Contents
Sales teams thrive on data to drive personalized outreach, qualify leads, and build meaningful relationships with prospects. In many cases, this data includes sensitive information like financial details, demographics, and even health-related data for industries like finance or insurance. While this data is incredibly valuable for sales efforts, it must be handled securely to protect customer privacy and comply with regulations like GDPR and HIPAA.
HubSpot’s sensitive data management features give sales teams the ability to use customer data to drive results while ensuring that it’s protected and stored securely. In this guide, we’ll explore how sales professionals can leverage HubSpot’s sensitive data tools to build stronger relationships with leads, create personalized sales strategies, and close more deals—all while staying compliant with data protection regulations.
What is Sensitive Data in HubSpot?
Sensitive data refers to any personal information that, if exposed, could harm an individual’s privacy or security. This includes both personally identifiable information (PII) and other types of data that are legally protected or confidential.
In HubSpot, sensitive data might include:
- Demographic data: Age, gender, ethnicity, and location.
- Financial data: Salary, income, or transaction history.
- Health information: Medical history, treatment details, or health insurance information.
- Contact information: Phone numbers, addresses, and email addresses (especially when paired with other sensitive information).
- Government-issued IDs: Passport numbers, Social Security numbers, and other forms of identification.
Sales teams can use this data to better understand their audience and tailor their outreach—but it must be handled with care, following strict security and compliance protocols.
How HubSpot Helps Sales Teams Use Sensitive Data Securely
HubSpot’s sensitive data management tools provide a secure environment for storing and using sensitive customer data. These features allow sales teams to utilize critical information to personalize sales outreach and improve lead qualification, all while ensuring that the data is handled safely and in compliance with regulations.
Here’s how sales teams can use sensitive data in HubSpot:
1. Enable Sensitive Data Settings in HubSpot
Before sales teams can start using sensitive data in HubSpot, Super Admins must enable the sensitive data settings in the platform’s Privacy & Consent settings. Once activated, sensitive data properties are protected by an extra layer of encryption, ensuring that the information is secure from unauthorized access.
Sensitive data properties will also be restricted to authorized users, allowing sales teams to use this data to build personalized sales strategies without compromising security.
2. Use Field-Level Permissions to Control Data Access
Not every sales rep needs access to every piece of sensitive data. HubSpot’s field-level permissions feature allows administrators to control who can access, view, or edit sensitive data. This ensures that sensitive information like income levels or medical details is only accessible to team members who need it to perform their job.
For example:
- Sales managers can grant access to financial data, like a prospect’s budget or income, to reps working on high-value deals.
- Customer support staff might have access to basic contact details but not sensitive financial or demographic data.
By controlling access to sensitive information, sales teams can operate securely while using this data to create more relevant sales strategies.
How Sales Teams Can Leverage Sensitive Data to Improve Results
Sensitive data can be a game-changer for sales teams, allowing them to personalize their outreach and target prospects with precision. Here are a few ways that sales teams can use sensitive data within HubSpot to close more deals:
1. Qualify Leads More Effectively
One of the most valuable uses of sensitive data in sales is lead qualification. By using sensitive data like income levels, demographics, or industry information, sales reps can quickly identify high-value leads that are more likely to convert.
For example:
- Income data: If your sales team is selling premium products or services, knowing a prospect’s income level can help you target those who are most likely to afford your offer.
- Demographic data: If your product is targeted at a specific age group or demographic, you can use this information to focus on leads who match your ideal customer profile.
- Industry information: For B2B sales, sensitive data like company size or revenue can help sales teams prioritize leads from businesses that are more likely to benefit from your solution.
By using sensitive data to qualify leads, sales reps can focus their efforts on the prospects who are most likely to convert, improving efficiency and closing more deals.
2. Personalize Sales Outreach
In today’s competitive market, generic outreach simply doesn’t work. Sales teams need to craft highly personalized messages to capture the attention of their prospects. Sensitive data gives sales reps the insights they need to create tailored outreach that resonates with each lead.
For instance:
- Financial services: A sales rep working in the finance industry might use income and credit score data to offer personalized loan options or financial advice that fits the prospect’s unique situation.
- Healthcare and insurance: Sales reps in the health insurance industry can use medical history or insurance claims data to offer tailored policy options or health plans that meet the prospect’s specific needs.
- Real estate: For real estate sales, knowing a prospect’s income, family size, and location preferences can help agents offer more relevant property listings.
Using sensitive data to personalize sales outreach helps build stronger relationships with leads and improves the chances of converting them into customers.
3. Build Dynamic Lists for Targeted Campaigns
HubSpot’s dynamic lists allow sales teams to automatically segment their prospects based on sensitive data, ensuring that each group receives tailored messaging and follow-up.
For example:
- Sales reps can create a dynamic list of leads who meet specific criteria, such as a minimum income threshold or those located in a particular region. This allows them to target specific groups with more relevant offers or promotions.
- Lists can be automatically updated based on changes in a prospect’s data, such as age or financial status. This ensures that your outreach remains relevant and timely, increasing the likelihood of a conversion.
Dynamic lists powered by sensitive data ensure that your sales efforts are always targeted and focused on the right prospects.
4. Use Workflows to Automate Follow-Up
HubSpot’s workflow automation tools can help sales teams streamline their follow-up process by automating outreach based on sensitive data triggers. For example:
- Financial triggers: If a prospect’s financial situation changes (such as an increase in income or a new investment), a workflow can automatically trigger a follow-up email offering new products or services tailored to their financial status.
- Health-related triggers: In industries like healthcare or insurance, workflows can be set up to send follow-ups when a prospect’s medical status changes or when they reach a milestone that makes them eligible for a new policy.
By using sensitive data to automate follow-ups, sales teams can stay on top of their leads without missing opportunities, ensuring that the right message reaches the right person at the right time.
Ensuring Compliance with Sensitive Data in Sales
While sensitive data offers valuable insights for sales teams, it’s essential to handle this information carefully to ensure compliance with data protection laws like GDPR, HIPAA, and PCI DSS. Here are some best practices for sales teams to follow:
1. Obtain Explicit Consent
Before using sensitive data, ensure that your organization has obtained explicit consent from the prospect. HubSpot’s GDPR-compliant forms make it easy to collect consent and provide transparency around how sensitive data will be used.
For example, if you’re collecting income data or medical history during the sales process, make sure prospects understand why this data is needed and how it will be protected.
2. Respect Data Subject Rights
Under GDPR, individuals have the right to access, update, or delete their personal data. Sales teams should ensure that prospects can manage their data preferences and request the deletion of their information if needed. HubSpot’s data subject access requests (DSARs) allow you to fulfill these requests efficiently.
3. Secure Sensitive Data with Permissions and Encryption
Sensitive data should always be protected with field-level permissions and encryption to prevent unauthorized access. Ensure that only authorized sales reps have access to sensitive data properties, and that data is encrypted in transit and at rest within HubSpot.
By following these best practices, sales teams can use sensitive data responsibly while staying compliant with data protection regulations.
Conclusion: Using HubSpot’s Sensitive Data Features to Drive Sales Success
For sales teams, sensitive data offers valuable insights that can be used to qualify leads, personalize outreach, and close more deals. HubSpot’s sensitive data management features provide a secure environment for storing and using sensitive information, while ensuring compliance with data privacy regulations.
By leveraging sensitive data responsibly, sales professionals can create highly personalized sales strategies that resonate with prospects and drive results—ultimately helping to close more deals and grow the business.
Interested in learning more? Get our ebook here - click to download, no email necessary
