How to Spot Gaps in Your HubSpot Lifecycle
Your Lifecycle Stage property tells a story — how a contact moves from Subscriber → Lead → MQL → SQL → Customer → Evangelist (or however your business defines it).
The problem? Most teams never track when those changes happen.
By adding Last Modified Date to the picture, you see how long contacts have been stuck — and where your funnel is leaking energy.
“In HubSpot, Lifecycle Stage is only as powerful as your ability to see movement. Without timestamps, it’s just a label.”
Step 1: Create the Report
- Go to Reports → Create Report → Single Object → Contacts
- Choose these data points
–Lifecycle Stage
–Last Modified Date
–(Optional) Create Date if you want to show total time in system - Set Display: Bar Chart or Table view
- Group by Lifecycle Stage
- Add a filter: Lifecycle Stage is known
This shows all your contacts grouped by stage, with the most recent activity date visible.
Step 2: Sort & Analyze
Sort by Last Modified Date (oldest first) — now you can see where contacts haven’t been touched in weeks or months.
That’s the visual cue of where your pipeline needs attention.
Add a color rule to highlight stale contacts — it’s a great visual for leadership dashboards.
Step 3: Use It to Drive Action
Once you can see your funnel stagnation, decide:
- Stuck at Lead? → Build a re-engagement workflow (like “Quiet but Qualified”).
- Stuck at MQL? → Review scoring or handoff timing.
- Stuck at SQL? → Sales follow-up or missing deal creation workflow.
- Stuck before Customer? → Maybe deals aren’t auto-updating lifecycle.
You can even add Average Time in Stage with custom reports (if using datasets).
Step 4: Make It a Dashboard Staple
Add this report to your “Lifecycle Health” dashboard and review it monthly.
If you’re managing a marketing-to-sales handoff, it’s one of the simplest health indicators you’ll ever build.
Optional Enhancements
- Add Contact Owner to see who owns stalled leads.
- Filter for Last Modified Date > 90 days ago to highlight stale records.
- Use Deal Count as a secondary metric to show if those contacts ever advanced to opportunities.
Real-World Example
One client thought they had a slow Q1 — but the issue wasn’t leads, it was movement.
Their “MQL” stage hadn’t updated in 90+ days for 38% of contacts.
Once we visualized it, they created an automated “recycle” workflow to nudge those back into engagement.
Pipeline speed doubled the next quarter.
Want to Build It Yourself?
You can — in less than 5 minutes.
- Create a Contacts report.
- Add Lifecycle Stage + Last Modified Date.
- Sort by date, review monthly.
That’s one thing that works.
Want to see what other tips will benefit your team? Schedule a meeting with me.
Step 3: Use It to Drive Action
Once you can see your funnel stagnation, decide:
- Stuck at Lead? → Build a re-engagement workflow (like “Quiet but Qualified”).
- Stuck at MQL? → Review scoring or handoff timing.
- Stuck at SQL? → Sales follow-up or missing deal creation workflow.
- Stuck before Customer? → Maybe deals aren’t auto-updating lifecycle.
You can even add Average Time in Stage with custom reports (if using datasets).
Step 4: Make It a Dashboard Staple
Add this report to your “Lifecycle Health” dashboard and review it monthly.
If you’re managing a marketing-to-sales handoff, it’s one of the simplest health indicators you’ll ever build.
Optional Enhancements
- Add Contact Owner to see who owns stalled leads.
- Filter for Last Modified Date > 90 days ago to highlight stale records.
- Use Deal Count as a secondary metric to show if those contacts ever advanced to opportunities.
Real-World Example
One client thought they had a slow Q1 — but the issue wasn’t leads, it was movement.
Their “MQL” stage hadn’t updated in 90+ days for 38% of contacts.
Once we visualized it, they created an automated “recycle” workflow to nudge those back into engagement.
Pipeline speed doubled the next quarter.
Want to Build It Yourself?
You can — in less than 5 minutes.
- Create a Contacts report.
- Add Lifecycle Stage + Last Modified Date.
- Sort by date, review monthly.
That’s one thing that works.
Want to see what other tips will benefit your team? Schedule a meeting with me.
Your Lifecycle Stage property tells a story — how a contact moves from Subscriber → Lead → MQL → SQL → Customer → Evangelist (or however your business defines it).
The problem? Most teams never track when those changes happen.
By adding Last Modified Date to the picture, you see how long contacts have been stuck — and where your funnel is leaking energy.
“In HubSpot, Lifecycle Stage is only as powerful as your ability to see movement. Without timestamps, it’s just a label.”
Step 1: Create the Report
- Go to Reports → Create Report → Single Object → Contacts
- Choose these data points
–Lifecycle Stage
–Last Modified Date
–(Optional) Create Date if you want to show total time in system - Set Display: Bar Chart or Table view
- Group by Lifecycle Stage
- Add a filter: Lifecycle Stage is known
This shows all your contacts grouped by stage, with the most recent activity date visible.
Step 2: Sort & Analyze
Sort by Last Modified Date (oldest first) — now you can see where contacts haven’t been touched in weeks or months.
That’s the visual cue of where your pipeline needs attention.
Add a color rule to highlight stale contacts — it’s a great visual for leadership dashboards.