How do you effectively manage the discovery process to ensure that it is efficient and effective, without rushing or dragging it out?
To manage a discovery process effectively, consider this approach:
Condense the pitch deck into two focused slides: We do this because on our first discovery all we likely wont want to spend time in the pitch - However, you can use the contents of the deck to come up with a discovery guide.
Later you can bring the pitch out for a larger audience and get them excited as well as beef it up with the learnings you've uncovered.
For discovery, use the pitch to distill and create the following from it (add it to the top of your deck for future reference).
Pain Slide: This slide should tell a compelling story. It should outline both operational and tactical pains that, when discussed, reveal a larger strategic challenge. This narrative helps the champion articulate the issue to the broader buying committee and build urgency.
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Sales Process Slide: This slide should outline the key tactical steps the buyer can expect during the evaluation. Limit this to 3-4 steps, with enough specificity to prepare your champion for next steps (e.g., needing to meet with the CRM admin to understand the current configuration). This provides transparency while setting realistic expectations.
The key here is to use the Pain Slide to initiate a genuine dialogue. Reference use cases and tell stories that resonate. When executed well, the champion might respond with: “If you can address the first two issues, I can move forward; but if you solve all of these, I can easily rally support internally.”
PRO TIP: When covering the Pain Slide, confirm alignment with your prospect’s pain points. It might seem obvious, but many sales reps make the mistake of assuming alignment without verification. Instead, break that pattern by directly asking: “If we can solve these challenges—specifically the one you highlighted—would you be in a position to champion this within your team?”
The goal is to create moments that make the prospect feel the evaluation has genuinely begun. Without clear confirmation of pain alignment and the desire to address it, you risk simply discussing the product’s features rather than progressing the opportunity.
Firstly, it is important to recognize that discovery is not one stage of a sales process nor is it only the questioning that occurs on your first meeting. Discovery is a continuous journey of leading with curiosity, probing deeper, summarizing your understanding, and validating your takeaways through the sales process and with each new individual in the sales process.
To ensure your discovery is efficient & effective...
Do Your Research & Prepare: the better you prepare for the conversation and align on the answers you need to best identify if/how your solution may be of value to the prospective customer the more effective you'll be able to use your time
Stay Curious: if you engage in curious, open-ended questions you will be able to uncover more critical information than if you focus on a standard set of pre-defined & closed questions
Probe Deeper: don't take just the surface level answer to questions, keep digging deeper to get to the root of their current state, goals, challenges, pain, etc.
Summarize & Validate Your Understanding: always make sure to summarize what you heard and validate you heard that correctly. Ultimately, the underlying business case is your prospective customer's story in their own words, so while you can craft it through discovery, to align on the true narrative, it needs to be in their words.
If through your conversations you cannot get the prospective customer to articulate 1) why they need to do anything, 2) why they need to do it now, and 3) why your product is the best solution, then that may indicate you have sufficient holes in your deal which could require you qualifying out.
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