Key Steps in Discovery Calls

I've spent 10 years perfecting the art of discovery calls: - reviewed over 2,500 discovery recordings - analyzed millions of discovery calls with AI - personally run (estimated) 3,000 disco calls Here's 5 of my best discovery call tips for 2023: 1. Discovery is a process. Not an event. It’s not a STAGE during the sales cycle. It’s a process. Your buyer’s situation is in flux. If you do “set it and forget it” discovery, you lose. Bad salespeople treat discovery as “check the box." They "front load" discovery. Great salespeople do continuous discovery. Don't set it and forget it. 2. The best discovery CREATES value. It makes buyers THINK. "Most" discovery CONSUMES value. It merely gathers info. Yes, you need to uncover things. But if that's ALL you do? You build a transactional relationship. Don't settle for transactional. Settle for transformative. - challenge your buyer - diagnose the cause of issues - make them consider new angles $500k+ earners do that. 3. Uncover the 'need behind the need.' For whatever reason: Most buyers share surface-level info. I'm not sure why. I suspect it's just how humans crystallize thoughts. Try asking this: "Thanks for sharing that. Do you mind if I ask what's going on in your business that's driving that to be a priority to begin with?" Or, ask them to take you back in time. Your buyer once had a meeting with colleagues to discuss the issue they're trying to solve. That triggered them to reach out to you (among other actions). Ask them about that: "I have to assume you had a meeting with colleagues where you discussed the issue, and agreed to act on it. What did that meeting sound like?" There's gold behind that question. 4. Re-validate everything. Never assume that what you uncovered remains true. Priorities change. Buyers’ needs are transient. When things change, you’d better know. If you followed the last tip, you’ll uncover priorities. But if you treat discovery as “set it and forget it," you’ll miss. Here’s how to re-validate: Start every follow up sales meeting with this: "What’s changed since the last time we talked?" 5. Phrase questions to get LONG answers Hate it when buyers answer with one-word responses? It sucks. According to data, successful salespeople get LONG answers to questions. Here’s how: SIGNAL to your buyer that you want a long response. Do that by phrasing your questions the right way. Start your question with one of these phrases: - help me understand... - walk me through... - talk to me about... This phrasing signals that you want your buyer to answer in depth. You’ll get richer answers. I'm out of space. If you want more, let me know? Until then, know this: Questions are the most powerful tool you have to sell. I spent 10 years collecting the best sales questions in a Google Doc. I tested them. I refined them. Now you can use them. Here's the mega list sales questions: https://lnkd.in/g-VRcCsq

I’ve done 350+ discovery calls in the past 3 years and closed 7+ figures in contract value. I always structure my 1st call in the same 5-step format: Great sales is nothing more than a structured approach to help prospects make a decision. It shows them that I’m understanding and have their best interest at heart. I consider sales to be part of the service. It’s consulting. Here's how my discovery calls look: 𝟭. 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 I want to find out as much as possible about them. My goal is to understand their journey & personality, and also make them feel heard & understood off the bat. They talk, I shut up. If they jump straight into business, I gently steer them back. ___ 𝟮. 𝗔𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘇𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝘁 Next, I dive into their business model, bottlenecks, and top goals: • Who’s your ICP? • What do you offer? • What’s your marketing status quo? • etc. I figure out if a collaboration makes sense and whether they need our help or something else entirely—like coaching, a new tool, a different vendor, or just advice on improving their current setup. ___ 𝟯. 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗲 𝗠𝘆𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 I recap what they’ve shared and then introduce myself. Here, I try to mirror how they shared their story: • what topics did they focus on? • how far back did they go? • what did they highlight? At the same time, I look for similarities between us to create relatability. Then at the end, I explain what I do on a high level. ___ 𝟰. 𝗞𝗲𝘆 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲𝘀 & 𝗥𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝗕𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗥𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 From there, I introduce the 3 key theses they need to believe for us to work together. • Thesis 1: The decisions we make are influenced by the people we trust and the content we consume. • Thesis 2: Content helps build relationships & trust at scale. • Thesis 3: Content is an infinite game If they're not aligned with this thesis, it usually indicates we're not a fit. At the same time, I also discuss the rough budget range to make sure we're on the same page about expectations early on. ___ 5. 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 If it feels like a fit, I lock in a follow-up call right then. I never leave this for later—it just adds uncertainty and hassle. If it’s not a fit, I still try to offer value—maybe I send some free resources or give advice. ___ 𝗕𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗜 𝗙𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄: • I call out any elephants in the room. • I recap what they say to confirm my understanding and give them a chance to add details. • This also helps me process what they’ve shared. • I always leave room for their questions. • Their needs are #1 priority. #b2bsales #founderledsales #consultativesales

