Let us understand the importance to build up customer sales satisfaction first before discussing on sales discovery.
You made the cold call. You created some interest. You earned the privilege to have a discovery call.
That one call could be a very important step in the sales process. You have established a relationship through a cold phone call or through a successful marketing attempt, but the acquisition call will set the tone for the relationship and prospects.
Now is the time to learn and understand the needs of hope, pain points and goals, then build a bridge between those and your solution.
Let’s take a closer look at each section:
Rapport building
The rapport building of the record should be more than just the weather or a big game. Retailers want to research their prospects for breaking the ice. Use social media and corporate websites to find articles or technical information to start conversations that make them feel comfortable.
The key to successful rapport-building is to make the conversation about what prospects like/think/do.
Uncover business problems
Vendors want to ask questions to find one business problem. Then move on to two to four problems. Ask too many questions or go into too many topics and you can get wet.
Wrap-up and next steps
The wrap-up should include a review of three or four business issues identified. Follow the same sequence you made to find them to keep the conversation clear.
Then make sure that the discussion progresses by confirming the next steps, who is responsible for them, and the expected timeline for what will happen. Vendors want to lock information about who, what, where and when so there is no room for ambiguity or retaliation.
Now let us work on discovery questions where customer feels satisfies responding to same.
1. Questions building rapport:
- How did you get into (industry, job discipline, shared hobby, etc.)?
- Are you originally from (company location)?
- Are you a fan of (sport, cuisine, team, cultural attraction or recognized event related to their location)?
- What do you like most about (industry, shared hobby, job role, etc.)?
- Questions validating the research:
- Are you still having problems with (a specific issue you saw in social media)?
- What are the primary roadblocks to getting the problem resolved?
- What’s been the biggest challenge you’ve faced since you (changed roles/were promote/switched companies … some change you saw in their LinkedIn profile)?
2. Questions that uncover needs, challenges and goals
- What is the biggest challenges you look to solve?
- Have you tried to solve that problem so far?
- What’s led to you wanting to make a change now?
- What part of your job is most frustrating?
- What caused you to address this issue today?
- What do you think could be a potential solution?
- What prompted you to explore our solution?
- Can you tell me about your current process?
- What are you looking to improve?
- What if you didn’t do anything and kept the process/situation the same?
- How do you see our solution fitting into how you plan to move forward?
- If you could wave a wand and have exactly what you wanted most for a solution, what would those things be?
- How does picking the right solution impact you?
- How would picking our solution make things better for you?
- Which components matter most when figuring out which solution is right for you?
3. Questions about Authority
- In addition to you, who else in your organization faces the same issues?
- Are there similar issues any of your colleagues are concerned about?
- Who is typically involved in the decision-making process?
- What’s your typical purchasing process like?
- Do you have embedded decision criteria for choosing a vendor?
- Who compiled the criteria for choosing a vendor?
- Have you ever made a purchase like this before?
- What metrics are you responsible for?
4. Questions to build demand for your solution
- What would your most successful outcome look like?
- Say you had no budget restrictions. What kind of changes would you like to make happen?
- What will you do with all the extra time/revenue/resources after making a change like this?
5. Questions about Budget
- Are your responsible for setting the budget in this situation?
- Do you already have some budget allocated?
- What are you ideally looking to invest in?
6. Questions about Competition
- What other solution providers are you looking into at the moment?
- What has been your experience with (competitor)?
- What positive impact has your current provider had on your business?
7. Questions about Timing and Implementation
- In an ideal world, when do you see yourself implementing this?
- What are your timeline goals for making the decision?
- When is the contract up for the current solution you have in place?
- Do you and your team have the time and resources in place to transition to a new solution?
8. Follow-up and move-forward questions
Once you’ve found well-qualified prospects and it’s time to wrap up the conversation, use questions to move forward. Try these.
- What would be the best time for our next meeting?
- What goals do you want to accomplish at our next meeting?
- What’s the best time to follow up with you on what we discussed – late this week or early next week?
- When could you, the other stakeholders and I connect next week?