Sales Discovery Tips

There’s an AE on my team that hits 200% of quota. Consistently. 🤯 Here’s her secret:  She asks the hard questions. 1. “You mentioned [date] as a goal. What’s driving that timeline, and is that date firm?” Verifies whether the timeline is real or aspirational. 2. "Based on what you’ve seen so far, is there anything that’s giving you pause about moving forward with us?” Invites honest feedback to surface objections early. One of my favorites. 3. “How does our solution compare to others you’re evaluating?” Tests competitive positioning and whether you're the frontrunner. 4.“Who else on your team needs to feel good about this before a decision is made?” Instead of just jotting down names and objections, she builds pages in Aligned to address concerns. That way, when new stakeholders join later, all the context is already waiting for them. 5. “If [insert key stakeholder] were here, what concerns would they raise?” Forces your champion to think on behalf of other decision makers. Great way to learn real objections. 6. “Have you ever purchased something like this before? What did that process look like internally?” Surfaces potential red tape or hidden decision criteria. 7. “What needs to happen between now and [target close date] for this to actually happen?” Pushes them to co create the buying journey and surface risk. 8. “When you picture this going live, what’s the ideal outcome for your team in the first 90 days?” Surfaces their definition of success. These questions do 3 things: – Build trust. – Surface the real decision process. – Give you everything to close/won the deal. 🎯 Bonus Tip: She doesn’t just ask the hard questions, she operationalizes them in Aligned. Here’s how… https://lnkd.in/gs7Gt5Rd That’s how you turn discovery into closed/won deals. - Mike G

I’ve been in sales for 17 years and managed 100s of AEs. This profession is so full of bad advice and it took me ages to find my mentors. Here are 9 things I wish someone had told me years ago… 1. Buyers Close Deals, Not You It’s easy to obsess over sales meetings. But the real magic happens in buyers' internal meetings—those you’re not invited to. Align your actions with the critical steps THEY need to build consensus. Don't sell. Enable them to buy. 2. Your Sales Process is Meant to Be Broken On that note, your role is not just to execute your process but to offer ‘Project Management Services’ to your buyers’ process. Your process is there to offer a good foundation to build on, but it only covers 5-17% of your buyers’ process. 3. Calendar Overload = Illusion of Control Weekly champion syncs feel great, but the truth is—you’re probably not moving the needle much. If you fail to equip buyers between calls with the right tools or content, you’ll discover your “champion” isn’t championing. Help them build momentum internally—24/7. 4. Budget is Almost Never the Deal-Breaker Stop asking about budget on the first call. It is rarely a reason to qualify out. No buyer only spends on pre-allocated line items. “No budget” simply means “No Justification” to create one for the value you’ve been able to convey. 5. Accessing Stakeholders is NOT Enough Multithreading is not about having many people on your calls/emails. That’s a vanity metric. It’s about building separate relationships to support their specific needs/requirements/concerns. That’s what truly moves the needle. 6. Executives Hate Deep Discovery on Calls Structured deep discovery doesn’t work well in executive calls. You must lead with stories, teach them something new, and let a conversation develop. They have zero patience. If you try to have long conversations first, they’ll tune off. 7. You’ll Fail 99% of Outbound Intro Calls if You Treat Them Like Inbound You lead with discovery on Inbound but lead with insights on Outbound—It’s OK to use slides if they serve the discovery. It’s even OK to demo before you have all the pain points figured out. As long as it all serves the discovery. 8. Drop the ‘Perfect Discovery’ Fantasy A perfect disco only works in a role-play. Try it in real life and you'll end up with no next steps. Worry less about your framework, and more about having a meaningful conversation around ‘why do anything’, ‘why now’, and ‘why you’. The rest only helps you and can come later. 9. Speed is Your Biggest Easy ‘Hack’ to Drive Urgency Nothing cuts down deal cycles like dictating a fast rhythm of communication. Received an email? Answer from your phone right away. Talking next steps? Offer a call tomorrow. Discussed timeline/MAP? Recap that on every follow-up. —— Don’t make it harder than it has to be. Make mistakes. Learn from them. But always learn from other people’s mistakes first. P.S. Check out Aligned-the tech I wish I had https://lnkd.in/dwX_Zizk

