What is a discovery call?
A discovery call is a conversation with a prospect, after they show initial interest in your product, to get to know them better and see how best you can help them.
I think this is a pretty good definition, as the key words in the above are: "after they show initial interest", so you have already got their attention and had some indication that there might be interest.
Should you begin the sales process with a discovery call?
Too many sales people think the discovery call comes right at the beginning. Assuming the customer already has some interest what should happen first of course is a qualifying call. Many sales people use the discovery call as the first step in qualifying a lead. On this call, sales people tend to ask a bunch of questions that serve to identify what sort of challenges the prospect has in their business. After discovering those challenges, sales people present their business or service as a solution. The mindset here is all wrong, it is the old way of selling - expecting the customer to jump through a series of hoops in your sales process - to help you. Whether its early on or late I am not sure the customer today has the time or the interest to answer questions specifically designed to help the sales people decide if they are a good fit, or what best to sell to them. I think the customer would want and expect some research to have been done by the sales person or some industry research or knowledge to be shared identifying some of the most important challenges they or their industry may be facing and then some initial ideas on how to solve them.
A different kind of discovery call
This then becomes a different kind of call, not a discovery call as such but a solution or ideas call. Even if the challenges and therefore solutions you initially suggest are not exactly the ones facing the customer it gives you an opportunity to show that you do research, analyse and think about the challenges they are facing before offering solutions. You can still ask discovery questions just don't go in with the mindset that is what the call is about - you have to give first. Provide some value first, rational analysis of what the key challenges are for the customer and some possible solutions and be prepared to pivot and ask other discovery questions and provide initial ideas.
Alternatives to the discovery call?
I have seen some advice about replacing the discovering call with an assessment that prospects complete to provide the information you need ahead of a call. This may sound good in theory (Though I think not) but any thoughts about putting the work on the customer should really be a no go area unless you are sufficiently far along that they have an interest in your services and they are sold on the idea that you need more information to help them better. Not an easy proposition in my experience. And where I have used it I am not sure how useful it was because clients really don't have that much time to invest in analysis of their own needs and to "put their thoughts down on paper" and share.
Timing of discovery questions?
I come from the school of "do as much for your clients as possible" until that point that you have earned their respect and trust and you can ask something from them, be that to agree to the next step, to answer a series of questions / provide information or actually close the sale. So there is a place for a discovery call or rather a series of questions, I would just not allocate a stage or specific call to it. It should be part of the conversation when you need to know more to be able to really narrow down the solution for them. In my experience sometimes the prospects actually do not know where the real pain points are, what they need versus what they want. Sometimes you have to tell them or suggest something based on your analysis, past experience or industry knowledge. sure, you can uncover some things from your client that they did not know they know, or things that are not top of mind for them but are some of the real needs they have through clever questions we cover that next.
Whatever the form, stage, type of discovery call - what are the best questions to ask?
A great discovery questions should really be opened ended, should be fairly researched (no questions you should already know the answer to) and then leave room for a follow up question, and don't ask too many make each one count. There are many questions and follow ups you could ask, and you don't need to ask all in one go you can ask a few, suggest some thoughts and then go back and ask some more so it is more of a conversation. Here I believe are some of the main questions to ask:
Can you provide a short summary about your company and your role?
What specific metrics are you most interest in?
What are your upcoming objectives and what are your timelines for achieving this?
Are there any challenges past or present that you have to overcome?
Do you already have specific criteria for choosing a solution” are there other ideas you are looking at?
Who else is working with you to choose a solution?
Have you purchased a similar product before? What was your experience?
What’s the process for actually purchasing the product once you decide on it? Are there legal or procurement reviews?
What is your approximate budget?
How can I help make this as easy as possible for you?
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