The discovery call is your key to building long-term customer relationships and securing sales. That first conversation that you have with a prospective buyer can make or break a deal. That’s why it’s super important that you do it well.
A successful discovery call will reveal customer needs and pain points. It’ll build rapport and trust between you. Importantly, it’ll also disqualify leads that aren’t a good fit with your business. It’s a vital piece of the puzzle that is the sales discovery process.
But what should you say? How can you plan and set the stage for a good discovery call? As ever, preparation is essential. Here, I’ll share my expert tips on preparing to make a discovery call, and the all important questions to ask. Don’t miss my ultimate discovery call checklist.
What is a sales discovery call?
A discovery call is the first interaction between a sales professional and a prospect who’s shown an interest in your product or service. The discovery call is an opportunity for you to determine whether the potential clients fit your ideal customer profile.
It’s a time to discover valuable information about your prospect:
- your prospect’s needs
- your prospect’s pain points
- your prospect’s company landscape
- your prospect’s business needs
Whilst a sales call is all about the sales pitch and aiming to close deals, a sales discovery call is about gathering information. This initial, and very important, conversation determines whether your customer relationship progresses or ends when the call does.
Why should you use a discovery call checklist?
I can’t emphasise enough how important a discovery call is as part of the sales process. It’s your opportunity to truly understand your prospect and their business situation. But to get the most out of this sales conversation, you need to ask the right questions and listen to the responses. Actually, listening isn’t enough. You need to be actively listening to build trust, show empathy and strengthen your developing relationship with the customer.
But before you initiate a call, you must do your preparation. Research their company by looking through their website and marketing materials. Identify their company values and top priorities. Try to work out who the key decision-makers and stakeholders would be. How could your business help them?
Take a look at LinkedIn to see if you have any mutual connections with the prospect. Find out a bit about their interests and the subjects that they post about. That can supply discussion topics on your call.
Check your CRM data to see if your marketing or sales team have had previous interactions with the prospect. Which emails and marketing materials have they been sent?
Once you’ve done your research, it’s time to prepare your questions. Don’t try to wing it on the call, no matter how confident a sales person you may be. Arm yourself with a tried and tested list of questions to ask. It’ll put you in the best position to make your discovery call.
Before making a call, my checklist would be:
- Research the company
- Research the prospect
- Identify potential business needs
- Identify potential business challenges
- Prepare possible conversation starters like relevant industry news, mutual connections and interests
- Write open ended questions to encourage maximum information sharing from the prospect
- Decide how to handle objections and answer any concerns or doubts your potential client might have
What should I ask on a discovery call?
This is my tried and tested discovery call template. I think there are 4 phases to a good discovery call:
Discovery questions: gain greater understanding and awareness of your potential client, their situation and daily work.
Qualifying questions: identify your prospect’s challenges, pain points, current solution and problems that your product or service can solve for them.
Disqualifying questions: discover roadblocks to you working together.
Next step questions: define how you’ll proceed after the call.
My discovery call checklist of questions
1. Opening and building a rapport
- “Good to speak to you… Is now still a good time?”
- “Before we dive in, can I ask what motivated you to reach out to us?”
2. Positioning and agreeing how to proceed
- “To make the most of our time together, I’d like to spend the first part of the call learning more about your situation, challenges, and goals. Then, if it makes sense, I can share how we’ve helped others in similar situations and what the next steps could look like. Does that sound like a good plan to you?”
- “At the end of our conversation, if we both feel it’s a good fit, we can talk about how we can move forward. Does that sound fair?”
3. Understanding prospect’s current situation
- “Can you tell me a bit about your business/role? What does your day-to-day look like?”
- “What specific challenges are you currently facing in [their area of concern]?”
- “What have you tried so far to address these challenges? How has that worked for you?”
- “How are these challenges impacting your business/team/customers/you personally or professionally?”
4. Exploring their needs and pain points
- “What would it mean for you/your business to solve these challenges?”
- “What happens if you don’t find a solution to this issue in the next 3/6/12 months?”
- “Is there anything keeping you up at night about this situation?”
- “If you could wave a magic wand and fix one thing about your current situation, what would it be?”
5. Evaluating the decision-making process
- “What are you hoping to achieve by the end of this call?”
- “What criteria are most important to you when choosing a solution to this problem?”
- “Who else, if anyone, is involved in making this decision?”
6. Budget and prioritisation
- “Have you allocated a budget for addressing this issue?” or “Is it ok if I explain how the investment with us works?” [Go on to explain products / services and a range of pricing]
- “How does solving this challenge rank among your priorities right now?”
7. Emotional and aspirational questions
- “How would it feel to have this problem resolved?”
- “What would achieving your ideal outcome enable you to do that you can’t do now?”
- “Can you describe what success looks like to you in this area?”
- “What kind of impact would this have on your team/clients/family/you?”
8. Positioning and credibility
- “Are you familiar with how our business has helped others in situations similar to yours?”
- “What drew you to our company/solution specifically?”
- “What’s one thing you’d need to see from us to feel confident about moving forward?”
9. Closing and next steps
- “Based on what we’ve discussed today, I have a few ideas about how we might be able to help. Would you like me to share those now or set up another time to go into more detail?”
- “Is there anything we haven’t covered that you think is important for me to know?”
- “What’s the best next step for you in moving forward?” OR “Is it OK if I explain what tends to happen now?” [propose the next step if not already pre-determined.]
That next step could be sending over further information, arranging a product demo, building more trust by sharing case studies, or booking a time for a follow up email or call. Don’t underestimate the power of the follow up – it’s the secret to soaring sales!
Make better discovery calls, every time
A successful discovery call has the power to shorten the sales cycle, with fewer meetings before a closed deal. A good discovery call will sift the best prospects for your business from those that don’t fit. It’s such an important part of your sales process.
If you follow the steps I’ve outlined here – with thorough preparation, research and planning – you set yourself up for success.
Get in touch if you’d like more advice and tips on how to increase sales and drive business success.
“Philip’s tips are always very useful and I have used some of them already to great effect.” #thehappysolicitor