Imagine a doctor walks in, hands you pills, and says "take these." You ask: "For what?" Doctor says: "You will figure it out." You would walk out. That is what most reps do on discovery. They pitch the product in the first five minutes. Before asking one real question. I ran a diagnostic with an MSP client last week. Their reps were jumping to a demo in call one. Win rate was sitting in the high teens. We built a three-step rule. Diagnose. Confirm. Then prescribe. Nothing about the product until you have done the first two. Diagnose means ask questions that surface pain. "What is this costing you each month you do not fix it?" "What have you tried that did not work?" "What happens if nothing changes in 90 days?" Confirm means repeat what you heard. "So what I am hearing is... Is that right?" If they do not say yes, you diagnosed wrong. Go back. Prescribe means tie the solution to the exact pain they just confirmed. Skip the feature dump. Point the fix directly at what they agreed was costing them money. A mid-market HR tech client ran this playbook. Win rate climbed 47% in one quarter. Same price. Same product. Different conversation. Most reps skip to step three. Because step one and two feel slow. Slow in a first call is fast in a closed deal. P.S. If your team is jumping to a demo in call one, that is a process gap. Coaching alone will not fix it. Find out where the biggest leaks are across the team: https://lnkd.in/gypjv8gn

After running 600+ discovery calls over the last 3 years here’s whats obvious Most reps still treat discovery like a script not a conversation 🤷♂️ Thats why deals stall, go dark or never even get off the ground I’ll be honest Early in my career “discovery” felt like just another step in the process Go down the list, ask the questions, move on But every time I did that it backfired → Deals slipped → Buyers went silent → I’d get feedback like “just not the right time” or worse no reply at all It wasnt until I flipped the script that things changed Discovery became the make-or-break moment Not the “qualification round” Not the interrogation Its where trust is built or lost Where you either see the real problem or chase the wrong one So I got obsessed with the basics How do you make discovery feel like a conversation not an interview? Here’s what actually works → 𝗗.𝗜.𝗦.𝗖. 𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 (my not so secret weapon) → D: Discover their world “Whats on your plate right now?” “Whats the big picture for your team?” → I: Identify pain, real pain “Whats slowing you down?” “If you could wave a magic wand what’s the headache you’d get rid of?” → S: Scrutinize decision & landscape “How do you usually tackle stuff like this?” “Anyone else who needs to be looped in?” → C: Clarify success + next steps “What does a win look like here?” “What would make this call worth your time?” I started setting expectations up front “This isnt a pitch. I’m just here to see if there’s an actual problem worth solving together” and closed with clear next steps always What happened? Deals stopped going dark People opened up (sometimes with things they’d never told a vendor before) And my pipeline became real. Full of opportunities that wanted to talk 146 folks tuned in to my Sell Better session with Will Aitken today and the messages after? “Thanks for the great talk!” “Learned a lot & got some great take aways” “I love how you use video for your recap!” The right discovery call doesnt feel like a step in the process. IT is the process So if you’re stuck running scripted calls try making it a conversation Try asking questions you actually care about the answers to Because that’s what opens the door Curious Whats your go to move to make discovery feel human? Drop a comment or DM me if you want the full D.I.S.C. deck or just want to jam on sales process. Always down to talk shop

Most discovery calls feel like an interrogations. Question. After question. After question. “What are you measuring?” “What is it today?” “Where do you want it to be?” “What happens if you do nothing?” “What’s the value of the difference?” Prospects leave lighter, but none the wiser. Want to disrupt the status quo? Bring a point of view that rattles the tray. Look at Enzo Avigo, CEO at June.so. He doesn’t just ask founders about churn. He says, “Your activation metric is lying to you.” Then drops a new lens that reframes the whole dashboard. Suddenly SaaS leaders see a problem they didn’t even have a name for. And June is the only company talking about the cure. You can do the same in discovery calls. Step one: expose an assumption. “Most teams treat last touch attribution like gospel.” Step two: swap in a sharper frame. “The problem is data shows that first‑encounter moments predict revenue far better.” Step three: invite them into the story. “Would you be open to hearing a different perspective on how teams capturing those moments and CAC by up to 30%?” Now you’re not probing; you’re teaching. You’re the guide who names the monster hiding under their bed and flips on the light so they can finally see it. Questions still matter. But when they ride shotgun with a clear point of view, you stop sounding like every other rep and start sounding like the partner who rewrote the playbook. That’s how you win. Not by gathering answers, but by giving people a new question they can’t stop asking themselves

