Every time I get access to a new HubSpot portal, I tell myself the same thing: don’t assume everything is working the way it looks.
Most portals seem well organized at first glance. Contacts are coming in, deals are moving, and dashboards are full of numbers. But I’ve learned that what looks healthy isn’t always healthy.
That’s why I take time to get to know a portal before I touch anything or build something new.
Here’s what I check first.
1. How contacts are getting into the CRM
The first question I ask is simple: where are new contacts actually coming from?
Some come through forms. Some come from imports. Others get added by integrations or typed in by hand.
Knowing where contacts come from helps me judge how reliable the data really is, before I start building reports or automation on top of it.
2. The lifecycle stages
Lifecycle stages affect way more than just marketing. They show up in automation, reporting, lead management, and handoffs between teams.
I check whether the lifecycle stages still match how the business actually works today. If they don’t, that’s usually a sign there are bigger issues hiding underneath.
3. The active workflows
I don’t start by reading every single workflow line by line. I just look at how many there are and what they’re trying to do.
Sometimes I find several workflows doing almost the same job. Other times, I find ones that haven’t been touched in years. Either way, it gives me a good sense of how automation grew over time.
4. The reports people actually use
Instead of jumping straight to building new dashboards, I look at what the team already checks.
Which reports do they look at every day? Which numbers actually matter to them? This helps me avoid accidentally breaking something they rely on.
5. Signs of messy data
These are usually easy to spot. Different values for the same property. Missing lifecycle stages. Duplicate contacts. Old properties nobody uses anymore.
These small issues often explain much bigger problems with reports or automation later on.
My Final Check
Before I change anything, I ask myself one last question:
“Do I actually understand why this portal works the way it does?”
If the answer is no, I keep digging.
I’ve found that spending one extra hour understanding a portal saves way more time than rushing in and changing things too fast.
Every portal tells a story. I think it’s worth understanding that story before trying to rewrite it.