SOP | Deal Record Notes & Communication

Who is this SOP for?

This SOP is to help guide all team members on the proper way to use deal record notes and communicate deal/sales progress in HubSpot.

Related: SOP: Deal Creation

How do I communicate sales updates in our CRM?

Deal records are used to manage individual sales activity; and just like collaboration and communication in Teamwork, there are unique requirements for ensuring the necessary status updates are logged and adequate support is received.

While standard information about a deal is located in properties (such as Deal Name or Engagement Type) or in the associated objects, internal communication on deals typically takes place in Notes.

Required Watch: Always leave a note 👀

When should I leave a Note on the deal record, and who should I tag in the Note?

Deal Owners and reps should leave a note on the deal record when…

A deal is exciting, complex, or otherwise requires a unique service approach.	Tag @ the appropriate Regional Director/sales rep to alert of the unique opportunity. Tag @ Production SME(s) who may need to provide an opinion or support on whether S2 is able to take on the requested work.
An upsell or cross-sell (i.e. Exisiting Business) deal is identified	Tag @ your manager or the appropriate Regional Director/sales rep to alert of the upsell or cross-sell opportunity. Tag @ Production SME(s) who may be required to develop the scope of work. Tag @ AM if the upsell or cross-sell is created by a non Client Services team member.
The lead or client has provided feedback or asked questions that require specific follow-up	Tag @ Production SME(s) & appropriate Regional Director for any inquiries related to service capability or solution approach. Tag @ the appropriate Regional Director/sales rep for any proposal, contract or terms inquiries. Tag @ your manager for any account assignment inquiries.
The deal is in Send Contract or Contact Out and has stalled	Tag @ your manager or the appropriate Regional Director/sales rep (if the deal is an Existing Business opportunity) to discuss possible outreach or engagement tactics.
The ‘Close Date’ changes, especially if it moves to next month	Tag @ your manager to notify of the new forecasted close date with reason why the date has changed. Tag @ your manager if the deal is an Existing Business opportunity or if the deal is in Contract Out.
The ‘Closed Won Probability’ changes, especially if it downgrades to Maybe	Tag @ your manager to notify of the new forecasted likelihood with the reason why the probability has changed. Tag @ your manager if the deal is an Existing Business opportunity or if the deal is in Contract Out.
The deal moves to Closed Won	Attach the PDF download of the executed agreement as a note on the deal record and pin it, then complete the Client Brief (Closed Won) playbook.
The deal moves to Closed Lost	Tag @ your manager and the appropriate Regional Director/sales rep (if the deal was an Existing Business opportunity) to clarify or provide more context on the Closed Lost Reason.

Or leave a note just because!

In addition to creating communication threads, Notes can be used for - well - general note taking! It is often necessary to jot down all thoughts or takeaways from both external and internal sales meetings or to track helpful scoping links like Google Docs and Airtables. In these cases, there is no need to tag any other team members other than those you think are necessary for visibility.

💬 Most S2 clients should have their company record in the CRM connected with the related client Slack channel. If so, Notes logged and associated with the company record in the CRM will also appear in the Slack channel.

Example HubSpot notification in Slack.

How do I leave a Note on a deal record?

CREATE A NOTE

There are two ways to immediately create a note in HubSpot.

Use the quick action icons in the top left under the primary deal information.
Or navigate to ‘Notes’ in the center pane and click ‘Create Note’ (blue button).

Either action will open a mini window in the bottom of your screen to write your note.

USE A SALES PLAYBOOK

Sales Playbooks in HubSpot offer a standardized approach to note-taking in the CRM and include guided prompts. Some fields may trigger property updates and some offer a space to write open text that then gets logged as a Note on the associated deal record.

Example Sales Playbook.

Use the available Sales Playbooks to log a Note during/following a sales call or in support of the sales-to-service handoff. The ‘Intro Call’ Playbook is helpful for documenting call notes and outcomes; and the ‘Client Brief (Closed Won)’ Playbook provides a useful outline for documenting information and insights related to engagement objectives and client LTV.