1.
Explore: Understanding the Buyer’s Context
Instructor: Pete Caputa
Inbound Sales Certification
Brought to you by HubSpot Academy
CLASS 04

2.
1WHAT IS THE
EXPLORATORY PHASE?

3.
THE EXPLORATORY PHASE
The part where you truly learn how you can best help your prospects.
It’s how you can open your prospects eyes to a better world.

4.
1. The right approach
2. The right outcome
3. The right thing for the prospect
THE EXPLORATORY PROCESS

5.
1. The right approach
2. The right outcome
3. The right thing for the prospect
THE EXPLORATORY PROCESS

6.
EXPLORE
Transition into exploratory
mode instead of pitch
mode when a buyer
expresses interest
INBOUND
vs.
Transition right into
presentation mode as soon
as a buyer expresses an
amount of interest or need
LEGACY

7.
These un-customized pitches make legacy
salespeople more interested in making a
sale than finding out if they can solve the
prospect’s problems.

8.
EXPLORE
Transition into exploratory
mode instead of pitch
mode when a buyer
expresses interest
INBOUND
vs.
Transition right into
presentation mode as soon
as a buyer expresses an
amount of interest or need
LEGACY

9.
1. The right approach
2. The right outcome
3. The right thing for the prospect
THE EXPLORATORY PROCESS

10.
Inbound salespeople can assess whether they
can help the buyer much more efficiently and
more thoroughly than a buyer can themselves.

11.
Inbound salespeople
know their company’s
best practices
and case studies
inside and out.
They know how their company has
helped many companies similar
to the ones they’re calling.

12.
1. The right approach
2. The right outcome
3. The right thing for the prospect
THE EXPLORATORY PROCESS

13.
In the age of the empowered buyer,
inbound salespeople know
that it’s critical to be honest
with prospects about the
suitability of their
product or service.

14.
EXPLORE
Figure out why a prospect
should and shouldn't buy
from them and they are
very willing to walk away if
they can't
INBOUND
vs.
Always eager to move a
prospect to the next stage of
their sale process -
regardless of whether
there’s a fit
LEGACY

15.
EXPLORE
INBOUND
vs.
LEGACY
Always eager to move a
prospect to the next stage of
their sale process -
regardless of whether
there’s a fit
Figure out why a prospect
should and shouldn't buy
from them and they are
very willing to walk away if
they can't

16.
1. Determining a fit and getting buy-in for next steps
2. Determining it will never be a fit
3. Determining it’s not a fit right now
ON ANY EXPLORATORY CALL, THE
FOLLOWING MIGHT HAPPEN:

17.
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18.
2HOW TO EXECUTE
THE EXPLORE STAGE

19.
EXPLORATORY
You’re in control, but your prospect
GUIDE
feels like they are being empowered to
make the right decisions.

20.
1. Build rapport
2. Recap what you learned and shared from previous conversations
3. Set an agenda for the call
4. Focus on their challenges
5. Connect challenges to goals
6. Understand the prospect’s plans
7. Understand timeline and urgency
8. Discuss negative consequences
9. Discuss positive implications
10. Cover authority
11. Confirm budget
12. Getting buy-in and commitment
STEPS FOR AN EXPLORATORY CALL

21.
1. Build rapport
2. Recap what you learned and shared from previous conversations
3. Set an agenda for the call
4. Focus on their challenges
5. Connect challenges to goals
6. Understand the prospect’s plans
7. Understand timeline and urgency
8. Discuss negative consequences
9. Discuss positive implications
10. Cover authority
11. Confirm budget
12. Getting buy-in and commitment
STEPS FOR AN EXPLORATORY CALL

22.
1. Build rapport
2. Recap what you learned and shared from previous conversations
3. Set an agenda for the call
4. Focus on their challenges
5. Connect challenges to goals
6. Understand the prospect’s plans
7. Understand timeline and urgency
8. Discuss negative consequences
9. Discuss positive implications
10. Cover authority
11. Confirm budget
12. Getting buy-in and commitment
STEPS FOR AN EXPLORATORY CALL

23.
“Based on the challenges you’re facing and
your interest in the insights I just shared,
would you like to setup a call to explore how I
might be able to help you?”
“Yes.”
YOU PROSPECT
“Ok. I’ll be prepared to discuss how we’ve
helped other companies with similar
challenges. I’ll provide some ideas that you
might be able to implement immediately. If it
makes sense, we can talk deeper about your
goals, current plans and anything else that
we might be able to help with. Does that
sound like a good agenda?”

