How to use HubSpot Leads Object

Struggling to manage and nurture your leads effectively? This feature within HubSpot CRM consolidates your prospects, providing a centralized platform for tracking and managing leads. In this article, you’ll discover what is it, its key benefits, and practical tips to maximize your lead management efforts.

Key Takeaways

• The lead object is a dedicated platform for managing leads, providing a centralized view of prospects and their journey from initial interest to loyal customers.
• Its automation capabilities streamline lead management, enabling timely follow-ups and efficient collaboration between sales and marketing teams, which enhances conversion rates.
• Leads can be created manually or through automation, and effective management tools help sales teams filter, edit, and track lead performance for optimized sales efficiency.

What is the new Object?

The HubSpot Lead Object is a dedicated CRM object in HubSpot designed for managing sales prospects (or “leads”) during the qualification stage of your sales process. In simple terms, it’s an evolution of the old “Lead Status” property, now built as a standalone object for sales prospecting . Instead of just tagging a contact with a lead status, you can create a Lead record that lives alongside contacts and companies in your CRM.

Every Lead record represents one potential sales engagement with a contact. It provides a structured way to capture early sales signals and track a prospect’s journey before they become an opportunity or deal . While a Contact in HubSpot represents an individual person, and a Deal represents a sales opportunity, a Lead represents the process of prospecting an interested contact with the intent to turn them into a deal . This means the Lead Object is all about the pre-deal stage – the work your sales team does to qualify a contact and decide if they’re ready to buy.

HubSpot’s Lead Object was introduced to give sales teams a clearer, more organized workspace for active prospects. Traditionally, HubSpot users relied on properties like Lifecycle Stage (e.g., Subscriber, Lead, MQL, SQL) and Lead Status to track prospects. The new Lead Object replaces those makeshift methods by providing a dedicated space within HubSpot CRM to manage leads . With this object, you no longer need to sift through all contacts to find your hot prospects – you have a separate Leads area where every lead is clearly categorized and easily accessible .

Benefits of using this object

Here are some key benefits and advantages it offers:

• Centralized Lead Management: The Leads Object separates new leads from your main contact record, providing a dedicated sales workspace for managing leads efficiently. This prevents CRM clutter and ensures every potential customer is tracked without confusion.
• Structured Sales Process: With lead stages like New, In Progress, Qualified, and Disqualified, sales reps always know where a lead stands. This organized approach to lead management eliminates guesswork and ensures consistent follow-ups throughout the customer journey.
• Automation for Lead Nurturing: By integrating with HubSpot CRM tools like workflows, sequences, and lead scoring, teams can automate lead creation, trigger stage changes, and set reminders to follow up—reducing manual tasks and improving efficiency. For example, a sales qualified lead (SQL) can be automatically assigned to a rep when it reaches a certain lead status.
• Prevents Lost Leads: Since managing leads is separate from regular contacts, sales managers can track lead performance, identify stalled leads, and ensure proper follow-up. One company using the Leads Object doubled monthly sales just by addressing overlooked leads.
• Multiple Lead Opportunities per Contact: Unlike the previous lead status system, the Leads Object allows multiple leads per contact or company. If a lead was disqualified but re-engages later, a new lead can be created while maintaining historical data—providing a full picture of engagement over time.
• Better Reporting & Insights: The HubSpot Leads Object streamlines lead management, qualifies leads more effectively, and helps sales teams focus on closing deals instead of managing spreadsheets. With automation, structured tracking, and HubSpot tools, it’s a game-changer for teams looking to turn leads into customers efficiently.

How does it work

The HubSpot Leads Object is a structured way for sales teams to track and qualify potential customers before creating a deal. It sits between contacts and deals, helping teams manage new leads more efficiently within HubSpot CRM.

1. Leads vs. Contacts vs. Deals

• A contact is anyone in your database (customer, prospect, or subscriber).
• A lead is a sales opportunity in progress, created when a sales rep begins the qualification process.
• A deal is a fully qualified lead with a clear sales opportunity.

