The sales discovery call is the first formal meeting with a prospect in the sales process. This call is a valuable opportunity for a sales rep to get to know the potential customer and understand the buyer’s needs, challenges, priorities, and goals. The insights gained during an effective sales discovery call enable a rep to determine if their product or service is a good solution for the specific prospect - a key step in some of the most effective sales methodologies.
Since reps only have one chance to start the sales process with each prospect and make a great first impression, it's essential that they get their discovery call right. After all, there’s a lot riding on it.
It takes an average of 8 touches to get an initial meeting with a new prospect (and that call may be the rep’s one and only chance to speak with that potential new customer). This is mostly because prospects do a lot of research online and narrow their solution options before speaking to a salesperson.
There’s lots of information you ideally want to get out of the prospect during the discovery call to set yourself up for a successful sales process. So find out:
Although prospects may share attributes, industries, needs, or challenges, each one brings unique characteristics as well. So, it’s important for reps to do their homework in advance of discovery calls to ensure their success.
#1 Past history prep
Before researching prospects, reps should check the company CRM. It’s essential to determine if anyone in your company has ever engaged with this potential customer previously and what the outcome was. Plus, this may provide additional valuable insights.
#2 Research, research, research
Gather information about your prospect, their company and their industry. With the vast amount of information available online, this investigation shouldn’t take more than five to fifteen minutes per prospect.
#3 Get to know the person
It’s helpful to know some personal and professional facts about a prospect before speaking with them. Having this knowledge enables reps to prepare questions that help build rapport and start the conversation off on a positive note. Look for locations, previous employers, schools, or interests in common. This can help launch the conversation by bringing up identified commonalities.
#4 Company and context
When seeking insights about a prospect’s company, start by looking at the company website and social media pages. Then search for recent news articles about the company. Information about the prospect’s business that reps should be focusing on include:
It’s also a good idea to find the company’s competitors and what your company’s relationships are with them. It’s helpful to know if any of these competitors are currently using your solution.
#5 Go industry-wide
Being current with industry data is always a good idea. If the prospect’s industry is one that isn’t encountered on a routine basis, it might be time to do a quick refresher on what is happening in their sector. Doing a Google search should reveal any key trends or changes occurring in the industry and help guide the line of discovery questions. It’s also beneficial to know which industry the prospect is in because you may already have clients in the industry, providing deeper insights around how the prospect may benefit from your solution.
#6 Pre-qualify
Only 50% of prospects are a good fit for your solution. It’s best to learn this before investing valuable sales time on a call with a lead that is unlikely to become a paying customer - or worse, become a troublesome one. So, taking the time to review the facts uncovered during pre-call research can be a real time-saver. It decreases the number of discovery calls while increasing productivity and close rates. And it’s a result of spending more time with highly qualified prospects. Disqualifying a prospect at this point is just as important as qualifying. By disqualifying a lead, you free up more time to spend with potential buyers who are more likely to become paying customers, which ultimately increases overall close rates while increasing productivity.
#8 Identify the gaps
Gathering all this prospect information enables reps to prepare to build rapport and trust. Plus knowing which department and position the lead is in helps identify common needs and challenges ahead of the call. It also makes it possible to have a better conversation with the potential customer instead of interrogating them. This previous knowledge allows reps to share what they know and ask deeper questions from the start to fill in the gaps instead of starting from scratch, which frustrates prospects, potentially alienating them.
#9 Post-call prep
An effective discovery call is only the beginning of the sales process. So, why not keep up the momentum by preparing a “leave behind” content package to be shared with the prospect immediately following the call? Having a selection of relevant blog posts, eBooks, videos, or reports ready makes it easier to send them off without hesitation. This puts valuable insights from your company at the fingertips of your prospect for easy reference as they work through their buying process.
1) Demonstrate understanding
Buyers want to speak with sales reps who take the time to do their homework. Prospects expect sellers to demonstrate a strong understanding of their company, industry, common challenges and how your solution improves their day-to-day. They don’t want to spend their time educating salespeople on things they should already know. By showing potential customers you already understand them, it puts you in their good graces and sets a positive tone for future engagements.
Being armed with a clear understanding, complete with essential details, enables the creation of a tailor-made solution designed to best meet the customer’s requirements. It also makes it easier for the rep to serve up quality content and insights to better guide the prospect through their buying journey (which is another thing that buyers prefer!)
2) Don’t be “just another rep”
There are key characteristics buyers find desirable. Listening, for example, has been shown to be so appealing to buyers that sales reps who make the effort to listen intently have the ability to influence them. Other ways reps can differentiate themselves from their competitors during a discovery call is by uncovering the full set of buyer needs, communicating value, and showing buyers what’s possible.
It’s impossible for sales leaders to listen to each discovery call in the moment, nor would you want to. There are too many elements to observe, so discussing the call, even immediately after it’s completed, would be confusing at best. That’s why it’s essential to record all discovery calls.
This facilitates reviewing all of these calls, even ones that take place concurrently. It makes it possible to gather data, insights, and analytics to guide deeper analysis of each call while saving time.
Recording discovery calls isn’t only a timesaver that makes it possible to review all calls when most convenient. These recordings also simplify coaching by allowing easy identification and assessment of specific moments based on what a rep is working on improving. They also facilitate self-coaching and peer-to-peer coaching, thereby taking the pressure off the sales leader—spreading the burden of coaching across the entire team and accelerating results.
Elements to review include: