In the legal world, there is a process called discovery wherein the two parties exchange information and the known facts of a case. Both sides present and disclose all obtained evidence, which helps them decide on their next steps. Do they proceed to trial, negotiate a settlement, or drop the case?
In sales, discovery also takes place. You gather all possible and available information and intelligence on a prospect so you can also decide on your next steps. Do you pursue the prospect or de-prioritize because he/she proves not to be a good fit for your product or service?
A sales discovery call provides you with important sales intelligence. It allows you to qualify a prospect so you won’t have to waste any time, energy, or resources pursuing a low-quality lead.
But for the discovery call to be successful, you must do it properly—and remember these tips.
5 Tips for Successful Discovery Calls
1. Plan the timing
The question of when to call is legitimate. You need to call when the timing is good for your prospect—so you don’t waste your time. Take note of these findings on the best time(s) of day to make sales calls:
- Wednesdays and Thursdays remain the best days of the week to call prospects
- The best time to call a prospect is between 4:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. The second best time is between 11:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m.
- The worst times to call is between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m.
Of course, these stats are never fool-proof. You may have to go through some trial-and-error with your prospects to determine the best time to contact them.
2. Strategize on your approachWhile the goal of a sales discovery call is to get answers that will help you qualify the prospect, you still need to plan your overall approach—not just your questioning approach. You have to prepare for every possible scenario that can happen during the call. Don’t risk winging the call; it’s best to be prepared.
- Research the prospect and his business, industry, product/service, competition, etc. You have to know enough to warrant a meaningful conversation. You would also want to speak with the decision maker right away, and so you need to know who that is. Take the time to do good research on your target.
- Ask yourself: What do you want to achieve specifically for this call? What kind of information do you need to gather? What data do you need from them to complete your lead scoring? Write down your goals for the call.
- Keep your tone conversational and personable. You want to establish rapport with the prospect.
- Make a mental note to talk less and listen more. You will gather more information the more you allow the prospect to talk. On some occasions, the prospect is not very talkative. This is the time to goad them with compelling questions.
- When you ask questions, avoid close-ended ones—or those that can be answered with a simple “yes” or “no.”
- Condition yourself that the main goal of the call is to qualify, not sell. However, if in the course of the conversation, the opportunity to pitch presents itself (e.g. a customer asks about your product straightaway), then be prepared to “sell.”
- Don’t just ask questions. Show the prospect that you’ve also done some research on them and that you’re not going into the call blindly. Ask questions that validate the research you've done. The prospect will appreciate you making the effort to get to know them.
- Prepare to counter common sales call objections.
3. Prepare your questions
Your qualifying questions will decide if the call will be successful or not, so make sure to prepare your questions very well. Once you know what you want to achieve with the call, it will be easy to come up with a list of qualifying questions. However, you have to make sure that your questions will cover a lot of “bases,” and so you want to prepare for questions that:
- Clear up the prospect’s needs, problems, challenges, pain points, issues, and concerns
- Clarify the prospect’s goals and aspirations
- Describe prospect’s motivation(s) to purchase from you
- Validate your research on the prospect
- Explain the prospect’s business, industry, competition, and target market
- Clarify the prospect’s authority and the company’s decision-making process
- Establish rapport
- Bring up your competition
- Spell out the prospect’s budget and timeline
- Determine if prospect is fit for your product and vice-versa
4. Do follow-up questions
You don’t want to go through your questions like a human survey form. Allow for the questioning to happen naturally and effortlessly. Don’t just go through your list; add follow-up questions. Adjust your questions when necessary. While you’re essentially “interviewing” your prospect, you also still want to establish a meaningful conversation.
5. Prepare to share testimonial stories
Everyone likes a good story. For your prospect, a good story will be one that’s relevant to him, with a “happy ending” that’s similar to what he wants to achieve. So prepare to share stories that are essentially testimonials for your product. These stories will help you establish the value you're offering the prospect, and as a bonus, they will also make the call more conversational. You can quickly mention another client from the same industry as prospect’s—and the successful results of his purchase and use of your product. Or disclose another successful customer case that had the same problems the prospect currently has. Don’t make it a long and winding story though. A few lines should make for a comprehensive gist. Just focus on the problem that was solved—this is all the prospect wants to know anyway.
There is no one strategy or formula to follow when doing a discovery call. But a successful sales discovery call does entail smart planning, proper research on the prospect, asking the right questions, and establishing a good rapport with the prospect. Try these five tips to improve the quality of your discovery calls. Good luck!
Photos from Unsplash. Main image by Hannah Wei
