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CRM, lead flow and sales techniques · Inbound selling: explore

Score each first call on eleven steps so you qualify on evidence.

An exploratory call rubric is a checklist of the steps a first sales call must cover before you decide whether a lead is worth a proposal. It runs from the opening to the agreed next step, with budget asked last. The page lists eleven steps, the audit sheet and how to coach from it.

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Scope, fee, reporting and term are agreed in writing after we have read your brief and spoken to you.

Editorial illustration for Sales call auditing and conversation quality assessment

In one paragraph

An exploratory call rubric is a checklist of the steps a first sales call must cover before you decide whether a lead is worth a proposal. It runs from the opening to the agreed next step, with budget asked last. The page lists eleven steps, the audit sheet and how to coach from it.

A Surat textile machinery dealer takes a call from a weaving unit owner, talks about the new rapier loom for forty minutes and sends a quotation. Three weeks later the owner says the decision sits with an uncle who handles money. The dealer asked about the machine all call and about the buyer never.

The rubric fixes that with an order. One, a rapport question. Two, a recap of anything said before. Three, an agenda that the buyer agrees to. Four, the buyer's challenges. Five, the goal behind them, in rupees or units. Six, what they have already tried. Seven, the timeline. Eight, what happens if they do nothing. Nine, who else is involved. Ten, budget. Eleven, the agreed next step with a date.

Budget comes after the goals so the number has a reason behind it. Authority is wider than one title: in a family firm it includes the parent, the partner and the accountant who must say yes. The sales head adapts the wording to the buyer's language and the questions to your offer.

The sales head owns the rubric and reviews calls against it; reps tick it on their own. It replaces the loose feeling that a call went well. The exploratory call opener page covers steps one to three in detail, and the challenge library page supplies the questions for step four.

Where this sits

Topic 5 of 13 in crm, lead flow and sales techniques: inbound selling: explore. Learning the buyer's situation.

The topic before
Inbound selling: connect

If you want this done for you

You have call recordings and nobody has listened to them.

Read the sales call auditing and conversation quality assessment page

The work

What this is actually like.

  • “A call that feels good can fail every step”

    Warm conversation and a promise to think about it are not outcomes. The rubric asks whether you left with a quantified goal, a named decision group and a dated next step. If any of the three is missing, the lead is not qualified yet.

  • “Disqualifying is a result”

    If the goal is vague, the timeline is next year and nobody else has been told, write unqualified and move on. A short, clear no from the rubric saves the proposal that would have taken a week to write and would not have been read.

  • “Authority in an Indian family firm means the family”

    A son returned from abroad, a father who still signs, a brother in charge of finance. Ask who else will want to see the quote and when they will see it. Offer to join a second call with them on the screen.

  • “Budget asked first poisons the call”

    Opening with "what is your budget?" gets a low number, or a lie. Asked after the buyer has put a figure on the problem, the same question gets an honest range and sometimes a rupee figure above your guess.

What we do

What you end up with.

The documents this topic produces, what each one is for, and how you know it is finished.

  1. The adapted rubric

    The eleven steps rewritten in your buyers' language, with two sample questions under each. One printed page per desk. The sales head writes it with the best two reps.

    Result: Finished when a new rep can run a call from the page in the first week.

  2. The role-play log

    Who played buyer and rep, which step was missed, and what the sales head changed. Three practice runs are the minimum before live calls.

    Result: Finished when every rep has run the rubric three times without being prompted.

  3. The call audit rows

    One row per live call: ticks for each of the eleven steps, whether budget came after goals, outcome as qualified, unqualified or nurture. The rep fills it within the hour.

    Result: Finished when five live calls have been scored and the outcome column has no blanks.

  4. The coaching note

    Each week the three most-missed steps across the team and one practice task for each. The sales head writes it and reads it out in the team meeting.

    Result: Finished when the missed-step list changes from one week to the next.

Why us

Why owners pick GullySales over an agency.

  • Marketing and sales, as one job

    Most agencies stop at the enquiry. We also fix what happens after it: the reply, the follow-up, the quote and the CRM.

  • The person on the first call does the work

    No account managers in between. You are never handed to someone you have not met.

  • A baseline before anything starts

    Your numbers are written down on day one, so every later report compares against something honest.

  • The fee in writing, split three ways

    Our time, your media spend and production on separate lines. You always see what goes to us.

  • No guarantees we cannot keep

    The term is agreed in writing and never a default twelve months. We never promise a ranking or a lead count, because nobody controls those.

  • One office, and we say so

    Nagarbhavi, Bengaluru. We work across India by call and WhatsApp and travel when a session needs to be in person.

#257, 3rd floor, Sri Nanjundeshwara Complex, Nagarbhavi 8th Block, Outer Ring Road. How we work.

Your brief

Tell us what you need, and we will read it before we call.

Eight short steps about your business, what you want and who decides. Most questions are a tap, and you can skip any you would rather answer on the call.

Tell us what you needor call +91 80958 58589

FAQ

Questions owners ask before they call.

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Tell us what you need
Do I have to ask all eleven questions in order?
Ask them in order, but the conversation can loop back. The order matters because it keeps budget and authority until you have the reason for them. If a buyer volunteers the budget early, note it and keep asking about the goal.
What if the lead is a walk-in customer?
Use the same steps in plain words. A customer for a home loan has challenges, a goal, a timeline and a spouse involved in the decision. The rubric shortens but does not change.
Who scores the call, the rep or the manager?
Both. The rep ticks the sheet after the call. The sales head listens to a few recordings or reads the notes and ticks it independently. Gaps between the two tell you what to coach.
When is a lead qualified?
When you have a quantified goal, a decision group you have named, a timeline and a next step with a date. Write your own threshold into the rubric and apply it the same way for each rep.
How much does it cost?
There is no price list, because the work differs by business. The fee is scoped after we have read your brief and spoken to you, and put in writing before anything starts. For sales work it is mostly our time, with production only where scripts, decks or CRM setup need it.
How long is the contract?
The term is agreed in writing after we have spoken, along with the fee and the reporting. It is never a default twelve months, and renewal is decided on the numbers against the baseline recorded at the start.
How soon will we see results?
Fixes to reply time and follow-up are the quickest to show, because the enquiries already exist. Process, CRM and training changes show as the team uses them. Each one is tracked against the baseline.
Who will actually do the work?
The person you speak to before anything starts. We work from one office in Nagarbhavi, Bengaluru, with no account managers in between.
What do you need from us?
To start, last month's enquiries in any format and time with whoever handles them. After that, access to the accounts the work touches, such as the website, Google Business Profile or CRM.
What if we are not happy with the work?
Tell us and the plan changes. Everything is reported against the baseline, so a number that is not moving is visible to both sides. The term is in your written scope, and the refund and cancellation policy sets out the rest.

Where to go next

The work that carries this topic further.

Services

The rest of inbound selling: explore

Or read all of crm, lead flow and sales techniques.

Your next practical step

Tell us what you are trying to grow, and we will read it before we call.

Eight short steps, mostly taps. Skip anything you would rather answer on the call.

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