1. HubSpot CRM — Your Central Workspace

Core Concepts: Contacts vs. Deals

Contacts	Deals
Any individual we interact with	A specific sales opportunity
Stores: name, email, phone, job title, history	Stores: pipeline stage, premium amount, emails, notes
One contact can have multiple deals	Each deal is linked to one or more contacts
Managed after the sale is complete	Managed actively during the sales process

How Leads Enter the System

When a lead submits a quote request form, HubSpot automatically creates both a Contact and a Deal linked by email address. You do not create these manually — they appear in your pipeline.

Duplicate Deals (⚠️)

If the same client submits a form twice with the same email, HubSpot will NOT create a duplicate Contact — but it WILL create a new Deal. Duplicate deals are flagged with ⚠️ in the deal title. Check both deals and consolidate your notes into the most recent one.

Working a Lead in HubSpot

Receive lead in your queue — call immediately (speed to lead matters)
Log the call outcome as a Note on the Deal — same day, every call
Move the Deal to the appropriate pipeline stage
Set a Task for your next follow-up with a specific date and time
Send the Google Meet calendar invite through HubSpot — it auto-logs
After the plan review call: update Deal stage, log outcome, set next task

Pipeline Stages

Stage	What It Means
New Lead	Just entered — not yet contacted
On-Hold (1–2 Calls)	Called 1–2 times, no answer — keep attempting
On-Hold (3+ Calls)	Called 3–6 times with no response — continue working until 7 total attempts
Ghosted	Hit 7 unanswered calls — automatically moves to this stage
Sales Call	Google Meet plan review booked — invite sent
Follow Up	In between stages — connected but not yet closed. Use this for any contact that needs additional touchpoints before a decision is made
Application In Progress	Client agreed — working through enrollment portal
Won	Application submitted and placed — deal closed
Lost	Client declined, unqualified, or unreachable after follow-up

Post-Close: Winning a Deal

Once a deal is marked Won, all ongoing communication happens through the Contact record — not the Deal. The Deal is historical. The Contact is the living relationship.