4 Ways Discovery Meetings Help Reps Win More Business
Teach your reps the value of discovery and how good listening skills play a much more vital role than positioning products—and you will see greater results.
I used to tell sales reps that in a discovery meeting (different from a qualification call) is where they would figure out whether or not they had a real chance to close a deal.
A prospect will actually give your reps the roadmap to selling to them if they have an engaging discovery dialogue.
Discovery isn’t just about getting basic information, rather it’s about focusing on identifying pain points to set the stage for “solution selling.”
If you’re in B2B sales, your solutions should hopefully address key business challenges and opportunities. Of course reps will want to showcase how your products can bring increased revenue, better retention, and more efficiency. And they’ll want to jump right into how your solutions can help right off the bat.
When reps go into a discovery meeting, they should remember four simple things.
1. Go into a discovery call like you’re the top rep
A top sales rep knows that being patient during the discovery process ups the odds of closing a deal. That’s why they don’t rush and don’t just talk about their solutions. Instead they:
Build rapport, trust, and keep the conversation engaging (don’t act like it’s an interview, it’s not)
Are inquisitive and ask good, open-ended questions
Listen intently for key information (roadmap signs)
Identify the biggest “one thing” they would love to solve
Figure out who’s all involved in the decision-making
Keep an eye out for any deal killers (major obstacles)
So, the next time your reps are in a discovery meeting remind them that they must approach it with the right mindset: take it slow and listen for the roadmap signs.
2. Roadmap signs lead the way
Roadmap signs are key (critical) information that will help your reps navigate the sales process and can be used as solid ROI nuggets when it’s time to get the deal done.
What should reps look at for during a discovery meeting? Listen for prospects to...
Reveal their biggest challenge or opportunity
Tell you exactly what they need from you
Open up about utilization and effectiveness of other incumbent competing systems
Admit potential obstacles for moving forward
Share insight about everyone involved in the decision-making process
3. Questions shouldn’t be overly complicated
Keep things simple and fluid during discovery. Too many questions is frustrating, but too few makes prospects feel like the conversation it more about your solutions and not about them.
When I did discovery, I was genuinely interested in learning about a prospect and pinpointing which pain points our solution could solve. To uncover more, I would hone in on the one pain point and dive “three-deep” into it (three-deep is just a way of saying diving deeper and learning more about an issue, like peeling back the layers of an onion). The key is to get to the root of the problem.
Focus on big, over-arching open-ended questions and get more specific based on the answers. Don’t ask questions related to every product, instead ask questions about their challenges. Here are some examples:
What is your biggest business challenge facing your company today?
How do you feel about your current growth objectives? Have you thought about improving in any particular area?
Where do you see us helping your business? (assumes you’ve done a good job of illustrating your value proposition).
These three questions, while simple to ask, can be packed with tons of information especially if you “three-deep” and focus on getting to the root cause of whatever it is they are explaining.
4. ROI, ROI, ROI (write it down, write it down, write it down)
There were many times I would go out into the field with sales rep. We’d be knee-deep in a great discovery meeting. The mood was good, everyone was engaged, the prospect shared a ton of information, but the sales rep didn’t take many notes.
After the meeting the rep would say “That was great!”. And I’d ask: “What’s their biggest challenge?” or “What’s the one thing you should be focusing on?”. And of course, they couldn’t remember all the details but they knew the prospect was engaged. While true, a rep should never assume that good engagement means a done deal. At some point during the deal, a rep will need to provide ROI examples that are specific to the prospect.
Make it common practice during meeting for your rep to imagine a sheet of paper where the left side says “general info,” and the right side says “ROI takeaways.” Now, they don’t actually need this sheet of paper but emphasizing the importance of notes and remembering finer details is important. They don’t need to write everything down during a meeting but they certainly shouldn’t miss the most critical pieces.
In closing
Discovery meetings will lead to higher close rates if they’re executed properly. Reps should go into these meetings with the right mindset and they should be engaging while listening intently for road signs (and ROI nuggets). Once they clearly understand how a prospect feels and thinks, they should deep-dive into the root causes—so they can easily propose ROI-based solutions when it comes time to close the opportunity.
The more focused your reps are on discovery, the better your results will be.