaluate the number of lists and identify those used for reporting purposes. Ideally, lists should be created for specific purposes such as marketing emails. For reporting purposes, you can leverage the Analytics section.
Add action items as needed to clean up unnecessary lists.
Analyze contact management:
Check a team’s familiarity with the HubSpot CRM by looking at custom properties, mandatory fields used in creation forms (Contacts, Deals), the existance of CRM views, and left sidebar customization.
Assess the Data Quality tab for additional insights and errors.
Identify areas for CRM management improvement and add action items as needed.
Check if we have the appropriate object associations:
Determine which types of objects (Contacts, Companies, Deals, Tickets) are in use.
Use advanced filters to identify records without associations.
Investigate the source of records without associations and propose solutions to ensure proper associations are made.
Take notes of major errors, lack of data, poor engagement or management for the items above and add action points to your Audit.
Great, you’ve just learned what to look for in a HubSpot CRM Audit.
Do you want to learn exactly how to audit all these different items?
Are you interested in learning how to audit an ENTIRE HubSpot account including the Marketing Hub, the Sales Hub, the Workflows section, the Sequences section, the Reporting section and the Settings section?
If so…
