In any sales pipeline, it is not simply the number of deals that matters. What matters more is how those deals are progressing. HubSpot’s Time in Stage metric provides visibility into this by showing exactly how long each deal has remained in its current stage. This is an important tool for identifying bottlenecks and for focusing attention where it is most needed.
By default, Time in Stage is not displayed on the main Deals board, but it can be added through the column settings or through custom reporting. Once visible, it helps distinguish between deals that are active and moving forward, and those that have stalled without action. This distinction is often overlooked when only value and close date are considered.
For example, a deal that has sat in the “Qualified to Buy” stage for 18 days without any activity is in a very different state than one that just entered that stage yesterday after a strong discovery call. Without visibility into time, the pipeline can appear fuller than it truly is, which leads to unreliable forecasting and poor prioritization.
To put this into practice:
- Open the Deals section and switch to Board view.
- Click Edit Columns and add the Time in Stage field to your view.
- Create saved views that show deals that have remained in a stage beyond a specific threshold, such as 10 or 15 days.
- Set up internal notifications or task creation for deals that reach those thresholds without recent engagement.
Used consistently, Time in Stage brings discipline to the pipeline. It gives sales leaders a way to surface quiet risk and guide reps toward the next best action. It also enables a more realistic understanding of pipeline health by showing not just how many deals exist, but how alive they really are.
Summary Tip: Apply simple deal-management tips within HubSpot to maintain visibility and advance opportunities efficiently.