Which signals to use and suggested property names
Keep the score to a few easy-to-measure signals so a small team can maintain it. A short bullet list works well here:
- Source (property: contact_source) — trusted sources get points (manual entry by staff, phone lead, booked demo). Forms, scraped or third-party imports get fewer.
- Completeness (property: contact_completeness or a % field) — count the key fields filled (email, phone, postcode, business name) and convert to a simple %.
- Duplicate check (property: is_duplicate boolean or use HubSpot duplicate tool flag) — duplicates should heavily reduce trust.
- Recent verification (property: last_verified_date) — a verification within 90 days adds weight.
- Owner assigned (property: hubspot_owner_id) — assigned records are easier to trust; unassigned ones get a small penalty.
Choose one primary score property: either trust_score (number 0–100) or trust_level (Low / Medium / High). For most small teams a single numeric property that you bucket later is easiest to automate.
A simple scoring formula and how to build it in an afternoon
Example formula (easy to implement as HubSpot workflow actions or a spreadsheet sync): start at 0, add points then clamp 0–100:
- Source: trusted source +30, other +10
- Completeness: >70% +30, 40–70% +10, <40% +0
- Duplicate: if duplicate -40
- Recent verification (within 90 days): +20
- Owner assigned: +10
Total the points and save to trust_score. Then map to buckets: 0–39 = Low, 40–69 = Medium, 70–100 = High. That gives a clear single property you can reference in workflows.
Implementing quickly: use HubSpot if/then branch workflows that check each signal and set or adjust the numeric property. If you prefer a spreadsheet route, export the fields, apply the formula in a sheet, re-import or sync the result back to HubSpot for the first pass—this is often faster for small teams to validate before automating.
Where to use the score, remediation and monitoring
Use sensible thresholds for common automations: prevent bulk marketing sends to Low; let sales handoffs trigger for Medium+High; require High for invoicing or contract emails. Add a workflow condition at the start of each automation: if trust_level is Low then stop or add to a remediation list.
Assign owners and run a weekly clean-up: create a dynamic list of Low trust records and assign an owner or small team to verify (phone check, update postcode, merge duplicates). Keep a short weekly routine: review the list, update last_verified_date, merge or archive duplicates and bump trust_score where fixed.
Monitor basic health with three simple metrics: counts of Low/Medium/High, weekly change, and the top 5 sources producing Low records. Keep a rollback plan: stop automations by toggling the initial trust check, snapshot the trust_score column before sweeping changes, and use an import to revert values if a workflow misfires. If you want a short afternoon workshop to get this set up and hand the routine to your team, Optira can help run it practically and without extra fuss.