When I was in sales, the hardest question was: “Which accounts are actually worth my time?” We had CRMs full of companies and contacts, but no real way to know who was in-market. So we spent hours digging through filings, news, and social posts – hoping to find a signal. Even the best reps could only cover 30 to 40% of the accounts they were assigned. The rest was just wasted opportunity. That’s changing with AI. I have been talking to our customers and even our own reps at HubSpot about how they are using intent data to drive better prospecting. And it is dramatically different. Here is what I am seeing great reps do: Spot demand before it’s obvious. They are using AI to scan job postings, funding announcements, press coverage, even community chatter, to flag the accounts most likely to buy. Qualification is completely different with intent data. Make conversations personal and relevant. Reps are using AI to get alerts the second an account shows intent, like visiting a pricing page right after a funding round. And they are using sequences to send out relevant emails that feel personal. This is what intent-based qualification and prospecting looks like. Salespeople can not only cover more accounts, they can connect with each account in a deeper way. One sales leader we connected with told me: “What used to take 20 hours a week in research now takes one. And we’re seeing better responses than ever.” Prospecting used to be guesswork. With AI, it’s precision.

I've spent 10 years perfecting the art of discovery calls: - reviewed over 2,500 discovery recordings - analyzed millions of discovery calls with AI - personally run (estimated) 3,000 disco calls Here's 5 of my best discovery call tips for 2023: 1. Discovery is a process. Not an event. It’s not a STAGE during the sales cycle. It’s a process. Your buyer’s situation is in flux. If you do “set it and forget it” discovery, you lose. Bad salespeople treat discovery as “check the box." They "front load" discovery. Great salespeople do continuous discovery. Don't set it and forget it. 2. The best discovery CREATES value. It makes buyers THINK. "Most" discovery CONSUMES value. It merely gathers info. Yes, you need to uncover things. But if that's ALL you do? You build a transactional relationship. Don't settle for transactional. Settle for transformative. - challenge your buyer - diagnose the cause of issues - make them consider new angles $500k+ earners do that. 3. Uncover the 'need behind the need.' For whatever reason: Most buyers share surface-level info. I'm not sure why. I suspect it's just how humans crystallize thoughts. Try asking this: "Thanks for sharing that. Do you mind if I ask what's going on in your business that's driving that to be a priority to begin with?" Or, ask them to take you back in time. Your buyer once had a meeting with colleagues to discuss the issue they're trying to solve. That triggered them to reach out to you (among other actions). Ask them about that: "I have to assume you had a meeting with colleagues where you discussed the issue, and agreed to act on it. What did that meeting sound like?" There's gold behind that question. 4. Re-validate everything. Never assume that what you uncovered remains true. Priorities change. Buyers’ needs are transient. When things change, you’d better know. If you followed the last tip, you’ll uncover priorities. But if you treat discovery as “set it and forget it," you’ll miss. Here’s how to re-validate: Start every follow up sales meeting with this: "What’s changed since the last time we talked?" 5. Phrase questions to get LONG answers Hate it when buyers answer with one-word responses? It sucks. According to data, successful salespeople get LONG answers to questions. Here’s how: SIGNAL to your buyer that you want a long response. Do that by phrasing your questions the right way. Start your question with one of these phrases: - help me understand... - walk me through... - talk to me about... This phrasing signals that you want your buyer to answer in depth. You’ll get richer answers. I'm out of space. If you want more, let me know? Until then, know this: Questions are the most powerful tool you have to sell. I spent 10 years collecting the best sales questions in a Google Doc. I tested them. I refined them. Now you can use them. Here's the mega list sales questions: https://lnkd.in/g-VRcCsq

