The Ultimate Guide to Running a High-Impact Sales Discovery Call

Successful sales discovery calls are crucial, serving as the foundation of the entire sales process. These calls enable sellers to understand their buyers' challenges, objectives, and operating environments. By uncovering this in-depth knowledge, sellers can craft tailored solutions that address each buyer's unique circumstances, ultimately fostering stronger relationships and driving successful outcomes.

However, only 26% of buyers believe sellers excel at identifying their needs, revealing a gap in discovery skills. To truly understand buyers, sellers must ask the right questions and actively listen. Yet, listening is another weak spot: only a quarter of buyers feel sellers are good at it. Without strong listening skills, sellers miss the chance to fully address buyers' needs, limiting their ability to provide comprehensive solutions and drive revenue.

Mary Flaherty will guide you through how to lead a thorough, collaborative discovery call that uncovers the full scope of buyer needs. Plus, download our free checklist with ten powerful questions to help you uncover those needs effectively.

What Is a Sales Discovery Call?

A sales discovery call is the first conversation between a seller and a potential buyer, typically over the phone or online. The main purpose of this call is to gather insights into the buyer’s needs, challenges, goals, and buying process to assess whether there's a good match between the buyer’s needs and the seller’s offerings.

This step is vital in the sales process because, beyond identifying needs, it allows sellers to qualify leads. By focusing on prospects who are more likely to convert into customers, sellers can save time and resources.

During the call, sellers ask questions to prompt buyers to share details about their situation. These questions cover the buyer’s challenges, desired outcomes, decision-making process, budget, and timelines. The insights gained from this conversation help the seller tailor solutions that align with the prospect’s specific needs.

To run an effective discovery call, sellers must prepare thoroughly, listen actively, and ask insightful questions that uncover the buyer’s pain points and aspirations. How well a seller conducts this call can significantly influence the success of the overall sales process.

11 Steps to Conduct a Comprehensive Needs Discovery Call

1.        Prepare for the Discovery Call

To have a meaningful and productive conversation, equip yourself with a solid understanding of the buyer and their business.

Preparation involves:

• Researching the Buyer’s Business: Learn about the company’s industry, size, market position, and recent news or achievements. Familiarize yourself with common industry challenges and how your solutions might address them.

• Understanding the Buyer’s Role: Know who you're speaking with and their responsibilities within the company. Understanding their challenges, key performance indicators (KPIs), and objectives will allow you to tailor your approach to their needs. 

• Identifying Potential Needs: Based on your research, pinpoint areas where the buyer might require assistance. Although the discovery call is intended to uncover needs directly from the buyer, having an informed hypothesis will guide your questions and demonstrate that you've done your homework.

• Preparing Tailored Questions: Develop a list of questions that encourage the buyer to share details about their challenges, goals, and the impact of their current processes. These questions should seek information and spark deeper insights into the buyer’s needs.

• Knowing Your Solutions: Be well-versed in your products or services, particularly how they've helped other clients in similar situations. This will enable you to make relevant connections between the buyer's needs and your offerings during the conversation.

Thorough preparation shows professionalism and respect for the buyer's time. It also sets the stage for a more effective and engaging conversation, building a strong foundation for the relationship and advancing the sales process.

2.        Ask Questions Before the Call

Enhance the effectiveness of your discovery call by sending questions in advance via email or a survey, depending on what works best for your business.

Here’s how this approach benefits you:

• If the buyer responds, you might receive more detailed answers than you’d have time to gather during the call.

• It can speed up the sales cycle, potentially reducing the # of meetings required before a purchase decision is made.

• The buyer engages with you beforehand, setting the stage for collaboration even before the conversation begins.

• Even if the buyer says, “I don’t have time to answer these questions now, but let’s cover them in the meeting,” they’ve likely read the questions and started thinking about them.

In short, this strategy can accelerate the process, provide deeper insights, and leave a positive impression on the buyer. You’ll build trust and set yourself apart from competitors by tailoring your questions to their situations.

3.        Utilize a Variety of Needs Discovery Questions

Asking questions is straightforward, but the way you ask them is crucial. The manner of your inquiries can significantly influence the needs you uncover. To maximize the effectiveness of your discovery calls, incorporate a blend of broad open-ended, specific open-ended, and closed-ended questions. 

• Broad Open-ended Questions: These questions encourage buyers to share their thoughts and experiences.

For example:

“What’s happening in your world these days?”

“Can you provide some context about what’s going on in your division?”

“When considering HR at your company, where do you see opportunities for improvement?”

• Specific Open-ended Questions: If broad questions don’t yield much information, transition to more specific open-ended questions. These are designed to uncover latent needs the buyer may not recognize. Such questions typically elicit one of three responses: a clear need, a lack of perceived need, or uncertainty.

For example:

“You mentioned wanting to enhance your company’s efficiency. Let’s focus on billable hours—how closely do your monthly numbers align with your projections?”

