There are so many things to think about in the sales process: generating leads, cold calling or emailing, creating a perfect pitch, qualifying leads, and so much more. One aspect of the selling process that doesn’t get enough attention, even though it’s the one thing that can make or break your potential relationship with a client, is the discovery call.

A discovery call allows both the seller and buyer to get to know one another, so the buyer can assess whether the seller can provide any benefit or value to their company. If the buyer has a current pain point or issue for which they’re seeking a solution, a discovery call is when they’ll determine if the seller’s product is that solution, while for the seller, it’s the opportunity to create a lasting relationship with a buyer that provides far more value in the long run than what it costs to acquire them as customers in the first place.

What Is A Discovery Call?

After a prospect expresses early interest, a salesman will initiate a discovery call. This is a conversation that allows you to learn about a buyer’s pain points, goals, and priorities, while at the same time, establishing a rapport with your prospect and building trust. The purpose of this conversation is to ask a range of questions to verify whether or not a prospect fits your ICP before continuing the sales process with them.

While it’s important that you ask the right questions during your discovery call in order to determine how, exactly, your product or service can help your prospects, it’s also imperative that you remember the 70/30 rule. The 70/30 principle says that in a discovery call, you should spend 30% of the time talking and 70% of the time listening. This active listening will help you to ask better, more pointed questions, and will also help to earn and build trust.

Why Is A Discovery Call Important?

Presenting your service or product as a solution to your prospect’s problems isn’t enough. You must establish a connection to their fundamental emotional difficulties in dealing with their organization’s pain points.

The amount of information available to today’s buyers is extraordinary. They’re more knowledgeable and have more choices than ever before. Due to this, the prospect’s decisions on whether or not to buy typically come down to how well they feel heard and understood, and whether or not they truly feel that your product or service can be a solution for their needs. 

This is why the discovery call is so important, and one of the best tools in your arsenal. A discovery call is your first opportunity to elevate and enhance your prospect’s buying experience. When you get it right, you’ll learn the prospect’s key motives in buying a product or service and be able to show how your product is able to solve your prospect’s most pressing issues or pain points.

The Difference Between Discovery Calls and Cold Calls in B2B Sales

Cold calling is when a salesperson conducts a phone call with a person or company with whom they’ve had no prior contact. The purpose of a cold call is to try and generate a lead and convince a potential prospect to either learn more about a product or service or to buy that product or service.

A discovery call, on the other hand, is the first point of contact with a potential buyer that a salesperson makes after that prospect has shown some initial interest in a product or service. The purpose of the discovery call is to discover more about the prospect. It gives sales reps the opportunity to learn about pain points or issues for which a prospect needs a solution, as well as to build rapport with them and establish trust.

3-Step Checklist For a Successful Discovery Call

As mentioned earlier, the success or failure of your discovery call can essentially make or break your relationship with the prospect. Following this simple 3-step process will enable you to make successful discovery calls the majority of the time.

Before The Call

• • Check your CRM for any previous interactions with the prospect. This will give you some extra information you can use to create a rapport with the prospect and will show them that you’ve been paying attention. They want to know that they’re being heard, not just pitched to. So checking your CRM is the first place you should start when building out your customer profile prior to your discovery call.
  • Research the prospect in LinkedIn, their own website, search engines, and news sources. Again, this is about gleaning whatever information you can about your prospect from all avenues at your disposal. LinkedIn will allow you to see what he or she does in their role at their organization, while search engines and news sources could give you some insight into who they are as a person, where they came from, why they joined this industry, etc. Try to find something that you have in common. Maybe you attended the same university, or both grew up in small Midwestern towns. If a prospect finds you relatable, they’re far more likely to buy. “By knowing what he or she does in their role, what their company and industry does, and where they came from (i.e. what content they engaged with, where they traveled on your website beforehand, etc.) you can easily move into further exploration,” says Gong.io.
  • Learn about their needs. What are the biggest issues your prospect is facing? If you can learn about their needs and their pain points, you can tailor your discovery call to those needs in order to show them just how your product or service can be a great benefit to them.

During The Call

• • Explain the purpose of the call. This should be pretty self-explanatory. Though discovery calls are different from cold calls, it is still the first contact that you’re having with this prospect, so you’re going to need to explain to them who you are, what you do, and the reason for your call. Don’t be too pitchy, though. Remember, prospects like to be wooed, not sold to.
  • Remember the 70/30 rule. One of the most significant advantages of the 70/30 rule is that it allows you to ensure that the proper prospects are moving through your sales funnel. This idea also benefits the prospect because he or she is not exposed to heavy sales tactics, which is a huge turn-off for many prospects, especially in the discovery stage. When you spend less time pitching and more time asking questions and then actively listening to a prospect’s answers, you’re far better able to adapt your value prop as you go. It also allows you more opportunity to learn about your prospect, which, in the end, lets you select your product or service that best fits their needs.
  • Ask questions to unveil their top priorities. According to Zendesk, some of the best questions to ask your prospect include:

• • • What goal is your business trying to achieve at this moment?
    • What are your main roadblocks stopping you from achieving that goal?
    • What is at stake for your company if you don’t reach your goal?
    • Are you the sole decision-maker? And if not, who else is involved in making purchasing decisions?
    • Has your company tried other software solutions before? What were they? What didn’t you like about them?
    • What is your current budget?
    • Do you have any questions or concerns about our product or service that I can address for you?
• • Lay out the next steps. What are your next steps once you’ve concluded the discovery call? Will you email them some information they’ve asked for? Set up a call with a sales representative? Schedule an in-person meeting? Invite them to a webinar? Ensure you have a list of next steps tailored to your prospect so that you can lay them out for them before you end your call. This will help keep a schedule on things, rather than simply leaving everything up in the air.

After The Call

• Update your CRM with the information you gathered during your call. This is an extremely important step, and one not to be forgotten. The reason for this is that if your discovery call was a success, then your likely next step will be to hand off the information you learned to the rest of your team. As Lucidchart says, “The challenge here is that everybody on the sales team needs access to discovery call information. If they can’t get it, then the handoff becomes a buyer experience fumble. If you forget to update your CRM with this new information, then the rest of your team won’t have access to it, thus making it extremely difficult for them to continue to funnel your propect down the sales pipeline until they ultimately make a purchase.
• Send a follow-up email with a summary of your call. This will help to keep you top of mind for your prospect. It will also give them something to look back on when taking the next step of the buying process. A succinct, well-written summary follow-up email assists the buyer in remembering the major aspects of your call, while also making you appear more structured, methodical, and in command. This will boost their confidence and trust in you.