Discovery calls are essential sales components, the first milestone in converting prospects into real customers. This type of contact is more than a simple cold calling; it is deeply connected to a prospect’s needs, pain points, and goals.
An active list and the right questions allow sales professionals to gain valuable insights that help them create a way to deliver personalized solutions.
These calls can determine whether the opportunity that marketers see exists, helping to ensure that both parties’ time and energy are well spent. In addition to determining the leads’ qualifications, discovery calls are one of the pillars of creating a deep and stable customer relationship. It can even set the stage for long-term partnerships and align expectations.
In this article, we are going to examine this type of telemarketing thoroughly. 🔍
What Is a Discovery Call? ☎️
As we mentioned in the introduction, a discovery call is an initial conversation between SDRs or sales reps and potential customers to identify the customer’s needs, preferences, challenges, interests, and goals.
This usually happens during the initial call (cold call). As Sand Plus defines it, “A discovery call is the first interaction with a prospect interested in a specific product or service. During a discovery call, sales representatives determine whether potential clients fit their ideal customer profile.”
This call is the basis of understanding the potential customer’s needs, as it allows the salesperson to explore the customer’s challenges, goals, and decision-making process.
In such a case, the salesperson will have the time to design and deliver personalized solutions that best suit the prospects’ problems. Without a good discovery call, it will be challenging to establish the “why” to attract the customer’s attention to our product or service, so gaining insight beforehand becomes important.
Why Are Discovery Calls Important?
By now, you must have realized the importance of product discovery. These calls allow sales teams to dive deeper into a prospect’s pain points, uncover motivations, and assess whether the product or service fits the customer’s needs.
These calls help simplify the sales process, improve efficiency, and ultimately increase the chances of closing deals. Let’s take a look at the reasons why this type of contact is important in detail. 👇
1. Qualifying Leads Efficiently
The discovery call is a filtering mechanism whereby the sales team can determine whether a prospect is worth pursuing. This is important in keeping precious time and energy from the wrong leads. It points to the B2B claim that companies with effective lead qualifications scoring report a 50% increase in conversion rates.
This high percentage is because, through discovery calls, the professional salespeople get a better idea of whether the lead has the right budget and interest to solve their problem with the companies’ offerings.
Additionally, discovery calls help the sales team overcome one of the biggest sales limitations: talking to a decision-maker.
According to Spotio, “An analysis of more than 2,200 American companies found those who attempted to reach leads within an hour were nearly 7 times likelier to have meaningful conversations with decision makers than those who waited even sixty minutes.”
A discovery call helps determine who should be involved; thus, more targeted engagement is needed for better results.
2. Smoothen the Sales Process
Discovery calls make the sales process significantly more efficient. Sales teams can qualify and disqualify leads through the right questions from the beginning of the process.
This reduces time wasted on prospects who may never convert into customers. It also helps to shorten the sales cycle. Using the discovery call as part of a company’s sales process shortens its sales cycles.
This, in turn, helps sales teams tune their solution with their target audiences’ problems and goals, as they already know many of the critical factors about that lead.
According to McKinsey, approximately 70% of buyer experiences involve feeling better understood by the salesperson. This discovery call is one of the most important moments during the relationship-building period.
3. Personalization in Sales Approach
Such discovery calls provide insights for salespeople to personalize their approach. The salesperson can show how their product can solve the customer’s specific challenges, which can lead to more effective conversations.
Third-party calls also reveal pain points that even the leads may not be aware of. This puts the sales rep in a better position as a consultant than someone who just wants to sell you something.
4. Building Trust and Communication
Finally, discovery calls aren’t just about qualifying leads but are about building a relationship with your prospect. In a competitive market where customers often have many choices, trust, and rapport can sometimes make or break your deal.
According to the Harvard Business Review, trust is a huge determinant of customer loyalty, and excellent relationships with potential customers through meaningful calls and interactions can increase customer retention rates by up to 25%.
Discovery calling allows the sales team to empathize and listen to the individual’s concerns, demonstrating a genuine interest in the customer’s needs and laying the foundation for a trusting relationship.
What’s the Difference Between a Discovery Call and a Sales Call?