The Leads Object acts as a bridge between marketing and sales, ensuring that only sales-qualified leads (SQLs) move into the deal pipeline.

2. Lead Stages & Pipelines

Unlike a simple lead status, the Leads Object follows a structured sales process with distinct lead stages (e.g., New, Attempting to Connect, Connected, Qualified, Disqualified). These stages help sales teams track progress, ensuring smooth prospecting and deal management.

3. Managing Multiple Leads per Contact

By default, HubSpot leads allow only one open lead per contact or company, but this setting can be adjusted to support multiple sales engagements. This is useful when re-engaging past leads or managing multi-product sales cycles.

4. Integration with Lifecycle Stages

The Leads Object works alongside Lifecycle Stages, offering deeper insights into the customer journey. A marketing-qualified lead (MQL) can be automatically converted into a lead record, allowing sales reps to track detailed interactions before moving them into a deal.

5. Automation & HubSpot Tools

HubSpot CRM allows users to create leads manually or automate the process using workflows. Lead progression can trigger automated follow-ups, reminders, and reports to maximize productivity and ensure no lead is lost.

Integration with HubSpot CRM Tools

The HubSpot Leads Object seamlessly integrates with HubSpot CRM, providing sales teams with advanced tools to create leads, manage lead stages, and optimize deal management.

1. Sales Workspace (Prospecting)

The Sales Workspace includes a dedicated Leads tab, allowing sales reps to track new leads, schedule tasks, and receive AI-driven Guided Actions. This focused view helps reps efficiently qualify leads and prioritize outreach. Sales managers can monitor lead performance through analytics, ensuring no opportunity is missed.

2. Lists & Segmentation

The Leads Object works with HubSpot Lists, enabling segmentation based on lead status, lead stage, or lifecycle stage. Sales and marketing teams can build lists for prospecting and deal management, filter by contact or company, and create targeted campaigns to engage potential customers.

3. Workflows & Automation

With HubSpot tools, you can automate lead creation and follow-ups. Workflows allow sales reps to trigger actions when a lead is created, update lead status, assign leads via round-robin, or sync with lifecycle stages. For example, when a contact’s lifecycle stage changes to Sales Qualified Lead (SQL), a new lead can be created automatically.

4. Lead Capture & Forms

While HubSpot leads aren’t captured directly through forms, they can be created via automation. For instance, a “Request a Demo” form submission can trigger a lead record and notify a sales rep for immediate follow-up. HubSpot’s LinkedIn Sales Navigator and business card scanner also feed data into lead creation for streamlined prospecting.

5. Reporting & Dashboards

The HubSpot CRM reporting suite provides detailed insights on lead management, deal conversion rates, and customer journey tracking. Sales teams can analyze lead source performance, average time in each lead stage, and overall lead-to-deal success rates, helping managers refine the sales process.

Creating and Managing Leads in HubSpot

Ready to use the Lead Object? In this section, we’ll walk through how to create a lead, and some basics of managing those leads day-to-day. HubSpot has made the process fairly straightforward:

Creating a Lead in HubSpot (Manual Method)

The HubSpot Leads Object helps sales teams efficiently create leads, track lead stages, and optimize lead management to streamline the sales process.

Creating a Lead Manually

1. Navigate to the Leads Section – Go to HubSpot CRM > Sales Workspace > Leads to access the lead management screen.
2. Click “Create Lead” – In the top right, click Create Lead to open the lead creation form.
3. Select Contact or Company – Choose whether the lead is associated with an individual contact or a company.
4. Fill in Lead Details – Add the lead name, lead stage, lead pipeline, lead source, and tags (e.g., Hot/Warm/Cold).
5. Save the Lead – Click Create to store the lead record, which will now be visible in the sales workspace.

Automating Lead Creation

To maximize productivity, sales teams can automate lead creation with HubSpot workflows.

• Create leads automatically when a contact reaches SQL status, submits a high-intent form, or crosses a lead score threshold.
• Assign leads to sales reps based on round-robin rules or lead criteria.
• Sync lifecycle stage updates with the lead object for seamless prospecting and deal management.

