How to Apply Hubspot Stakeholder Discovery to Win B2B Deals

Complex B2B sales rarely hinge on one person, and successful teams inspired by Hubspot know they must uncover every stakeholder, build consensus, and guide a group decision. Research shows that an average of 6.8 people are involved in most B2B purchases, which changes how you prospect, qualify, and run your sales process.

This article walks through a practical, three-step stakeholder discovery framework based on the source case study and shows you how to adapt it to your own sales motion.

Why Stakeholder Discovery Matters in Hubspot-Style Selling

In a traditional approach, sales reps hunt for a single decision maker and push for a quick close. In modern, Hubspot-inspired B2B selling, the real goal is to map and influence the entire buying committee.

Without a clear process to identify the 6.8 stakeholders, reps run into:

• Surprise objections from unseen influencers
• Deals that stall after a strong first champion
• Mismatched expectations between departments
• Last-minute “we went with another vendor” outcomes

To avoid this, you need a repeatable way to discover everyone who matters and understand how they affect the final decision.

The 3-Step Framework for Discovering 6.8 Stakeholders

The source article outlines three simple, powerful stages you can adapt to any sales process. Think of them as a structured discovery playbook that aligns well with a CRM-driven approach.

Step 1: Identify Your Primary Customer Profile

Before you speak with multiple people in an account, you need clarity on who usually champions your solution. This is your primary customer profile: the person or role who feels the pain, sees the value quickly, and is willing to sponsor the project.

Start by defining:

• Core job title and function – Who typically owns the problem your product solves?
• Main pain points – What outcomes are they accountable for?
• Key success metrics – What do they report to leadership?
• Typical seniority – Are they a manager, director, VP, or C-level?

With a clear profile, you can:

• Target the right initial contact in prospecting
• Tailor messaging to their specific language and KPIs
• Predict which additional stakeholders they will naturally loop in

Step 2: Map the 6.8 Stakeholders Around Your Champion

Once you have a potential champion, the next move is to map the broader buying committee around them. Instead of guessing, use structured discovery questions that reveal who else is involved in evaluation, approval, and implementation.

In the original case study, the team learned there were on average 6.8 people influencing a deal. Your number might vary, but the principle is the same: assume a group decision until proven otherwise.

Use targeted questions such as:

• Evaluation: “Who else will want to see this solution before you move forward?”
• Approval: “Who signs off on this type of investment in your organization?”
• Budget: “Which department or leader owns the budget for this problem?”
• Implementation: “Who needs to be involved to roll this out successfully?”
• Risk and compliance: “Is there anyone who may be concerned about risk, security, or process change?”

Document each stakeholder’s role and interest level. A simple matrix can help:

• Champion – Drives the project internally.
• Economic buyer – Owns the budget and final yes.
• Technical evaluator – Verifies feasibility and integrations.
• End users – Live with the product daily.
• Executive sponsor – Cares about strategic alignment.
• Procurement / legal – Manages risk and contracts.

This map becomes your action plan for conversations, demos, and content.

Step 3: Build Consensus and Momentum Across Stakeholders

Finding the 6.8 stakeholders is only the beginning. The next step is to help them reach a shared understanding of the problem and the solution. Deals stall when each person has a different picture of success.

Borrow the collaborative approach commonly promoted in modern revenue teams:

1. Align on the problem
   Make sure every stakeholder agrees on the core business challenge and its impact.
2. Co-create the success plan
   Work with the champion to outline what success looks like for each role involved.
3. Sequence your meetings
   Plan a logical order of conversations that builds momentum instead of re-starting from zero with each new person.
4. Address role-specific risks
   For technical, security, or executive concerns, prepare tailored content and experts.
5. Summarize decisions in writing
   After each milestone, send a recap of what was agreed and what’s next.

This structure keeps the buying group aligned and reduces last-minute surprises.

Hubspot-Inspired Questions to Uncover Hidden Stakeholders

To make your discovery more effective, add specific stakeholder-focused questions to your standard qualification process. Here are examples you can adapt:

• “When you purchased a similar solution in the past, who else was involved?”
• “If we move forward, who would be most impacted by this change?”
• “Who might have concerns about this project that we should address early?”
• “Whose support would make this initiative much easier to approve?”
• “Is there anyone who can veto this decision, even if everyone else is on board?”

By making these questions part of your regular rhythm, you normalize broad stakeholder involvement and avoid awkward last-minute escalations.

How to Operationalize Stakeholder Discovery in Your CRM

To scale this 6.8-stakeholder model, you need to embed it into your CRM and sales process. That way, every rep follows the same playbook and leaders gain full visibility into deal health.

Practical steps include:

• Create custom fields for stakeholder roles (champion, economic buyer, technical evaluator, etc.).
• Standardize contact properties like department, seniority, and influence level.
• Add mandatory fields for at least three stakeholder roles before advancing to late stages.
• Use tasks and workflows to prompt reps to schedule multi-stakeholder meetings.
• Report on stakeholder coverage as a leading indicator of win rate.

Over time, you will see patterns in which roles are critical in your best deals, helping you refine your targeting and messaging.

Learning from the Original Hubspot Case Study

The original customer story at this Hubspot case study shows how a team transformed their results by recognizing the 6.8-stakeholder reality. Instead of chasing a single buyer, they built a system to identify every influencer and decision maker early in the cycle.

The outcome was:

• More accurate pipeline forecasting
• Higher win rates on complex deals
• Fewer late-stage losses to hidden objections

You can apply the same principles, regardless of your industry, by being deliberate about mapping and engaging every relevant role in the account.

Next Steps: Implement Stakeholder Discovery in Your Sales Process

To put this buyer-committee approach into practice, start small and iterate:

1. Document your primary customer profile and typical surrounding roles.
2. Update your discovery script with stakeholder-focused questions.
3. Adjust your CRM stages to require multi-contact engagement.
4. Review one or two active deals each week specifically for stakeholder gaps.

If you want expert help building a scalable, CRM-aligned stakeholder discovery process, you can explore consulting support from firms like Consultevo, which specialize in systematic, data-driven revenue operations.

By embracing the 6.8-stakeholder reality and applying a structured, Hubspot-inspired framework, your team can navigate complex buying groups with confidence and consistently turn qualified interest into closed revenue.

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