Here's how I open a discovery call with an outbound-originated opp. "Mind If I share what I learned about your business, before we start talking about mine? I don’t want to assume I have all of the correct answers, simply because I researched COMPANY before this call. It looks like COMPANY sells a PRODUCT/SERVICE to STAKEHOLDER ROLES at CUSTOMER VERTICALS/TYPES. It seems like the problem you're solving for those customers is X and the company makes money by XYZ. What did I get wrong?” Here's why I do it this way: 1. 82% of B2B decision-makers think sellers are unprepared during the 1st meeting (source: Gartner). The tone changes when they realize you're not part of that 82%. The reaction I usually get is, "Thank you for taking the time to learn about our business. Most sellers don't". Anyone can do this. It takes 2 mins to prompt ChatGPT for these answers. The bar is low. 2. Most disco calls are 30 mins. I hate wasting my time. I hate wasting my buyer's time. There's 0 reason for them to spend 7 mins educating me on something I could've easily researched beforehand. This frees up more time for the good stuff. 3. The "what did I get wrong" close invites correction. Correction = discovery. It sets the tone that we're not a know-it-all. Know-it-all reps sound naive. From here, it's an easy transition into "I don't work within your 4 walls, but it sounds like your CEO is asking the business to....". Get discovery builds trust by helping prospects think differently about their business problems, before we ask them to think differently about our solutions. To do that, we need to show them we have context on their business. Here's how I gauge my disco calls: Is the conversation so valuable that they'd be willing to pay for that conversation by the time we hang up?

This one shift in my sales approach doubled my close rate: Ask more questions. Listen more than you talk. I used to jump straight into my pitch. Big mistake. A prospect seemed disinterested? I'd talk faster, louder. A client raised an objection? I'd argue my point harder. Sound familiar? For months, I was pushing when I should've been pulling. It was frustrating. And ineffective. Then it hit me: Sales isn't about convincing. It's about understanding. Here's the truth: Assumptions kill sales. They make us tone-deaf instead of tuned-in. What changed? I started treating each sale like a detective case, not a debate. • Prospect seems uninterested? Time to investigate why. • Facing resistance? Opportunity to uncover hidden concerns. • Objection raised? Chance to learn what really matters to them. The result? My close rate doubled. Why? Because I was addressing real needs, not imagined ones. Don't get me wrong. I still believe in my services. But now, I let the prospect's needs drive the conversation. Questions reveal. Pitches conceal. It wasn't comfortable at first. Silence can be awkward. But the payoff was worth every uncomfortable pause. Now, I ask myself: "What don't I know about this prospect's situation?" The answers usually guide me to the right approach. Question for you: How would you handle it differently if you focused on asking rather than telling? Repost if you found this helpful ♻ #salesstrategy #questionbasedsales

Stop asking discovery questions like - What's your budget? - What's your timeline? - Who's the decision maker? - What are your decision criteria? - Are you looking at other solutions? They make prospects feel interrogated. ↳ And add zero value throughout the sales process. Start asking discovery questions like • If we solved (insert problem), what would be the impact for you & your team? • What's an ambitious but attainable timeline for go-live? • Are we okay missing that date - and what would be the consequences if we do? • Who else needs to be involved to get this on the radar of the executive team? • What are must-haves vs. nice-to-haves for you when it comes to choosing a new solution? • Have you taken a look at what else is out there? 2 key takeaways: 1. Discovery is not an interview. ↳ It's a process of guiding the buyer in their decision process. 2. Buyer experience is a differentiator. ↳The more value you add during the sales cycle, the more deals you will close. What else would you add?👇

When we dissect discovery calls, we hear this same motion almost every time - the buyer opens up about what they need, which prompts the seller to meet them with exactly how they can help. Perfect, right? Nope. We are SO eager to hear something that we can solve that we don't pause to ask the critical question - why? ***We know what you need, we don't know why you need it.*** What's the business pain? What's the cost of inaction? How much does this one issue impact dozens of people, dozens of times/day? How does this impact your goals for the year ahead? Is this enough of pain point that it's worth the trouble of changing? What's the monetization associated with the pain? Why is it important to change now? Have you tried to tackle this change before? And so on... Toss a sticky on your laptop and simply pause when you hear what they want. This is your moment to... differentiate significantly better qualify this opp get a host of details that will help you figure out how to best solve their challenges understand if you're talking to the right team ...and up your odds of advancing this opportunity #samsales