Managing and Working with Leads

Effective lead management in HubSpot CRM ensures that sales teams can efficiently track, qualify, and convert potential customers. Here’s how to stay organized and maximize productivity.

1. Viewing and Filtering Leads

The Sales Workspace provides a Leads dashboard where sales reps can filter and sort new leads based on lead status, lead stage, or contact record. Use views like “My open leads” or create custom filters to prioritize follow-ups.

2. Updating Lead Stages

As leads progress through the sales process, update their lead stage to reflect interactions. Move leads from New → Attempting to Contact → Connected → Qualified. Keeping stages updated ensures accurate tracking and can trigger automated workflows for follow-ups.

3. Logging Activities and Notes

Track every engagement—calls, emails, and meetings—directly within the leads object. Notes and logs provide valuable insights for sales teams and help qualify leads effectively.

4. Qualifying or Disqualifying Leads

• Sales qualified leads (SQLs) move into deal management—convert them into a deal and progress the customer journey.
• Disqualified leads are stored with reasons (e.g., budget issues, not the right contact). These can be revisited for future prospecting.

5. Lead Ownership and Handoff

Ensure clear lead assignment—either manually or via HubSpot tools (e.g., round-robin assignment). Sales managers should define whether BDRs own leads and AEs own deals for a smooth transition.

6. Closing Leads

Keep the open leads list organized by closing inactive leads. If a lead goes cold, mark it as disqualified with a reason like “No response”. You can always reopen or create a new lead later.

7. Using Sales Workspace Tools

Leverage bulk enrollments in sequences, task automation, and calendar tools to streamline prospecting and deal management. This helps sales teams engage leads efficiently without manual follow-ups.

Best Practices for Lead Qualification and Conversion

Successfully using the HubSpot Leads Object requires both effective qualification and a smooth conversion process. Here’s how sales teams can optimize lead management for higher conversions.

Lead Qualification Best Practices

1. Define Clear Qualification Criteria

Establish what makes a lead qualified (e.g., budget, authority, need, timeline) to ensure consistent lead evaluation across the sales process. Automate Sales Qualified Lead (SQL) creation based on criteria like form submissions or lead scores.

2. Use Lead Scoring

HubSpot tools like lead scoring help prioritize high-intent leads based on engagement, demographics, and activity. Set automation to create leads when a contact reaches a score threshold.

3. Leverage Lead Properties

Customize lead stages, lead types, and tags (e.g., New Business, Expansion, Hot, Warm, Cold) to segment potential customers. Fast-track high-priority leads and assign them accordingly.

4. Automate Lead Creation

Set up workflows to automatically create leads when a contact’s lifecycle stage moves from MQL to SQL, ensuring real-time handoff between marketing and sales.

5. Enable Multiple Lead Touchpoints

Allow multiple lead records per contact for long sales cycles or different product lines. If a disqualified lead re-engages, create a new lead rather than reopening the old one.

6. Use Sequences & Tasks for Follow-ups

Automate email sequences, task reminders, and LinkedIn touches to ensure every new lead gets consistent follow-ups. Set reminders for future engagement if a lead is not ready.

7. Keep Data Clean

Ensure all lead records are complete with lead source, notes, and qualification reasons to improve future prospecting and deal management.

Lead Conversion Best Practices

1. Establish a Clear Conversion Point

Define when a qualified lead should be moved to a deal. Automate deal creation when a lead reaches the qualified stage to avoid pipeline gaps.

2. Sync Lead Outcomes with Lifecycle Stages

Update a contact’s lifecycle stage when a lead is qualified or disqualified to keep marketing and sales aligned. Use workflows to automate these updates.

3. Use Closed-Loop Feedback

Analyze lead performance by tracking conversion rates and disqualification reasons. Adjust lead generation strategies based on insights from HubSpot CRM reports.

4. Nurture Unqualified Leads

Set up nurture workflows for disqualified leads, keeping them engaged through marketing campaigns until they’re sales-ready.

5. Train Your Team & Iterate

Regularly update lead qualification criteria, automation workflows, and sales processes based on team feedback and CRM data.