TL;DR
This is the 30-question checklist I run on day one of every new engagement. Four layers — data, automation, tools, reporting. Two to three hours of work, run honestly, surfaces roughly 80% of what is quietly costing you pipeline or budget.
It is intentionally not a vendor scorecard. The questions are platform-agnostic and work the same whether your stack is HubSpot, Salesforce, or a Frankenstein of both.
Print it. Send it to your ops lead. Or run it with me in a 30-minute call.
How to use this checklist
Read each question and answer honestly — not aspirationally. The point is to surface the gap between what you think your stack does and what it actually does. A no is more useful than a yes, because a no tells you where to look next.
If you cannot answer a question without checking with someone, that is a finding in itself. The questions you cannot answer are usually the most expensive ones.
Section 1: Data (8 questions)
- Is your CRM the single source of truth for customer data?
- How many duplicate contacts exist? (Check: HubSpot > Contacts > Manage duplicates)
- Are lifecycle stages defined and consistently applied?
- Is lead source tracked for every contact?
- Do you have a UTM convention? Is it documented?
- Can you trace a lead from first touch to closed deal?
- How old is your oldest unengaged contact? (If >2 years, you have data hygiene issues)
- Are custom properties documented or is it tribal knowledge?
Section 2: Automation (7 questions)
- How many active workflows do you have?
- When was the last time someone reviewed them?
- Do you have zombie workflows (active but no longer relevant)?
- Is your MQL-to-SQL handoff automated?
- Do sales get notified when a high-value lead takes action?
- Are your email sequences up to date?
- Do you have re-engagement workflows for stale leads?
Section 3: Tools (8 questions)
- List every tool marketing pays for (include forgotten subscriptions)
- Which tools have <50% monthly active users?
- Which tools duplicate features already in your CRM?
- What is your total monthly MarTech spend?
- What is the cost per marketing employee?
- Are all tools integrated or do you have data silos?
- Who owns each tool? Is there a single admin?
- When did you last renegotiate a contract?
Section 4: Reporting (7 questions)
- Can your CEO see pipeline performance in real-time?
- Do you have a weekly marketing dashboard?
- Is attribution set up and trusted by both marketing and sales?
- Can you calculate CAC by channel?
- Do you report on revenue, not just MQLs?
- Are reports automated or manually built each week?
- When was the last time you validated your data accuracy?
How to score yourself
Quick scoring guide
- 25-30 yes: Your stack is in good shape. Focus on optimization and the few specific gaps you flagged.
- 18-24 yes: Solid foundation with real issues. Pick the three highest-impact nos and fix them this quarter.
- 10-17 yes: You have a stack but it is not running as a system. Plan a structured 60-90 day rebuild.
- Under 10 yes: Stop adding tools. Start with data hygiene and lifecycle stages before you do anything else.
What I look at first when a client runs this
If I am running this with a new client, the answers I weight most heavily are the ones in Section 1 (data) and the last question in Section 3 (contract timing). Bad data invalidates every downstream answer. And tools renewing on autopilot are where the easiest budget wins hide.
The questions I ignore on the first pass: anything that sounds aspirational (do you have a single source of truth?) until I have seen the actual CRM. People say yes to those questions reflexively. The real answer is in the data.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a MarTech review?+
A MarTech review is a structured assessment of your marketing technology stack across four layers: data, automation, tools, and reporting. The goal is to identify zombie tools, broken handoffs, and untracked workflows that are quietly costing you money or pipeline. A good review takes 2-3 hours and surfaces the 20% of issues that drive 80% of marketing operations friction.
How long does a MarTech review take?+
The first pass with this 30-question checklist takes 2-3 hours if you have the data and admin access ready. The full review including stakeholder interviews, tool-by-tool usage data, and a written recommendation typically takes 5-10 business days.
How often should I review my MarTech stack?+
Annually at minimum, and any time you experience a budget event (a cut, a raise, a renewal cycle) or a team event (new VP, new CMO, restructure). The fastest way to lose money in marketing is to renew every tool on autopilot without asking who actually uses it.
What is the difference between a MarTech review and a marketing operations review?+
A MarTech review focuses on the tools, integrations, and data layer. A marketing operations review extends to process, people, and reporting cadence. The MarTech review is a subset. Most teams need both, but the MarTech review is the right starting point because tooling issues block process improvements.
Who should run a MarTech review?+
Ideally a marketing operations lead or a fractional consultant with admin access to your CRM, marketing automation, and analytics tools. The CFO and VP of Sales should be interview stakeholders, since they're the ones absorbing the cost of tools nobody uses and the impact of attribution that doesn't work.
What are the most common MarTech issues this checklist surfaces?+
In order of frequency: duplicate contacts and bad data hygiene, zombie workflows that fire without anyone noticing, tools with under 50% monthly active users, attribution that nobody trusts, and a CRM that isn't the single source of truth. These five issues show up in roughly 8 out of 10 reviews.
.jpg?width=72&height=72&name=Shani%20Headshots-7710%20(1).jpg)