You’ve just received a surge of new inbound leads. Your sales team is eager to engage, but with a high volume of new requests per rep per day, managing them efficiently becomes a challenge.

How do you ensure that your reps can work leads effectively, your marketing and product teams get the feedback they need, and you have the data necessary for effective coaching and business planning?

In this guide, I’ll walk you through setting up an effective inbound lead engagement structure in HubSpot CRM.

This solution allows your team to work from both the Conversations inbox and the Prospecting workspace, ensuring minimal friction for reps and consistent data across engagements.

The challenge

The initial touchpoint your prospects have with you is critical. A professional and prompt follow-up can significantly increase your chances of closing a deal. But how do you set up an inbound lead engagement structure in HubSpot that ensures:

• Your sales team can work leads effectively
• Your marketing and product teams receive the feedback they need
• You have the data necessary for effective coaching and business planning

The solution overview

We’ll set up a structure where your reps can work from the Conversations inbox or the Prospecting workspace, depending on their preference and the situation. The key components of this solution include:

• Mirrored information: Lead status on the Contact object and Pipeline stages on the Leads object are synced.
• Workflows: Used to sync data between objects, ensuring consistent information regardless of where reps work.
• Feedback mechanisms: Incorporating lead disqualification reasons and disqualification notes to gather insights.
• Flexibility: Allowing reps to gradually transition to the Prospecting workspace while initially leveraging the familiar inbox interface.

Video Walk-though

Step-by-step guide

Step 1: Set up the Conversations inbox

1. Configure the inbox:

• Navigate to Conversations > Inbox in your HubSpot account.
• Ensure that all inbound requests (emails and form submissions) are directed to this inbox.

2. Assign conversations to reps:

• Use the Assign Conversation feature to assign new conversations to the appropriate sales reps.

• The rotation does not always work reliably on newly created conversations, so we'd normally also set up a branching logic workflow if you want to make sure conversations are assigned to the contact owner instead of a round-robin. 

3. Automate lead status updates:

• Set up automation so that when a rep replies to a conversation, the Lead status automatically updates to reflect the engagement stage (e.g., “Reaching out”).
• I'd recommend using the same name for the Lead Status on the Contact record as you use in the Lead pipeline stages. 

4. Allow reps to disqualify leads:

• Provide the ability to update Lead status to “Disqualified” directly from the inbox.
• Implement conditional fields to collect Disqualification reasons and Disqualification notes for feedback and analysis.

Step 2: Configure the Prospecting workspace

1. Mirror information between objects:

• Set up workflows to update Lead status, Disqualification reason, and Disqualification notes between the Contact and Lead objects.
• The sync function will not work in this case, so you'd need to set up workflows in both directions. 
• This ensures data consistency, regardless of whether reps work from the inbox or Prospecting workspace.

2. Customise the workspace:

• Encourage your team to adjust the Prospecting workspace to display relevant properties that suit your sales process.
• Encourage reps to use this workspace over time for enhanced customisation and insights.

3. Understand the benefits:

• The Prospecting workspace offers more customisation, filters, and insights than the inbox.
• Transitioning to this workspace can improve efficiency and data quality.

But what about the Sales Workspace Beta? As of this post, you'll be unable to see form submissions and inbound emails from newly created contacts using this view. As such, we don't recommend it at this time. 

Step 3: Handle lead disqualification feedback

1. Set up disqualification reasons:

• Use simple dropdown options for disqualification reasons (e.g., “Spam,” “Support request,” “Not a good fit”).
• Keep the initial list concise to encourage use and accuracy.

2. Implement conditional fields:

• If a rep selects “Other”, a conditional text field appears for them to provide additional details.
• This information helps your marketing and product teams gather feedback.

3. Update and expand over time:

• Regularly review the free-text disqualification notes.
• Expand (or reduce) the dropdown options based on common themes to streamline the process.

Step 4: Encourage gradual transition to Prospecting workspace

1. Allow for flexibility:

• Initially, let reps choose whether to work from the inbox or Prospecting workspace.
• This reduces friction and respects their familiarity with existing processes.

2. Provide training and support:

• Offer training sessions to showcase the advantages of the Prospecting workspace.
• Highlight features like enhanced customisation, better filters, and improved data insights.

3. Focus on data integrity:

• Emphasise the importance of consistent data entry and updating statuses.
• Reiterate how accurate data benefits the entire organisation, from sales to marketing to product development.

Up next...

In the upcoming posts, I’ll dive deeper into specific aspects of this setup to further optimise your inbound lead management:

1. Exploring the workflows used

We’ll take a detailed look at the workflows that sync data between objects, automate lead status updates, and manage lead assignments. You’ll learn how to:

• Set up branching logic workflows to handle various lead scenarios.
• Configure lead rotation and assignment workflows to ensure leads are promptly addressed.
• Automate processes to reduce manual tasks and improve efficiency.

2. Enhancing reporting and feedback loops

Understanding your data is crucial for continuous improvement. In this post, we’ll focus on:

• Creating insightful dashboards and reports based on the Leads object.
• Setting up feedback mechanisms to capture reasons for disqualification and other valuable insights.
• Using data to identify trends, bottlenecks, and opportunities for coaching.

3. Automating outreach and improving sales process efficiency

To maximise your team’s effectiveness, we’ll explore:

• Strategies for automating outreach to lower-priority or low MRR leads.
• Optimising your sales process to focus on high-impact opportunities.
• Building an efficient engine for inbound conversations that balances automation with personal touch.

Stay tuned! 😎