Prospecting

Staff members have a streamlined view of their daily priorities, allowing them to stay on track without distractions. This includes clear reminders about tasks, follow-ups, and any leads needing attention.

Team members can see which prospective students or leads they must follow up with. They get a list of people to contact, making it easy to prioritize communication and increase engagement with prospective students.

The built-in calendar provides a quick look at upcoming events, meetings, or reminders directly within HubSpot, making it easier to plan the day without switching between multiple tools.

HubSpot suggests activities to help manage outreach efforts efficiently. For instance, it might suggest following up on an email from a prospective student or researching new leads before engaging them further. It can also recommend enrolling students in automatic email flows for consistent engagement.

• Accessing the Tool

  • Go to HubSpot's main navigation bar, click Workspaces, then select Prospecting. This will bring you to the Summary tab, where you can see an overview of tasks, calendar events, and prospective student leads.

  • The modules on this dashboard are movable, so feel free to rearrange them for a setup that best suits your workflow.

• Managing Leads

  • Click on the Leads tab next to Summary. In HubSpot, “leads” are individuals interested in your colleges programs.

  • Here, you’ll find tools to engage each lead individually. Click on a lead’s name to send them emails, track their progress in their enrollment journey, and review recent communications. This space keeps everything organized and centralized for efficient follow-ups.

• Using Your Calendar

  • Go to Workspaces > Prospecting in the navigation bar, then click the Schedule tab. Here, you’ll see a read-only view of your connected calendar, which includes all scheduled events and tasks.

  • This view helps you plan your daily workload and immediately see any schedule conflicts, making it easier to stay organized.

• Tracking Engagement in Real-Time

  • The Feed tab, located next to Schedule, offers a detailed history of activity notifications. This includes when leads interact with your emails or other outreach efforts, allowing you to gauge their interest and prioritize follow-ups.

  • If you see a prospect engaging heavily, such as opening emails multiple times quickly, it could signal a good opportunity for immediate follow-up to maintain their interest.

• Focused Outreach for Success

  • HubSpot’s prospecting tool helps college staff maintain relevant, timely conversations with prospective students. By keeping all communications, tasks, and schedules in one place, staff can minimize distractions and stay focused on effectively engaging top prospects.

Setting Up Leads in HubSpot

• Contacts vs. Leads:

  • Contacts include everyone in your system (students, prospective students, alumni, etc.).

  • Leads are a subset of contacts likely to engage or convert—those you plan to reach out to soon. Leads represent opportunities, not people directly. They’re intended to help staff stay organized by prioritizing outreach.

Defining and Tracking Leads Using Lifecycle Stages

• Lifecycle Stages categorize contacts by position within your college’s marketing and enrollment processes. This helps tailor communications, track each contact’s progress, and ensure smooth handoffs between recruitment and student affairs teams.

Below are the seven lifecycles:

• Prospect: Potential students who expressed interest in a program or college but haven’t applied.

  • Application Started: Students who have initiated their application process.

  • Applicant: Students who have submitted a completed application.

  • Matriculate: Accepted students preparing to start classes/enroll.

  • Enrolled: Students currently registered and attending classes.

  • Graduate: Students who have completed their degree or certification.

  • Employee: Faculty and staff working within the college.

• Align on Lead Criteria:
  Ensure your team agrees on what makes a good lead (e.g., filling out an interest form, attending an event, etc.).

Creating Leads in HubSpot

• Manual Creation:

  • In the CRM > Contacts, select individuals and mark them as leads. Based on their position in your outreach, assign them a Lead Pipeline Stage.

• Automatic Creation:

  • Use the Lifecycle Stage Property to auto-populate leads. In the Leads tab, use Actions > Pull in leads to filter by stage and timeframe.

  • Workflow Automation: In Automation > Workflows, create workflows to automatically add leads based on specific actions or criteria (e.g., email engagement, website visits).

• Workflow Setup:

  • You can choose the type of workflow (Contact, Company, or Lead-based), set criteria, and select actions to create leads automatically.

Using the Prospecting Workspace

• Access the Prospecting Tool in Workspaces > Prospecting. You’ll see all your leads under the Leads tab.

• The Schedule tab lets you view your calendar to plan follow-ups effectively.

• The Feed tab shows a real-time list of engagement activities, so you can follow up at the best times.

Accessing and Filtering Leads

• Navigation: Go to Workspaces > Prospecting and click on the Leads tab to see all leads.

• Filtering Leads:

  • Lead Stage: Sort leads by their current stage (e.g., whether they’re new or in active conversation).

  • Labels (Hot, Warm, Cold): To help prioritize outreach, assign labels based on the lead’s interest level. Click the Label column to set these manually.

  • Companies: Filter by organization to view leads associated with specific institutions, partners, or prospective student sources.

Using Compound Filters

• Combine filters to narrow down your list further. For instance, view all Hot leads who haven’t responded by selecting both filters. This way, you can focus on leads needing more immediate follow-up.

Customizing Your Lead View

• Click Edit columns to ensure you only view relevant details, such as lead status, last communication, or upcoming activities. This reduces clutter and keeps the workspace focused.

Viewing and Engaging with Leads

• Clicking on a lead opens a sidebar with important details, such as:

  • Lead Stage

  • LAST ACTIVITY and NEXT ACTIVITY

  • Recent communications for quick context

    • From this sidebar, you can easily email, call, or enroll leads in automated emails, making engagement seamless.

Automatic Lead Status Updates

• HubSpot updates lead statuses automatically when you take action, such as sending an email or making a call. This means your records stay up-to-date without extra manual logging.

• Default Lead Statuses:

  • Attempted: Automatically updates when you’ve tried to contact them.

  • Connected: Updates once the lead responds.

  • Qualified: Mark leads as Qualified if they’re a good fit; this opens the deal creation panel.

  • Disqualified: Mark leads as Disqualified if they’re not suitable, including reasons for feedback.

Customizing Lead Stages

• You can adjust the lead pipeline to suit your outreach needs if the default statuses don't fit. HubSpot allows you to rename, add, or remove stages to align better with your team’s process. It’s recommended that disqualification reasons be kept for insights on lead quality.

Scheduling Next Activities

• To maintain consistent follow-ups, always schedule a Next Activity for each lead. Use the Schedule Next Activity dropdown or schedule directly from the lead list to set reminders.