How to Build a Customer Health Score in HubSpot
[Last updated: Nov 19, 2024]
Are your customers at risk of churning without you even knowing it?
Imagine having an early warning system that could predict customer renewals with remarkable accuracy.
That's exactly what a well-designed health score can do for your Customer Success team.
HubSpot, one of the leading CRM platforms, offers powerful tools to build this predictive engine—but most teams aren't using them to their full potential.
When configured correctly, these health scores become your crystal ball for customer relationships, automatically flagging at-risk accounts before they even think about leaving.
💡According to McKinsey's 2023 study, companies implementing effective health scoring systems saved 25% of their planned budget through improved customer retention.
Here's your step-by-step guide to building a health scoring system in HubSpot that will transform how you manage renewals and prevent churn:
What Are Health Scores?
First, let’s review the basics.
A health score is a metric that reflects the vitality of a customer account.
It’s based on different data points such as:
product usage,
communication frequency,
support ticket volume,
and customer sentiment.
💡Harvard Business Review found that a 5% increase in customer retention rates can increase profits by 25% to 95%.
Using these scores can help you identify accounts that need attention. And this, in return, helps you prevent churn and drive growth.
How Complex Is It?
If you decide to implement a health scoring system, you might wonder:
Should it be complex with tons of data?
Or just simple and easy to handle?
A detailed system gives you more insights.
However, it will require significant time and resources to develop and maintain.
The best approach is to keep it simple at first—sacrificing some granularity for more agility.
Key Components of a Health Scoring System
Product Usage Score
This is about how often and how deeply customers interact with your product.
It focuses on the key elements of product engagement.
💡Studies show that actively engaged customers are 23% more likely to renew their subscriptions and spend 19% more than less engaged customers.
Learn more about optimizing product engagement in my guide on CS Product Teamwork Tips.
Support Score
This metric shows the level of issues a customer is facing.
It starts with a perfect score and then decreases with each open support ticket.
Communication Score
This is based on factors like:
Frequency: e.g. number of touchpoints per month
Responsiveness: reply rate, response time, etc.
Levels of communication: e.g. interactions with multiple stakeholders.
Effective communication is key for health scoring. Discover proven approaches in my Customer Engagement Tactics guide.
Sentiment Score
This one is more nuanced and gives you a qualitative measure of customer satisfaction.
It’s a combination of customer feedback and your perception.
For measuring customer satisfaction effectively, explore my comprehensive review of Best Customer Feedback Platforms.
Advocacy Score
Here, it’s about how great (or bad) a customer promotes your products or services.
The goal is to measure the impact of referrals and testimonials.
Using Health Scores in Your Renewal Process
Health scores serve as early warning systems for renewal risks.
💡Companies using automated health score workflows see a 15% increase in renewal rates compared to those using manual processes.
Here's how to leverage them:
Renewal Pipeline Integration
Create a dedicated renewal pipeline in HubSpot with stages like:
6-12 months out (Assessment Phase)
3-6 months out (Engagement Phase)
1-3 months out (Negotiation Phase)
1 month out (Critical Phase)
Renewed/Churned (Closed Phase)
Automated Workflow Triggers
Set up workflows based on health score thresholds:
High Health Score (80-100): Automated renewal process
Medium Health Score (60-79): Early renewal discussions
Low Health Score (<60): Immediate CS intervention
Different customer segments may require different renewal approaches. Learn more in my guide to Enterprise vs SMB Customer Success.
Also, check out my detailed Net Revenue Retention Guide to understand how health scores impact revenue.
Want to implement this in your HubSpot account right now?
In the next section below, I show you the exact steps to:
Set up custom objects that track the right metrics
Create automated workflows that trigger at the perfect time
Configure health score thresholds that predict renewal risks
Build dashboards that showcase renewal health at a glance
Plus, you'll get detailed instructions for connecting your health scoring system directly to your renewal process—making renewals practically run on autopilot.
👉 Upgrade now to get the complete implementation guide, including:
Step-by-step HubSpot configuration instructions
Ready-to-use workflow templates
Proven scoring thresholds
Dashboard setup guides
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🔒Implementing a Health Scoring System in HubSpot
Now that we covered the basics, let’s see how you can build a health scoring system in HubSpot in 5 easy steps:
P.S. Before diving into the technical setup, you might want to review my analysis of Is HubSpot Worth It for Growing Startups
Step 1: Set Up Custom Objects & Pipelines
In HubSpot, you need to:
…