“Regarding staffing, do your current employees possess the necessary skills to drive the company forward? Where do you see knowledge gaps?”

“What initiatives would you like to pursue but feel you lack the resources to tackle right now?”

• Closed-ended Questions: These questions are effective for diagnosing specific issues. Whether you receive a “yes” or “no,” they pave the way for follow-up questions that encourage the buyer to elaborate. Closed-ended questions can help reveal needs the buyer might not yet view as problems, prompting them to reconsider their situation.

For example:

“Do you believe you’re consistently hiring the best candidates?”

“Are you attracting the right pool of candidates during your hiring process, and are they coming in quickly enough?”

“Do you feel you waste significant time sorting through unqualified candidates to find the top talent?”

“When you extend offers, do the top candidates accept them as frequently as you would like?"

The goal is to progress from general inquiries to more specific ones, helping buyers articulate their perceptions of their needs, express a broader range of challenges, and gather enough information for you to propose effective solutions that spark interest and motivate action.

4.        Ask Both Afflictions (Pain)-Based Questions and Aspirational Questions

Needs discovery begins with identifying a buyer’s problems, frustrations, pains, irritations, and challenges—or, as we refer to them, afflictions. It’s essential to understand these issues to determine how you can help.

Uncovering afflictions is a critical step in the sales process for a simple reason: when a buyer shares their afflictions with you, they likely want to alleviate them. The buyer must also evaluate whether investing time, money, and effort to resolve these issues is worthwhile.

Each affliction you uncover provides an opportunity to explore its true impact.

The more openly you discuss afflictions with buyers, the more prominent these concerns will become in their minds. Discussing one affliction can lead to the revelation of additional afflictions that the buyer may not have initially considered. It’s like brainstorming, where one idea tends to spark another.

If buyers believe they have no afflictions, they are unlikely to act, including purchasing your products or services. In such cases, it’s your role to help the buyer recognize that their situation may not be as favorable as they think and that they have afflictions worth addressing.

However, uncovering afflictions is only part of the equation, as they represent only the negative aspects of the buyer’s needs. Focusing solely on the negative can result in missed opportunities to generate new prospects.

What do we mean by missing half the buyer’s needs?

Consider this example:

Mark meets with Ruth, the owner of a medium-sized business, who is dissatisfied with her current tax services provider. Their conversation reveals missing deadlines, a lack of personal touch, and outdated knowledge. Mark’s firm, recognized for its industry expertise and exceptional customer service, clearly surpasses Ruth’s provider. Through his questioning, Mark identifies how his firm can assist, outlining the next steps and feeling optimistic about acquiring a new client.

As the meeting wraps up, Ruth invites Mark to lunch with her company’s lawyer. The lawyer’s forward-looking questions at lunch uncover the business owner’s ambitious plans and future initiatives.

These forward-looking questions—focused on aspirations rather than problem-solving—include:

“So, what’s happening at your company lately?”

“What do you want to accomplish in the next year?”

“What are your stretch goals for the business?”

“What do you think you need to achieve these goals?”

“What knowledge do you still need to acquire?”

By listening, Mark discovers several strategic areas where his firm’s expertise aligns perfectly, including a niche company valuation—an area where he excels and that promises significant fees. This encounter opens new avenues for collaboration, allowing Mark to leverage his expertise in ways he hadn’t anticipated during the initial sales conversation.

So, what happened here? How did Mark miss these opportunities earlier?

During the initial sales meeting, Mark concentrated on uncovering and addressing the buyer’s afflictions. He effectively learned about the buyer’s problems and how he could help. However, the lawyer focused on the buyer’s aspirations during the lunch meeting. By doing so, the lawyer revealed a new set of needs that Mark hadn’t brought to the surface. The lawyer emphasized the second half of business needs—the positive, the future, and the possibilities—the aspirations.

For your next needs discovery call, aim to uncover the areas of your buyer’s pain and problems that you can address while also focusing on their aspirations and how you can help achieve them. This approach will lead to richer conversations, deeper relationships, and greater sales success.

 5.        Ask “Why?” to Get to the Root Cause

 A particularly effective approach to needs discovery is known as the Five Whys. This method is a crucial element of top-tier needs discovery because understanding the root causes of problems will shape your solution and determine its success.

The Five Whys is a design-thinking technique that asks “Why?” five times. This technique goes beyond simply addressing the symptoms of a problem; it enables business leaders to tackle the underlying causes, leading to a permanent resolution and establishing a new reality.

Using this method, you can collaborate with buyers to uncover the root cause of their needs, allowing you to craft the most compelling, impactful, and enduring solutions.

The Five Whys is a problem-solving and critical thinking tool, like removing weeds by the root, essential to effective gardening. If you only address a symptom in business without resolving the underlying cause, the issue will likely resurface, like a weed pulled out without removing its root. You will achieve lasting improvement by fixing the root cause of a problem.

6.        Seek to Uncover Both Rational and Emotional Needs

Selling is fundamentally about change. It's about persuasion and guiding buyers from their current state to a better future—their New Reality.

