What is the Sales Discovery Process?

Discovery is the heart and soul of sales. Sales are won because of great Discovery and lost due to poor Discovery.

The Sales Discovery Process starts during the Discovery Call. A common mistake in B2B SaaS is treating the Discovery Call as the start and end of the Discovery Process. Discovery is something that needs to be done continuously throughout the sales process until the deal is closed.

High performing salespeople leverage questions to uncover needs, problems, pains, and opportunities. They ask thought-provoking questions that heighten the prospect’s self-awareness and challenge the status quo. These questions are asked throughout the sales process.

Discovery is a journey, not a destination.

Tips for Discovery

1. Focus on Getting Information, Not Giving Information

• Get all relevant information before formulating and presenting solutions or recommendations. It’s crucial to resist the temptation to jump on opportunities as they arise during Discovery. Instead, make a note to revisit these points later.

2. Be Genuinely Curious and Interested in Your Prospect

• Salespeople often focus on sales skills when improving their Discovery. They ask, “What are the best discovery questions?” However, mindset is more important than sales skills.

• Being genuinely curious and interested in your prospect will enhance your Discovery more than relying on a set of stock questions.

• Your prospect will feel more valued, important, and connected which will lead to them sharing more.

3. Let Your Prospect Do Most of the Talking

• Focus on your prospect and make the conversation about them, not you.

• Many people think rapport building is about finding commonalities with others (e.g. we’re both dog owners). This is a common mistake that usually leads to the salesperson sharing too much about themselves, overtalking, and drawing the spotlight away from the prospect (see: Bonding & Rapport Building). Keep the spotlight on your prospect.

4. Use the ARQ Method

• Ask Discovery questions in the moment, based on the flow of the conversation, and with the end goal in mind. This approach keeps your prospect engaged. Asking every prospect the same set of stock questions will feel like an interrogation. The ARQ Method simplifies this process:

  • Acknowledge/Affirmation: “That’s really helpful context.”

  • Repeat: “It sounds like cost is very important to you.”

  • Question: Example: “What is your budget?”

5. Keep ARQs simple

• You don’t need brilliant Repeats and Questions. Striving for profound R’s and Q’s can lead to clunkiness, being verbose, and taking the spotlight off of your prospect. Simple ARQs are usually most effective.

6. Dig Deeper

• Prospects often reveal only surface level information initially. Dig deeper to uncover their true problems and emotions.

• Start with easier, open questions and gradually move to more challenging ones as your connection deepens. If you ask difficult or intrusive questions too early, your prospect will feel uncomfortable and become guarded.

7. Leverage Open and Closed Questions

• Begin Discovery with open questions and wind down with closed questions.

8. Check the Boxes on All Your Qualification Criteria

• Keep the end goal in mind. Don’t shy away from asking your prospect the necessary qualification questions.

9. Never Interrupt Your Prospect

• Genuine curiosity and interest in your prospect will prevent interruptions. This includes avoiding micro-interruptions.

10. Take notes

• Using pen and paper is strongly recommended. Note-taking on a computer can make you appear distracted (“Are you responding to an email?”) and can lead to off-putting body language and eye contact. Taking notes will encourage your prospect to share more.

11. Don’t Rush

• Allow Discovery to take as long as necessary.

Additional Resource

• Related Article

  • Rapport Building & Bonding