It's easy to fall into the "doing things just to do them" trap in demand gen and ABM.  👉🏾 Launching campaigns because "it's our typical approach." 👉🏾Creating content because "we have to."   👉🏾 Chasing every lead with the belief that "more is always better." But with AI and automation making it easier than ever to produce generic content, it's even more crucial to pause and ask, "Why?" ✔️Why this campaign? ✔️Why this content? ✔️Why this account? ✔️Does it truly align with our ideal customer profile (ICP)? ✔️Does it resonate with their needs and challenges? ✔️Does it get results on our goals? Generic #ABM is just...marketing. And generic #demandgen is a waste of resources. 👉🏾 To break the autopilot cycle, be specific about your ideal customer. Use tools like 6sense or ZoomInfo to gather rich data, going beyond basic demographics to understand their firmographics, technographics, and psychographics.  👉🏾 Then, map your content to the buyer's journey. Don't just create content for content's sake. Use tools like HubSpot or Marketo to address their pain points and provide real value at each stage. 👉🏾 Analyze intent data. Tools like Bombora or G2 Buyer Intent can tell you which accounts are actively researching solutions like yours, allowing you to focus your ABM efforts on those showing high intent. 👉🏾 Don't forget to make it a personalized experience. Use AI-powered platforms like Persado or Phrasee to tailor your messaging to individual accounts and show a deep understanding of their needs. 👉🏾 Finally, measure what matters. Track metrics that align with your goals, not just vanity metrics. Tools like Google Analytics or Bizible can help you measure the true impact of your ABM and demand gen efforts. 👉🏾 And most importantly, find someone to challenge your thinking. A colleague, a mentor, even a (kind!) competitor. Someone who asks: ✔️Why are we targeting this account? ✔️Will this content truly resonate? ✔️Does this campaign align with our overall strategy? Break free from autopilot, be intentional, and be strategic. Then, watch your ABM and demand generation results grow. What tools or strategies do you use to focus on the "why" behind your marketing? #b2bmarketing #marketingstrategy

I’ve done 350+ discovery calls in the past 3 years and closed 7+ figures in contract value. I always structure my 1st call in the same 5-step format: Great sales is nothing more than a structured approach to help prospects make a decision. It shows them that I’m understanding and have their best interest at heart. I consider sales to be part of the service. It’s consulting. Here's how my discovery calls look: 𝟭. 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 I want to find out as much as possible about them. My goal is to understand their journey & personality, and also make them feel heard & understood off the bat. They talk, I shut up. If they jump straight into business, I gently steer them back. ___ 𝟮. 𝗔𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘇𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝘁 Next, I dive into their business model, bottlenecks, and top goals: • Who’s your ICP? • What do you offer? • What’s your marketing status quo? • etc. I figure out if a collaboration makes sense and whether they need our help or something else entirely—like coaching, a new tool, a different vendor, or just advice on improving their current setup. ___ 𝟯. 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗲 𝗠𝘆𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 I recap what they’ve shared and then introduce myself. Here, I try to mirror how they shared their story: • what topics did they focus on? • how far back did they go? • what did they highlight? At the same time, I look for similarities between us to create relatability. Then at the end, I explain what I do on a high level. ___ 𝟰. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲𝘀 & 𝗥𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗕𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗥𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 From there, I introduce the 3 key theses they need to believe for us to work together. • Thesis 1: The decisions we make are influenced by the people we trust and the content we consume. • Thesis 2: Content helps build relationships & trust at scale. • Thesis 3: Content is an infinite game If they're not aligned with this thesis, it usually indicates we're not a fit. At the same time, I also discuss the rough budget range to make sure we're on the same page about expectations early on. ___ 5. 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 If it feels like a fit, I lock in a follow-up call right then. I never leave this for later—it just adds uncertainty and hassle. If it’s not a fit, I still try to offer value—maybe I send some free resources or give advice. ___ 𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗜 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄: • I call out any elephants in the room. • I recap what they say to confirm my understanding and give them a chance to add details. • This also helps me process what they’ve shared. • I always leave room for their questions. • Their needs are #1 priority. #b2bsales #founderledsales #consultativesales