Hubspot Customer Journey and Sales Funnel Guide
Understanding how Hubspot frames the customer journey and sales funnel can help you design a repeatable, scalable process that turns strangers into delighted customers. By mapping each stage and aligning your sales motions, you can shorten deal cycles and increase conversion rates.
This article breaks down the key stages of the journey and shows you how to align your funnel strategy, based strictly on the approach outlined in the original HubSpot Sales Blog article on the customer journey and sales funnel.
What Is the Customer Journey in Hubspot Terms?
The customer journey describes every interaction a prospect has with your brand, from the first touch to becoming a loyal advocate. In the Hubspot-inspired view, it is not a rigid line but a series of stages where prospects move back and forth based on their needs and context.
Instead of seeing your funnel only as a way to “push” leads downward, the journey model emphasizes helping, educating, and guiding buyers as they solve problems and evaluate solutions.
Customer Journey vs. Sales Funnel in Hubspot Frameworks
Although they are often used together, the customer journey and the sales funnel serve different but related purposes. The Hubspot approach clarifies the difference so you can design better processes.
Customer Journey Overview
The journey is buyer-centric. It focuses on what the prospect is doing and thinking, such as:
- Realizing they have a problem or goal
- Researching possible solutions
- Comparing vendors and approaches
- Making a purchase decision
- Experiencing onboarding and post-sale support
This perspective forces you to consider the buyer’s motivations, challenges, and information needs at each moment.
Sales Funnel Overview
The funnel is company-centric. In many Hubspot-aligned sales processes, the funnel describes how your team classifies and manages opportunities, including:
- How leads enter your database
- How they become marketing qualified and then sales qualified
- How reps move deals from first contact to closed-won or closed-lost
Both models should work together. The journey guides what prospects need, and the funnel guides how your team responds.
The Core Stages of the Customer Journey
Using ideas reflected in the Hubspot article, you can map the journey into clear, actionable stages. While exact labels differ, the logic remains the same.
1. Awareness Stage
In the awareness stage, prospects realize they have a problem, pain, or opportunity. They are not ready for a product pitch. They need education and clarity.
Your priorities in this stage:
- Publish educational content that explains symptoms and root causes
- Use blog posts, guides, and videos to answer early questions
- Avoid aggressive sales outreach; focus on helping
From a funnel perspective, many of these visitors are early-stage leads or even anonymous traffic.
2. Consideration Stage
Here, prospects have defined their problem and are exploring different solution types. In a Hubspot-informed model, this is where you position your approach, not just your product.
Key tactics for this stage:
- Comparison content (methods, frameworks, or solution categories)
- Webinars or in-depth resources that show how solutions work
- Lead nurturing emails that guide prospects to deeper insights
These individuals often become marketing qualified leads as they engage more deeply.
3. Decision Stage
In the decision stage, prospects have chosen a solution type and are selecting a vendor or partner. The Hubspot-style funnel now leans heavily on sales activity.
What matters now:
- Product demos tailored to use cases
- Case studies and social proof aligned with the buyer’s industry
- Clear pricing and return-on-investment discussions
Prospects here are often sales qualified leads and active opportunities within your CRM.
4. Post-Purchase and Delight Stage
After the deal closes, the journey continues. A core principle often highlighted in Hubspot content is that delighted customers become promoters and referral sources.
Important focus areas:
- Onboarding support and training
- Customer success check-ins and Q&A sessions
- Upsell and cross-sell opportunities based on real value delivered
Tracking this stage ensures your funnel does not end at “closed-won” but loops back into advocacy.
Aligning the Sales Funnel with Hubspot Journey Stages
Once you understand the journey, the next step is to align your internal funnel with these stages. The original Hubspot article emphasizes defining clear entry and exit criteria for each step so leads move based on objective signals, not guesswork.
Define Funnel Stages with Clear Criteria
Typical funnel stages might include:
- Subscriber or new lead
- Marketing qualified lead (MQL)
- Sales accepted lead (SAL)
- Sales qualified lead (SQL) or opportunity
- Closed-won / closed-lost
For each stage, define rules such as:
- Specific actions taken (downloads, demo requests, replies)
- Firmographic or demographic fit
- Engagement thresholds (email opens, website visits)
Map Content and Touchpoints to Each Stage
A common Hubspot-style best practice is to pair every stage with relevant content and sales touchpoints.
- Awareness: blog posts, checklists, educational videos
- Consideration: ebooks, webinars, solution comparisons
- Decision: demos, case studies, trial offers, ROI calculators
- Post-purchase: onboarding guides, training sessions, customer webinars
This mapping prevents gaps where leads stall because they lack information or direction.
Step-by-Step: How to Map Your Own Hubspot-Style Journey
Use the following steps, inspired by the Hubspot article, to design or refine your own journey and funnel.
Step 1: List Your Buyer Actions
Write down what prospects actually do from first touch to renewal. Include actions like reading a blog post, requesting a demo, or attending a webinar.
Step 2: Group Actions into Stages
Place each action into awareness, consideration, decision, or post-purchase. Adjust labels if your sales cycle is more complex, but keep the buyer’s perspective central.
Step 3: Define Internal Funnel Stages
Create internal stages that align with your CRM process. Many companies follow a pattern compatible with Hubspot: lead, MQL, SQL, opportunity, and customer.
Step 4: Align Content, Offers, and Metrics
For each stage, answer:
- What questions does the buyer have right now?
- What content or offer best addresses those questions?
- What metric shows they are ready to move forward?
Use these answers to design nurturing workflows and sales playbooks.
Step 5: Iterate Based on Data
Monitor conversion rates between stages. If you see major drop-offs, analyze whether your content, timing, or qualification rules are misaligned with the buyer’s real journey.
Using External Resources to Deepen Your Hubspot Knowledge
To explore the original thinking behind these concepts, you can review the source article on the HubSpot blog here: Customer Journey vs. Sales Funnel. For additional strategic and implementation guidance on CRM, funnel design, and revenue operations, you can also consult specialized partners such as Consultevo.
Bringing a Hubspot-Inspired Journey to Your Sales Team
When you connect the customer journey with a disciplined sales funnel, your team gains clarity and focus. Borrowing frameworks from Hubspot-aligned content helps you think from the buyer’s perspective while keeping your internal process structured and measurable.
By mapping stages, defining objective criteria, and supplying the right content and touchpoints, you turn a confusing path into a predictable system that guides prospects from awareness to advocacy.
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