24.
“The other day, when we spoke, you shared a few
challenges that you’re frustrated with. You mentioned
that it was preventing you from achieving some
important company goals. Can you expand a bit more
on what you’re dealing with?”
YOU

25.
1. Build rapport
2. Recap what you learned and shared from previous conversations
3. Set an agenda for the call
4. Focus on their challenges
5. Connect challenges to goals
6. Understand the prospect’s plans
7. Understand timeline and urgency
8. Discuss negative consequences
9. Discuss positive implications
10. Cover authority
11. Confirm budget
12. Getting buy-in and commitment
STEPS FOR AN EXPLORATORY CALL

26.
In order to set an agenda,
recapwhat they shared with you.

27.
“We can definitely cover that today.
Before we get too far into that topic, though, I
suggest we set an agenda. I know we booked [XX]
minutes today. Does that still work?”
“Yes.”
YOU PROSPECT
“Typically, a good goal for this call is to really figure out how I can
best help you. I’ve worked with [XX] of companies like yours who
were struggling with the challenge you’ve acknowledged. I can
certainly share some advice based on my previous work with them.
But, I find that everyone is a bit different. So, it usually makes sense
for me to understand much more context about your goals, other
challenges you’ve faced or anticipate facing, any relevant plans you
have in place, as well as timelines and other constraints you might
have. Are you comfortable having that conversation today?”

28.
“Great. I suggest we treat this conversation like a two-
way dialog. I have a bunch of questions for you. I’m
sure you’ll have some questions that I will certainly
answer for you. Then, at the end of the call we can
decide whether it makes sense for us to continue
discussing how we can more formally help you? Does
that sound like a good plan to you?”
“Yes. That sounds
refreshing, actually,
compared to most
salespeople who just
want to talk at me about
how awesome they
are.”
YOU PROSPECT
“Great. Can you start by sharing your goals for
taking this call?”
“Yes.”

29.
1. Build rapport
2. Recap what you learned and shared from previous conversations
3. Set an agenda for the call
4. Focus on their challenges
5. Connect challenges to goals
6. Understand the prospect’s plans
7. Understand timeline and urgency
8. Discuss negative consequences
9. Discuss positive implications
10. Cover authority
11. Confirm budget
12. Getting buy-in and commitment
STEPS FOR AN EXPLORATORY CALL

30.
People generally don’t
make changes unless they
have a challenge that
impedes their progress.

31.
It helps to make a list of all of the challenges
you solve most frequently.
For each of the personas, industries, or roles you sell to, so you can prompt your prospects.

32.
Company: Tyre Recruiting firm
Persona: VP of Sales at a technology company
Challenges:
• Low quality of sales job candidates
• Bandwidth to recruit at the pace the company needed to hit their
revenue goals
EXAMPLE

33.
“Many times, when I’m speaking with a VP Recruiting like
yourself in the tech industry, they have one of a handful of
challenges. It’s often x, but a lot of times it’s y or z too.
Do you ever struggle with any of these things?”
YOU

34.
“When I hear someone say they have x issue,
that often means they are frustrated with y challenge.
How about you?”
YOU

35.
1. Truly listen to the prospect
2. Feed back the content and the feeling of the prospect’s words
3. Confirm you heard the prospect correctly
4. Ask a relevant follow-up question to further clarify your
understanding of their situation
ACTIVE LISTENING PROCESS

36.
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37.
1. Build rapport
2. Recap what you learned and shared from previous conversations
3. Set an agenda for the call
4. Focus on their challenges
5. Connect challenges to goals
6. Understand the prospect’s plans
7. Understand timeline and urgency
8. Discuss negative consequences
9. Discuss positive implications
10. Cover authority
11. Confirm budget
12. Getting buy-in and commitment
STEPS FOR AN EXPLORATORY CALL

38.
“You’ve shared with me that x, y
and z challenges are most
important. What goals are they
preventing you from achieving?”
YOU
“I was speaking with a tech
company like yours the other day
and they mentioned that their goal
was to achieve x. Do you have a
goal that’s similar to that?”
“If you fast forward 1 year from
now and look back, what 1 or 2
goals will you have hoped
you’ve accomplished?”
“I’m wondering how much you
think challenge z is preventing
you from achieving goal z?”

39.
• Make more money
• Save money
• Avoid risk
B2B PRODUCTS AND SERVICES HELP A
COMPANY DO ONE OF THE FOLLOWING:

40.
“How many salespeople do you need and
how many do you think you can hire if you
do nothing differently?”
YOU
“If you lower the bar and hire more B or C
players, how much underperformance
would you expect?”

