What happens to your chapter, stage by stage

Each stage has a clear owner, a clear finish line, and a clear next step.

Read this before you start. If you feel stuck part way through, come back here.

Three of the five stages are ours, not yours. Your jobs are the first one and the last one. The rest is the Edge8 Team working, and telling you when it needs you.

What are you actually uploading?

Your existing list of people, as a spreadsheet. Ideally in the same format as our template, which you can download from the upload card in the portal.

We call those records prospects. A prospect is one person you want in HubSpot. You do not have to rename anything or add columns to make that true.

You may hear the word deal later. A deal is one person's application as it moves through the joining steps. The last three columns of our template are for those: fill them in for anyone already partway through joining, and leave them blank for everyone else. The FAQ goes into more detail.

When is your turn?

Chapters do not all start at once. You are put in a wave, which is a group of chapters that start together, and each wave has its own start date.

EO tells you your wave and your date. The portal does not show them. So do not go looking for a countdown in here. If you are not sure when your wave starts, ask EO.

Stage 1. What do you send us, and how?

You do this. It ends when your file is in the portal.

Upload your current list to the Portal as a CSV or an Excel file. There is a template to start from: use the Download template button on the upload card, and send your data in that format wherever you can.

The portal checks the file as soon as it arrives and emails you a confirmation. You can upload as many files as you need, one at a time, so you can send your data in batches.

Stage 2. What happens to your file after you upload it?

The Edge8 Team does this. It ends when your data is ready to review.

We reshape what you sent into the shape HubSpot needs, and we look for the things that go wrong in real lists: the same person entered twice, an email address that cannot be delivered to, or a row missing something we have to have.

We come back to you about anything we cannot decide on our own.

Stage 3. What happens on the review call?

You and the Edge8/EO Global Team do this together. It ends once the call has happened and we have written up what you decided.

A 15 minute call. We confirm the details, go through anything we flagged, and answer your questions.

Nothing is imported before this call. It is the last step where you can change your mind cheaply.

Stage 4. How does your data get into HubSpot?

The Edge8 Team does this. It ends when your records are in the global HubSpot.

We import what you signed off, and we fill in the standard EO fields as we go. Those fields are what the rest of EO uses to find and report on your people. Each one has its own page if you want the detail: Lifecycle Stage, Lead Status, Current Status and Primary Interest.

If anything fails to import, we fix it before the stage closes.

What are the training sessions?

There are two, and EO runs them. They are about using HubSpot day to day, so they are worth your time whoever attends.

EO invites you to both. This portal never emails you about training. It only records whether each session is done, so everyone can see where your chapter is up to.

Both sessions need to be complete before your chapter goes live. That is a real gate, not a nudge.

Stage 5. What changes when you go live?

You do this. It ends with your chapter working in HubSpot.

Your people get their welcome email. HubSpot's automations start running. Your old spreadsheet becomes the archive copy rather than the real one.

The portal shows Go Live, and you are done.

What if something is not finished in time?

Two things can happen, and neither is a problem you have to solve alone.

Your rollout can be put on hold. If your chapter is waiting on something, EO pauses you rather than pushing you through. Nothing you have already sent is lost, and you keep your place. EO tells you what it is waiting for.

Or EO can let you go live anyway. If a chapter is ready in every way that matters but one box is not ticked, an EO or Edge8 admin can record an exception and let the go live happen. An exception always carries a written reason, and it is recorded permanently. It is a deliberate decision by a person, not a way around the checks.

How long does the whole thing take?

Your wave date sets the clock, not your paperwork. The stages themselves are quick. Most of the waiting is between them, while your wave gets to its turn.

Once your wave starts, the parts that depend on you are short. Uploading takes minutes. The review call is 15 minutes. The rest is our work, plus the two training sessions EO runs.

The most common thing that slows a chapter down is finding a time for the review call, so book it as soon as you can.

Where do you go next?

• FAQ. The questions chapters ask most often while they are going through this.
• Lifecycle Stage. The main HubSpot field we set for you in Stage 4.