Stop deals reaching Closed Won without what you need
Line items, a contact, a company, the fields finance needs. What HubSpot can enforce, where it stops, and where Liney helps.
The short version
- Fields (amount, close date, closed won reason): HubSpot can block the stage change in HubSpot itself until they're filled.
- A contact and a company: HubSpot can require them when a deal is created, but not as a condition for moving to a stage.
- Line items: HubSpot has no setting that blocks a close without them. A workflow can catch it, and on Sales Hub Enterprise an approval step can stop it.
- Liney asks reps for the required fields while they log the deal, so they fill them in instead of running into the block. It doesn't check line items or associations yet.
First: don't add a “did you do it?” checkbox
A common fix is a yes/no property like “Line items added” that the rep ticks before closing. It's a soft block: anyone can tick it without doing the work, and it's one more field to fill in.
HubSpot already knows whether a deal has line items, contacts and a company. Every deal has Number of Associated Line Items, Number of Associated Contacts and Primary Associated Company. Build your checks on those, not on what a rep says happened.
It also helps to decide what is truly “this deal can't close without it” and what is “we normally want this, but there are good exceptions”. Hard-block the first kind. For the second, use an approval or a reminder.
1. Require fields at the stage
This is a real block for anyone moving the deal in HubSpot itself, not a reminder.
- In HubSpot, open your deal pipeline settings and choose the pipeline.
- On the Closed Won stage, add conditional stage properties: the fields a deal needs to enter that stage.
- Tick Required on each one.
HubSpot then won't let anyone move a deal into Closed Won in HubSpot itself until those fields have values. Workflows and imports can still get past it. HubSpot's steps: Set up and manage object pipelines.
This covers fields a person fills in. It doesn't check line items or associated contacts and companies.
2. Require a contact and a company
On Starter and up, HubSpot can make an association required on the create deal form, so every deal created in HubSpot starts with a contact and a company. HubSpot's steps: Customize the create form for each object. It can't require one before a stage change.
For deals that already exist, or that lose their company later, use the workflow check in the next step with Number of Associated Contacts is 0, or Primary Associated Company is unknown.
3. Line items: the one HubSpot can't block
Option A: a workflow that puts the deal back (Professional and up)
- Create a deal workflow. Enroll deals when Deal stage is Closed Won and Number of Associated Line Items is less than 1 or unknown.
- Set the deal stage back to the stage before it, for example Contract Sent.
- Create a task for the deal owner: “Add line items before closing.” Or send them a notification.
- Turn on re-enrollment, so it catches the same deal again next time.
This is automatic, so nobody can tick their way past it. But it corrects the deal after the move rather than stopping it, so the deal is briefly Closed Won. Keep that in mind if something (a report, a notification, another workflow) fires the moment a deal closes.
Option B: an approval step (Sales Hub Enterprise)
HubSpot's pipeline rules include an approval process for deals: a rep requests approval, and a manager checks the deal, line items included, before it moves on. Pair it with Restrict skipping stages so reps can't jump past the approval stage. This suits the “normally required, with good exceptions” cases, since the approver can let one through. HubSpot's steps: Set up rules for object pipelines.
All pipeline rules need a Professional or Enterprise subscription, and approvals need Sales Hub Enterprise. Nobody can bypass an approval, but the other rules (restricting skipped stages, moves backwards, who can edit deals in a stage) can be bypassed by Super Admins, workflows and the API.
Where Liney fits
Blocks stop bad data, but they don't stop the reason fields get skipped: updating HubSpot after every call, email and meeting is a chore. A rep who hits a wall of required fields at the end of the day is the one who ticks the checkbox.
With Liney, the rep types one line, like “Acme signed, 42k, closed won.” Liney shows the deal, the stage change and every field it will write. If Closed Won needs a field that's still empty, Liney asks for it right there. Nothing is written until it's filled and the rep presses Update HubSpot.
Required fields Liney asks for
- HubSpot's own. The conditional stage properties from step 1. The first time HubSpot turns down a write for a missing field, Liney learns that field and asks for it on every line that moves a deal into that stage. HubSpot names one missing field at a time, so each field is learned on its own.
- Your own, set in Liney. A team admin can require more without changing HubSpot. Useful for the “we want this, but don't block the board” fields, like Next step.
To require a field in Liney (team admins only):
- Open Rules and choose Edit required fields.
- With Deals picked, choose + Require a deal field.
- Pick the field and at Closed Won (or any stage), then Add and Save.
Reps see these fields locked and can't remove them. The Contacts and Companies tabs work the same way: a field you require there is asked for whenever a line creates or changes that contact or company. More in Get reps to fill in required fields without chasing them.
HubSpot's required stage fields and the rep's own HubSpot permissions apply to every write Liney makes, because Liney acts as the rep. HubSpot's pipeline rules, like restricting skipped stages, don't apply to changes made through its API, so they don't hold back Liney either.
What Liney doesn't do (yet)
- It doesn't check line items, contacts or companies before a deal closes. Use steps 2 and 3 for those.
- Its own required fields apply to what reps write through Liney. They don't stop someone moving a deal on the HubSpot board. Keep your hard blocks in HubSpot.
A setup that holds
- Conditional stage properties on Closed Won for the fields you can't close without.
- Required contact and company when a deal is created.
- The line item workflow, or an approval step on Sales Hub Enterprise.
- Liney, so reps are asked for the missing pieces while they log the deal, not when they're already blocked.