41.
1. Build rapport
2. Recap what you learned and shared from previous conversations
3. Set an agenda for the call
4. Focus on their challenges
5. Connect challenges to goals
6. Understand the prospect’s plans
7. Understand timeline and urgency
8. Discuss negative consequences
9. Discuss positive implications
10. Cover authority
11. Confirm budget
12. Getting buy-in and commitment
STEPS FOR AN EXPLORATORY CALL

42.
“How have you tried to overcome challenge x? Why didn’t it
work? How do you plan to overcome challenge x?”
YOU
“Sounds like you have some doubt . Would you be open to new
ways of solving your challenges?”
“Are you 100% confident that implementing this plan will help you
achieve your goals?”

43.
“Would you be open to hearing
another way to approach solving
challenge X?”
YOU
“Would it help if I showed you
how other companies
implemented C in order to
eliminate challenge Y?”
“Have you thought about trying to
do B in order to achieve goal Z?”
“Most companies who struggle
with challenge D, find that
solution X eliminates XX% of the
problem. Do you think that would
be an improvement for you?”

44.
1. Build rapport
2. Recap what you learned and shared from previous conversations
3. Set an agenda for the call
4. Focus on their challenges
5. Connect challenges to goals
6. Understand the prospect’s plans
7. Understand timeline and urgency
8. Discuss negative consequences
9. Discuss positive implications
10. Cover authority
11. Confirm budget
12. Getting buy-in and commitment
STEPS FOR AN EXPLORATORY CALL

45.
“When do you need to achieve this goal?”
YOU
“How long are you prepared to deal with this challenge?”

46.
1. Build rapport
2. Recap what you learned and shared from previous conversations
3. Set an agenda for the call
4. Focus on their challenges
5. Connect challenges to goals
6. Understand the prospect’s plans
7. Understand timeline and urgency
8. Discuss negative consequences
9. Discuss positive implications
10. Cover authority
11. Confirm budget
12. Getting buy-in and commitment
STEPS FOR AN EXPLORATORY CALL

47.
Some sellers confuse challenges with consequences.
They are different things.
FLICKR USER WAYNE S. GRAZIO

48.
“If you don’t achieve this goal, what happens to the
company? What happens to you? What happens to others
(your boss, coworkers, or others)?”
YOU
“How important is overcoming this challenge to
your company?”

49.
1. Build rapport
2. Recap what you learned and shared from previous conversations
3. Set an agenda for the call
4. Focus on their challenges
5. Connect challenges to goals
6. Understand the prospect’s plans
7. Understand timeline and urgency
8. Discuss negative consequences
9. Discuss positive implications
10. Cover authority
11. Confirm budget
12. Getting buy-in and commitment
STEPS FOR AN EXPLORATORY CALL

50.
If you can get your prospect thinking
about what they will do next when they
achieve their goal, overcome a
challenge, and/or avoid a
consequence, they’ll start to
visualize what success looks like.

51.
“When you achieve goal X, what will you do next?”
YOU
“When you no longer have to worry about
consequence Y, how will you feel?”
“Who stands to gain the most when this plan works?”

52.
1. Build rapport
2. Recap what you learned and shared from previous conversations
3. Set an agenda for the call
4. Focus on their challenges
5. Connect challenges to goals
6. Understand the prospect’s plans
7. Understand timeline and urgency
8. Discuss negative consequences
9. Discuss positive implications
10. Cover authority
11. Confirm budget
12. Getting buy-in and commitment
STEPS FOR AN EXPLORATORY CALL

53.
The right time to ask about decision-making
processes is later on after you understand
goals, challenges, plans, timelines,
consequences and implications.

54.
“Are you convinced that we can help you better than anyone else?”
YOU
“How have decisions been made like this in the past? Who needs to be
involved in this decision?”
“Usually, when my clients are making this decision, the following people
need to be involved: CFO, VP Sales and the VP Sales Operations. Who
covers those responsibilities for your firm?”
“Do you usually discuss decisions like this with anyone in your family or
other trusted advisors?”

55.
1. Build rapport
2. Recap what you learned and shared from previous conversations
3. Set an agenda for the call
4. Focus on their challenges
5. Connect challenges to goals
6. Understand the prospect’s plans
7. Understand timeline and urgency
8. Discuss negative consequences
9. Discuss positive implications
10. Cover authority
11. Confirm budget
12. Getting buy-in and commitment
STEPS FOR AN EXPLORATORY CALL

56.
You should look at
budget from their
perspective, not
yours.
Consider any costs involved to
execute their plan, not just the
cost of your solution.

57.
Goal conversation: you should have
determined how much money they stand to
gain or save.
Plan conversation: you can determine
the cost of the alternative plans.