In the sales cycle, the terms “discovery call” and “sales call” are distinct but complement each other. You need to understand the difference to guide the customer through the sales funnel properly.
In the rest of this article, you will see that the SDR, marketer, or sales representative asks open-ended questions to understand the prospect’s needs and interests.
For example, a sales rep might ask, “What are your financial challenges right now?” This conversation lets both parties determine whether moving forward with deeper engagement makes sense.
The sales call is the next stage of the cycle. During this call, you have more information about the person on the other end, which can help you find various solutions to their problems. Sales calls will focus more on the product, and the approach is mainly to provide value, explain benefits, and address specific customer concerns.
While the discovery call provides knowledge, the sales call guides the customer further along, closer to the stage where they would make a purchase decision. Sales representatives may offer demos or discuss pricing and terms on a sales call.
While the discovery call is about insights and fit, the sales call is about the sale. Both are equally important in building rapport to drive a prospect toward a purchase decision.
Steps to Run a Successful Discovery Call
Achieving results in anything requires planning and structuring; a discovery call is no exception. This is as important as active listening to understand the prospects’ and leads’ interests.
In this section, we mention a call planning guide.
1. Preparation Is Key
Even running requires preparation, so why not a discovery call? Get sufficient information about the potential customers’ industry, competitors, and common challenges.
Understand their business model and who calls the shots. Set the introduction right and have the right tone. Prepare questions that allow them to uncover pain points and needs. Prepare a cold calling script. Be prepared for any questions about the product you are offering.
2. Set a Clear Agenda
Having a specific goal and plan for making a discovery call is very important. Tell people what you are calling them for. Being secretive and mysterious will only make your job harder.
I love saying, “We’re calling you to learn more about the challenges you’re facing in X.” Due to prior preparation, I usually can solve clients’ challenges immediately .
3. Ask Open-Ended Questions
At the core of all discovery calls is asking open-ended questions. These questions encourage people to continue talking.
For example, “What is your main priority in this working season?” or “Can you walk me through your current process?” Such questions stimulate people to talk to you about their challenges and problems.
4. Hear Them Out and Take Notes
Active listening is the most important skill any marketer should have; practice it. Never interrupt your leads’ talking, even if you feel they unconsciously change the subject. Because even in irrelevant words, you can find important points about their personalities, interests, and problems. Make sure to note these points.
5. Summarize and Align Solutions
Summarize what was found in the call and relate each challenge to a solution. Show the customer how your product can be a solution to their problem. This strengthens the understanding but also presents your offering as ideal.
What Questions Should I Ask Prospects in a Discovery Call?
This is my favorite part: Open-Ended Questions!
As you can see, these questions can make a significant difference in the call process. In this section, I want to mention the six questions I have worked with over the years and the reasons for using them.
1. What Are Your Biggest Business Challenges?
This question helps you directly target the leads’ pain points and problems and suggest the best solution to correct their situation. No matter what their challenge is, whether it’s inefficiency, low revenue, or limited ability to grow, this insight is key to aligning your product or service.
2. What Are Your Goals for the Next 6-12 Months?
This question helps you understand your leads’ short—and long-term priorities. It also shows you if you are dealing with a quality lead or if your product/service aligns with their goals.
3. Who Are the People Involved in the Decision-Making Process?
This question may be challenging because gatekeepers, especially in larger companies, are usually not interested in giving you much information about their decision-makers. Yet, finding out who makes the buying decision puts you in a position to know if you are talking to the right person.
If you find the answer to this question, you will understand if the shareholders must be involved in the purchase process or if only one person makes the final call.
Of course, there is always a way to bypass the gatekeepers and contact the CEO; one of these ways is to use the various CUFinder services.
4. What’s Your Budget for Solving This Issue?
This is another challenging and yet very important question. Budget insight helps you save time on prospects who need help to afford your solution. This question is a way to make the pricing conditions of what you want to offer more realistic. However, you can also use the CUFinder’s Prospect Engine to measure the income of B2B leads without messing with different people.
