Make the Important Fields Required
Nobody fills in fields they don’t have to.
That’s not a criticism — it’s just human nature. When a sales rep is moving fast, they’re logging the call and moving on. When marketing is importing a list, they’re grabbing what they need and calling it done. The fields that feel optional in the moment? They stay empty. And empty fields have a way of becoming a problem later.
Here’s the thing HubSpot lets you do about it: make the fields that matter required.
What required properties actually do
In HubSpot, you can designate certain properties as required at specific trigger points — when a record is created, when a deal moves to a new stage, or when a lifecycle stage changes. Until that field is filled in, the action can’t be completed. The record doesn’t get created. The deal doesn’t advance. The stage doesn’t update.
It sounds rigid. It’s actually just smart.
Where I use this most with clients
The one that gets the most immediate reaction from sales managers: requiring a “Reason for Loss” when a deal is marked Closed Lost.
Without it, every lost deal disappears into a void. There’s no pattern to analyze, no coaching conversation to have, no way to know if you’re losing to price, to a competitor, to timing, or to something completely fixable. Required properties force the answer before the deal goes away.
How to set it up in HubSpot
Required properties live in your property settings — no special tools needed. To require a property at record creation, go to Settings → Properties, find the property you want, and check the “required” option. For deal stage requirements, go to Settings → Objects → Deals → Deal Stages, click the stage you want, and add the properties that must be completed before a deal can move there. It takes about two minutes per field, and it holds.
Other places where required properties make a real difference:
- Contact location at record creation — critical if you’re segmenting by region, assigning territories, or running any geo-targeted campaigns
- Job title or role — essential for anyone doing persona-based marketing or sales outreach
- Deal amount before advancing stages — because a pipeline full of $0 deals is not a pipeline
- Lead source on new contacts — so you always know where people are coming from, not just where they ended up
Why this matters more than it seems
According to the 1-10-100 data quality principle, preventing bad data from entering your CRM costs $1. Correcting it after the fact costs $10. Fixing it after it’s caused a failure — internally or with a customer — costs around $100.
Required properties are the $1 fix. They stop the problem at the door instead of making you chase it down later.
Research shows that inside sales reps waste 27% of their time dealing with inaccurate or incomplete records — that’s more than 500 hours per year, per rep. Time that could be spent selling, marketing, or actually helping customers.
This isn’t about micromanaging your team
It’s about designing a system that makes the right thing easy and the incomplete thing impossible. Your reps aren’t forgetting to fill in the close reason because they don’t care — they’re forgetting because nothing stopped them from skipping it. Required properties fix the process, not the person.
And once the data is there consistently? Your reports actually mean something. Your segments are accurate. Your lost deal analysis tells a real story. Your pipeline reflects reality.
Want to know which properties you should be requiring in your HubSpot portal? Let’s connect.
Nobody fills in fields they don’t have to.
That’s not a criticism — it’s just human nature. When a sales rep is moving fast, they’re logging the call and moving on. When marketing is importing a list, they’re grabbing what they need and calling it done. The fields that feel optional in the moment? They stay empty. And empty fields have a way of becoming a problem later.
Here’s the thing HubSpot lets you do about it: make the fields that matter required.
What required properties actually do
In HubSpot, you can designate certain properties as required at specific trigger points — when a record is created, when a deal moves to a new stage, or when a lifecycle stage changes. Until that field is filled in, the action can’t be completed. The record doesn’t get created. The deal doesn’t advance. The stage doesn’t update.
It sounds rigid. It’s actually just smart.
Where I use this most with clients
The one that gets the most immediate reaction from sales managers: requiring a “Reason for Loss” when a deal is marked Closed Lost.
Without it, every lost deal disappears into a void. There’s no pattern to analyze, no coaching conversation to have, no way to know if you’re losing to price, to a competitor, to timing, or to something completely fixable. Required properties force the answer before the deal goes away.
How to set it up in HubSpot
Required properties live in your property settings — no special tools needed. To require a property at record creation, go to Settings → Properties, find the property you want, and check the “required” option. For deal stage requirements, go to Settings → Objects → Deals → Deal Stages, click the stage you want, and add the properties that must be completed before a deal can move there. It takes about two minutes per field, and it holds.
Other places where required properties make a real difference:
- Contact location at record creation — critical if you’re segmenting by region, assigning territories, or running any geo-targeted campaigns
- Job title or role — essential for anyone doing persona-based marketing or sales outreach
- Deal amount before advancing stages — because a pipeline full of $0 deals is not a pipeline
- Lead source on new contacts — so you always know where people are coming from, not just where they ended up
Why this matters more than it seems
According to the 1-10-100 data quality principle, preventing bad data from entering your CRM costs $1. Correcting it after the fact costs $10. Fixing it after it’s caused a failure — internally or with a customer — costs around $100.
Required properties are the $1 fix. They stop the problem at the door instead of making you chase it down later.
Research shows that inside sales reps waste 27% of their time dealing with inaccurate or incomplete records — that’s more than 500 hours per year, per rep. Time that could be spent selling, marketing, or actually helping customers.
This isn’t about micromanaging your team
It’s about designing a system that makes the right thing easy and the incomplete thing impossible. Your reps aren’t forgetting to fill in the close reason because they don’t care — they’re forgetting because nothing stopped them from skipping it. Required properties fix the process, not the person.
And once the data is there consistently? Your reports actually mean something. Your segments are accurate. Your lost deal analysis tells a real story. Your pipeline reflects reality.
Want to know which properties you should be requiring in your HubSpot portal? Let’s connect.