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Using and setting required contact properties in HubSpot
How to set required contact properties in HubSpot to ensure consistent, high-quality data and improve CRM performance across sales and marketing.
Contact properties in HubSpot help you organise and track valuable information about your leads, prospects, and customers. Some properties are required, meaning they must be filled out before a contact can be created or moved through your CRM.
By using required contact properties effectively, your team ensures that all key data is captured consistently, improving reporting, automation, and sales efficiency.
What Are Required Contact Properties?
Required contact properties are fields that must be completed when adding a new contact or updating their status. These properties help maintain clean, structured data and ensure your team has the right information to personalise outreach and track progress.
For example, if you want every new contact to have an email address and job title, you can set these as required properties when contacts are manually created or when they reach a specific Lifecycle Stage (e.g., becoming a Sales Qualified Lead).
Key Default Contact Properties & Their Definitions
Here are some of the most important default contact properties in HubSpot and what they mean:
1) Lifecycle Stage
- What It Is: Categorises contacts based on their journey with your business.
- Why It Matters: This is a critical field in helping teams track where a contact is in the sales or marketing funnel.
- Example Stages:
- Subscriber – Someone who has signed up for your blog or newsletter.
- Lead – A potential customer who has shown interest in your business.
- Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL) – A lead engaged with your content but not ready for sales.
- Sales Qualified Lead (SQL) – A lead that meets your criteria for sales outreach.
- Customer – Someone who has made a purchase or signed up for your service.
ℹ️ Please note: The lifecycle stage helps to determine where a specific contact or company is in your processes and is a key property for creating marketing and sales reports. The lifecycle stage cannot be 'retro-fitted', e.g. historic dates cannot be adjusted and stages cannot go backwards.
2) Email
- What It Is: The primary email address of the contact.
- Why It Matters: Essential for communication, email marketing, and automation.
ℹ️ Please note: it is not recommended to add contacts to HubSpot CRM without an email address because HubSpot uses the email address to deduplicate contacts and to automatically associate contacts with companies.
3) Job Title
- What It Is: The contact’s role in their organisation.
- Why It Matters: Helps sales and marketing teams personalise their approach.
4) Company Name
- What It Is: The business the contact is associated with.
- Why It Matters: Allows you to track relationships with companies, not just individuals.
5) Phone Number
- What It Is: The contact’s direct or business phone number.
- Why It Matters: Useful for follow-ups, call tracking, and customer support.
6) Lead Source
- What It Is: The original way a contact discovered your business (e.g., organic search, paid ads, referral).
- Why It Matters: Helps you analyse which marketing channels drive the most leads.
7) Owner
- What It Is: The team member (HubSpot User) responsible for managing the contact.
- Why It Matters: Ensures accountability and smooth handovers between marketing, sales, and service teams.
How to Set Required Contact Properties in HubSpot
- Go to Settings – Click the gear icon in the top navigation.
- Select Objects > Contacts – Find the properties section.
- Click “Manage Properties” – Locate the property you want to make required.
- Enable Required Fields – Choose when the property should be mandatory (e.g., when a contact is created or when their lifecycle stage changes).
- Save Changes – Your CRM will now prompt users to complete these fields when adding or updating contacts.
💡 Pro Tip: Only require essential properties. Too many mandatory fields can slow down data entry and frustrate your team.