5. What Solutions Have You Tried in the Past, and What Worked or Did Not?
When you learn about prospects’ past experiences, you can offer them a new solution. This question helps you suggest alternative solutions to potential customers based on their problems and refrain from offering repeated products and services.
6. What Is Your Timetable for Making a Decision?
This question helps you manage time and prioritize leads based on their urgency. If a lead intends to wait to buy, you can postpone the negotiation and focus on a potential customer who may decide easier.
How Long Should a Discovery Call Last?
It is impossible to say exactly how long a discovery call should be; it depends on the complexity and nature of the products and services you offer. However, in most cases, it is recommended that the duration be between 15 and 30 minutes.
This time frame is short enough to keep potential customers engaged but long enough to gather essential information about their needs. This period shows that you are not a talkative one and respect the prospect’s time.
In fact, what is important about call time is that a short but focused discovery call can show that you are professional and fully aware of how busy the customer is. In addition, long calls can get distracted from the purpose. To keep the conversation length optimal, it is important to be clear about your goals and stick to a predetermined structure.
Handling Objections During a Discovery Call
It is very important to be able to handle objections during discovery calls. Leads may always have concerns about price, the fit of the product to their goals and problems, or even the product or service’s value.
Do not panic! Instead of treating objections as obstacles, use them to clarify misunderstandings and give them more attractive offers.
One method is never to get defensive when faced with objections, but instead to use your tone to convey to the customer that you understand their concerns.
For example, if they mention pricing as an issue, say, “I know budget is important. Can you share more information about your ideal pricing structure?” This approach can give you a lot of information about what people are worried about.
The Role of Active Listening in Discovery Calls
As mentioned, active listening is one of the most important marketing abilities, but its importance in telemarketing is much higher. As Hayward Business Review defines, active listening is “When you not only hear what someone is saying but also attune to their thoughts and feelings. It turns a conversation into an active, non-competitive, two-way interaction.”
Active listening means pausing before responding, repeating the customer’s key points, and asking follow-up questions to demonstrate your understanding.
For example, if they mention needing help with lead generation, you could say: “You also said you were having difficulty with it. Can you tell me about the biggest challenges you’re facing?”
Benefits of Active Listening 💰
- Focus: By listening more actively, you’ll gain better information from the prospect about their pain points.
- Trust: Listening to the prospect tells them they can trust you for the correct solution.
- No Assumptions: Listening protects means no assumptions about their needs.
Wrapping Up a Discovery Call: Next Steps
This article discussed the ultimate guide to discovery calls and the tips you should know for a successful connection. But there is still one very important thing left, right? How should you end the call?
I suggest summarizing what you could gather during the call to ensure you got the leads’ needs correctly. This will solve many misunderstandings.
Do not hang up before setting the next step, such as offering to schedule a follow-up meeting for a product demo, sending additional resources, or even tailoring an offer to the client’s needs. It is very important to ask the person for a specific time for the next step. For example, ask, “Will you be available for a demo next Tuesday at 10 a.m.?”
Remember to send follow-up emails at the proper time. This email should include a summary of the conversation, promised resources, and confirmation of the next steps.
Doing so keeps the engagement alive and shows professionalism, increasing the likelihood of moving the prospect further down the sales pipeline.
A good discovery call balances listening and answering concerns while guiding the conversation to actionable next steps. Perfecting these elements will help you build better relationships with your prospects while increasing your chances of closing deals.
FAQs
1. What is a good agenda for a discovery call?
An agenda for a discovery call would include a brief introduction, learning the prospect’s pains, presenting your solution, and discussing the next steps or follow-ups.
2. What distinguishes a cold call from a discovery call?
A cold call is the first communication made to a prospect with whom you have had no previous contact. In contrast, discovery calls are generally made after a certain level of communication has already occurred. During a discovery call, the speaker will focus on asking questions to learn more about your prospect’s unique needs, challenges, and goals.
3. How do you ask open-ended questions on a discovery call to uncover client needs?
Instead of asking straightforward factual questions on a discovery call, the focus will be on raising sensible open-ended questions to understand the client’s needs, challenges, and interests. This provides the right setting to develop a relationship based on confidence and mutual understanding regardi
Bad
Okay
Good
Amazing
