What is the next step of a deal in HubSpot?
Next step is a default HubSpot deal property. HubSpot describes it as the next steps you or another user will take to improve the likelihood of closing the deal. It also appears as Next step in the forecast tool.
It is free text: HubSpot does not check whether what you write is clear, agreed with the customer or still current. It is also not the same as Next activity date.
| Property | What it says | Who fills it in |
|---|---|---|
| Next step | What comes next, in free text | The deal owner |
| Next activity date | When the next task or meeting is | HubSpot, from the scheduled activity |
A deal can have a date and no useful explanation, or a clear explanation and no scheduled activity. Your team decides which of the two it reviews and when it expects both.
What does a useful next step look like?
Use a simple formula: action, owner, date or condition, and what the customer agreed. “Follow up” or “Waiting for an answer” fills the field but tells a colleague nothing. These examples, from B2B sales in Chile and Latin America, show the difference.
- Instead of
“Follow up”.
- Write
“Send the revised proposal on Thursday and confirm with the operations manager whether it goes to Monday’s committee”.
- Instead of
“Call”.
- Write
“Call the purchasing lead on Tuesday to confirm whether the budget was approved; if there is no answer, write to the general manager on Wednesday”.
- Instead of
“Waiting for an answer”.
- Write
“The customer asked for two weeks to review with their board; contact them again on the 24th with the plan comparison they requested”.
Where and when should you record it in HubSpot?
- Open the dealGo to CRM > Deals and open the record.
- Update Next stepAfter each conversation that changes the plan, not only before the pipeline meeting.
- Keep it in sightIf your team uses it every day, ask your administrator to show it in the record’s sidebar.
- Schedule the task or meetingWith its date and associated with the deal. It is then reflected in Next activity date and appears in the owner’s task list.
In the forecast tool (Sales > Forecast) the same field appears as Next step, so a manager can read it while reviewing the forecast.
How do you review next steps in the pipeline meeting?
In CRM > Deals, open Advanced filters and use Add filter to build a view of open deals with no Next step, and another with Next activity date in the past or empty. Save the views so the team reviews the same list every week.
Do not stop at counting empty fields. Take a few deals and ask the owner to read the next step out loud.
- Could someone else continue with it? If not, the action or the owner is missing.
- Was it agreed with the customer? An agreed step and a proposed one are not the same for the forecast.
- Is the date realistic? A date that moves every week is a reason to talk.
Record the exceptions, such as deals waiting for a public tender in Chile or elsewhere in Latin America, so they are not flagged every week. The guide to pipeline stages in HubSpot helps define what is expected at each stage.
What can HubCoach do with the next step?
HubCoach, a Revenue Hub Latam product, can show a notice when a deal in the stages you choose has an empty Next step. The notice brings your team’s criterion, a good example and an exception, in the Side Panel next to the record.
The Clear next step process template and the coaching card “A next step someone else can continue” are a starting point you adapt. To set it up, follow Create your first useful rule.
What should you review this week?
- Agree on the formula: action, owner, date or condition and what the customer agreed.
- Record Next step after every conversation that changes the plan.
- Create the task or meeting with its date, associated with the deal.
- Save a view of open deals without a next step and review it every week.
- Review the quality of a few steps with their owners, not only empty fields.