To inspire and persuade effectively, you must understand your buyer’s needs. Without this understanding, you won’t be able to accurately compare the buyer's current reality with their potential New Reality.

There are two categories of buyer needs:

• Rational Needs: These are the explicit rational needs articulated by the buyer, typically financial, technical, or strategic. Rational needs may also be hidden and not yet disclosed by the buyer.

• Emotional Needs: These can be explicitly stated needs or simply suspected. Common themes of emotional needs include professional, social, or psychological factors, which can hold just as much weight as rational needs.

Emotion is a powerful driver in sales. It’s often said that people buy with their hearts and then justify their decisions with their heads. Buyers may not even recognize the emotional needs that underlie what they perceive as rational decisions.

For your solution to truly resonate with buyers, you must be aware of the emotional needs that underpin rational needs. Emotional needs often influence the final buying decision. By appealing to the right emotions, you can inspire your buyer to make a change that positively impacts their business.

 7.        Transcribe Needs in Real Time

 During your discovery call, document the buyer’s needs for them to see. If the call is virtual, you can share your screen, and if it’s in person, utilize a whiteboard or flipchart. This transparency lets the buyer observe how you interpret their words and process the information in real time.

This practice helps ensure that you and the buyer are aligned, sometimes quite literally. Additionally, it allows them to refine or clarify any points you might not have captured accurately, saving you time and effort later.

It’s a straightforward approach, but the impact of visually capturing thoughts and ideas can be profound. When buyers see their input written down, they know they are being heard and recognized. It reinforces that you’re both on this journey, fostering a shared understanding of their needs.

 8.        Keep the 30+3 Rule in Mind

The 30+3 rule states that you have 30 seconds to capture your audience’s attention, and if you don’t re-engage them every 3 minutes, you risk losing their focus. Start your call with questions immediately to engage your buyer within the first 30 seconds.

For example, you might ask, “Big picture: what are you hoping to accomplish?” While it may seem straightforward, it’s a powerful way to encourage the buyer to start talking.

If you’re on a virtual call, share your screen and begin screen journaling, or use a whiteboard if you’re meeting in person. This approach effectively maintains attention and keeps participants engaged.

In a call with multiple attendees, ensure everyone has a chance to contribute. You could say, “Terry, you’ve been quiet so far. What’s on your mind?”

As you facilitate the conversation, consider displaying pre-planned categories of common needs and immediately begin categorizing the buyer’s responses. This strategy helps keep everyone focused on the discussion and encourages them to consider their needs within the various categories.

 9.        Use a Checklist

 Utilize a visual tool that outlines the various needs commonly encountered by buyers in your industry or specific type. For instance, you can create a checklist based on your research and review it with the buyer to ensure all relevant categories of needs are addressed.

 If the buyer overlooks a critical area, you can prompt them for feedback and explain its significance. For example, you might say, “It seems to me that if we focused on these three areas, we could achieve significant gains in performance and ROI. Do you agree? Are there other areas we should consider?”

This approach fosters immediate engagement and facilitates a deeper discussion, enhancing your ability to uncover needs effectively.

 10.  Establish Clear Next Steps

 After investing valuable time with your prospect—whether it’s 30 minutes, 45, or longer—what comes next? While it might seem logical to jump straight to a proposal, it’s often too soon for such a commitment. A more strategic approach is to send a follow-up email or discussion document that confirms your shared understanding of needs from the discovery call.

In your follow-up email:

• Outline your understanding of their current situation.

• Confirm the shared understanding of needs. Summarize what you heard during the call and list the core needs as you understood them. Highlight any gaps and offer insights. For example, if you discussed needs A, B, and C, share any common pitfalls you've encountered in addressing these issues and suggest opening a discussion to explore them further. Finally, request confirmation from the buyer. Ask them to confirm the needs you've identified and if there’s anything you may have missed. This reinforces your shared understanding and showcases your listening skills and effective discovery of needs.

• Evaluate how your solutions align with their challenges.

• Propose next steps: Communicate what you believe to be the most beneficial next step. Seek the buyer’s agreement on this proposed action, schedule a specific time, and ensure you follow through on any promises made during the discussion. This proactive approach demonstrates your commitment and keeps the momentum of the sales process moving forward.

 11.  Embrace Ongoing Needs Discovery

 Needs discovery doesn’t end with the initial discovery call; it’s a continuous journey that extends throughout the sales process and into account management.

 Once a sale is closed, effective account management relies on your ability to adapt to your client's evolving needs and maintain open lines of communication. Regularly revisiting and updating your understanding of their requirements transforms you from being just a vendor to becoming a trusted advisor dedicated to your client’s long-term success.

 This ongoing discovery process strengthens client loyalty and ensures that your solutions remain aligned with their shifting goals.

 By collaboratively and effectively uncovering your buyer’s needs, you position yourself to suggest relevant solutions and move closer to closing additional sales.