58.
“Based on our conversation, it seems like you are spending X
dollars on a solution that’s not helping you get where you
want to go. What did you plan to invest so that you’re 100%
confident that you’ll achieve your goals?”
YOU

59.
Inbound salespeople focus
on guiding and advising
prospects who value
their differentiation.

60.
• Challenges
• Goals
• Plans
• Timeline
• Consequences
• Implications
• Budget
• Authority
FRAMEWORK FOR AN
EXPLORATORY CONVERSATION
CGP
T
CI
BA

61.
• Understanding: It ensures you don’t miss details that are
important in understanding your buyer’s context.
• Effective Communication: It helps you to have a structure
for communicating your prospect’s story back to them,
helping them know that you heard them.
• Advising: The framework helps you position your products
and services as a solution to your buyer’s challenges.
HAVING A FRAMEWORK HELPS
YOU ACCOMPLISH:

62.
• Understanding: It ensures you don’t miss details that are
important in understanding your buyer’s context.
• Effective Communication: It helps you to have a structure
for communicating your prospect’s story back to them,
helping them know that you heard them.
• Advising: The framework helps you position your products
and services as a solution to your buyer’s challenges.
HAVING A FRAMEWORK HELPS
YOU ACCOMPLISH:

63.
When discussed in the correct order,
CGPT, CI and then BA, a salesperson can
understand someone’s entire context.

64.
• Understanding: It ensures you don’t miss details that are
important in understanding your buyer’s context.
• Effective Communication: It helps you to have a structure
for communicating your prospect’s story back to them,
helping them know that you heard them.
• Advising: The framework helps you position your products
and services as a solution to your buyer’s challenges.
HAVING A FRAMEWORK HELPS
YOU ACCOMPLISH:

65.
• Challenges
• Goals
• Plans
• Timeline
ASK YOUR PROSPECT TO REFLECT
ON THEIR:

66.
“Before we wrap up, would it be
ok if I share my understanding of
our conversation today?”
“Yes, that’d be great.”
YOU PROSPECT

67.
“That was an excellent recap. I
appreciate how effectively you
listened during this call and how
you really helped me brainstorm
solutions. I’m really excited for
next steps."
YOU PROSPECT
“As I understand it, your goals are X, Y and Z. Challenge A and B
currently stand in the way of achieving these goals. Your current
plan is to implement A and B. But, you’re worried about
challenge C cropping up as you start to implement plan A.
Additionally, you’ve already tried A and it didn’t work. So, you’re
worried that A and B just won’t get you to your goal.
Today, we discussed a few alternative plans that might be able
to help you get to overcome all of your challenges and achieve
these goals.
Based on our discussion today, you seem confident that this new
plan will get you where you need to go, help you avoid
consequence C and do it all within a timeline and budget that
that will be acceptable to the whole team.
Did I miss anything important?”

68.
Another way to recap the
conversation is to send
an email using the CGPT
framework.
It should say the exact same
thing you said verbally.

69.
• Understanding: It ensures you don’t miss details that are
important in understanding your buyer’s context.
• Effective Communication: It helps you to have a structure
for communicating your prospect’s story back to them,
helping them know that you heard them.
• Advising: The framework helps you position your products
and services as a solution to your buyer’s challenges.
HAVING A FRAMEWORK HELPS
YOU ACCOMPLISH:

70.
1. Build rapport
2. Recap what you learned and shared from previous conversations
3. Set an agenda for the call
4. Focus on their challenges
5. Connect challenges to goals
6. Understand the prospect’s plans
7. Understand timeline and urgency
8. Discuss negative consequences
9. Discuss positive implications
10. Cover authority
11. Confirm budget
12. Getting buy-in and commitment
STEPS FOR AN EXPLORATORY CALL

71.
“What were your take-aways from this call?”
“You’ve definitely opened
my eyes to better ways of
accomplishing our goals.
I’m anxious to implement
what we’ve discussed.”
YOU PROSPECT
“Was this call helpful for you? [pause] Why?”
“When can we get started?”
“What do you think we should do next?”

72.
Whatever the next steps,
now is the time to get
commitment from them.

73.
1. Build rapport
2. Recap what you learned and shared from previous conversations
3. Set an agenda for the call
4. Focus on their challenges
5. Connect challenges to goals
6. Understand the prospect’s plans
7. Understand timeline and urgency
8. Discuss negative consequences
9. Discuss positive implications
10. Cover authority
11. Confirm budget
12. Getting buy-in and commitment
STEPS FOR AN EXPLORATORY CALL

74.
1. Build rapport
2. Recap what you learned and shared from previous conversations
3. Set an agenda for the call
4. Challenges
5. Goals
6. Plans
7. Timeline
8. Consequences
9. Implications
10. Authority
11. Budget
12. Getting buy-in and commitment
STEPS FOR AN EXPLORATORY CALL

75.
THANK YOU.
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