Short answer
Lifecycle stages in HubSpot track where each contact or company is in the relationship, from subscriber and lead through marketing qualified lead, sales qualified lead, opportunity and customer. They are the backbone of HubSpot funnel reporting.
HubSpot Lifecycle Stages explained
HubSpot's default stages are subscriber, lead, marketing qualified lead (MQL), sales qualified lead (SQL), opportunity, customer, evangelist and other, and Enterprise portals can customize them. Stages normally only move forward, set by forms, workflows, deal creation or the sales team. Lifecycle stage is different from lead status, which tracks a sales rep's progress with a lead, and from deal stage, which tracks a specific deal.
Clear definitions agreed by marketing and sales make funnel and conversion reports trustworthy.
How Vantage Point helps: we define lifecycle stages with your teams and automate the transitions so funnel reports are reliable.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between lifecycle stage and lead status?
Lifecycle stage tracks the overall relationship stage. Lead status tracks the sales team's work on a lead, such as new, attempted to contact or connected.
Can lifecycle stages move backwards?
Not automatically by default. To move a record backwards, the property must be cleared first, usually through a workflow.