Your Product Managers are talking to customers. So why isn’t your product getting better? A few years ago, I was on a team where our boss had a rule: 🗣️ “Everyone must talk to at least one customer each week.” So we did. Calls were scheduled. Conversations happened. Boxes were checked. But nothing changed. No real insights. No real impact. Because talking to customers isn’t the goal. Learning the right things is. When discovery lacks purpose, it leads to wasted effort, misaligned strategy, and poor business decisions: ❌ Features get built that no one actually needs. ❌ Roadmaps get shaped by the loudest voices, not the right customers. ❌ Teams collect insights… but fail to act on them. How Do You Fix It? ✅ Talk to the Right People Not every customer insight is useful. Prioritize: -> Decision-makers AND end-users – You need both perspectives. -> Customers who represent your core market – Not just the loudest complainers. -> Direct conversations – Avoid proxy insights that create blind spots. 👉 Actionable Step: Before each interview, ask: “Is this customer representative of the next 100 we want to win?” If not, rethink who you’re talking to. ✅ Ask the Right Questions A great question challenges assumptions. A bad one reinforces them. -> Stop asking: “Would you use this?” -> Start asking: “How do you solve this today?” -> Show AI prototypes and iterate in real-time – Faster than long discovery cycles. -> If shipping something is faster than researching it—just build it. 👉 Actionable Step: Replace one of your upcoming interview questions with: “What workarounds have you created to solve this problem?” This reveals real pain points. ✅ Don’t Let Insights Die in a Doc Discovery isn’t about collecting insights. It’s about acting on them. -> Validate across multiple customers before making decisions. -> Share findings with your team—don’t keep them locked in Notion. -> Close the loop—show customers how their feedback shaped the product. 👉 Actionable Step: Every two weeks, review customer insights with your team to decipher key patterns and identify what changes should be applied. If there’s no clear action, you’re just collecting data—not driving change. Final Thought Great discovery doesn’t just inform product decisions—it shapes business strategy. Done right, it helps teams build what matters, align with real customer needs, and drive meaningful outcomes. 👉 Be honest—are your customer conversations actually making a difference? If not, what’s missing? -- 👋 I'm Ron Yang, a product leader and advisor. Follow me for insights on product leadership + strategy.

I interviewed 150+ B2B buyers in the last 6 months. Here’s the most surprising thing I learned: AE's asking for a 30 minute demo call kills pipeline For a buyer, 30 minutes is a HUGE ask. And if you are using a scheduling link and making them wait 2 weeks for that call, you're dead on arrival.    There are over 1,000,000 sales reps in the United States. These 30 minute demo calls add up to millions of decision maker hours every month. You need to use your buyers time (and attention) more responsibly Buyers want instant answers. They do not think 30 min is fair ask just to get clarity on a few questions The problem isn’t the demo but how and when you do it. Here’s what's actually working for sellers today: 1. ChatGPT: Get the answers to your qualifying questions on ChatGPT and spare the buyer with obvious questions 2. Trust : Use the time to build trust and “really” understand the buyer needs. Ask “What value can I provide you with today to earn the right to another call?” 3. Actively Listen: Let the buyer speak. Listen between the lines. Record the call and listen to it again. 4. Reduce time: Reduce the time for discovery calls to 15 min but try to do it within 24-48 hours 5. Solve problems : 30 minutes isn’t enough to build trust. Trust develops over repeat interactions through consistent problem-solving. Get the process started. 6. Many 15 min calls: Try to do multiple 15 min calls with emails or slack. Use the cadence that works best for the buyer to get immediate value. 7. Provide Micro Value: In every call try to deliver something of value - content, free demo, insights, recommendations or introductions. Ask how you can be useful. When buyers reach out they are often looking for expertise and not a demo Sooner they get the answers, the faster they can move through the buyer’s journey Don’t try to slow them down with relentless qualifying questions or irrelevant demos. The future of sales will not be driven by 30 min demo calls It will be won by sellers that respond fast, solve real buyer problems and earn trust in every interaction.  At Zeer AI, we are building research tools that make this future possible. Until then review your content for the 30 min demo calls and keep earning the right to your buyers time.

DISCOVERY ISN'T ABOUT QUESTIONS. IT'S ABOUT REFLECTION. (And nobody's teaching it.) Most discovery calls are extractive. The rep asks. The buyer answers. The rep writes it down. The rep asks the next question. The buyer never has to think. That's not discovery. That's a survey. Here's what discovery actually looks like. The VP of Sales mentions, almost in passing, that the middle tier of reps is struggling. A bad rep writes down "middle tier struggling" and asks the next question. A Gap Selling rep stops. "What does struggling look like?" The VP thinks for a second. "They're not closing the deals they should be closing." Most reps go to "how long has that been the case?" or "what have you tried?" A Gap Selling rep ignores those. They heard the loaded word. "What do you mean by 'should be closing'?" The VP pauses. Longer this time. "The deals that fit our ICP. The ones we're well qualified to win." "What makes a deal one you should be winning?" Now the VP isn't answering anymore. The VP is thinking out loud. "Honestly? Good question. We say 'should win' like we know what we mean. But I'm not sure my reps could tell you what that means in a way I'd agree with." That's the moment. The VP just heard their own assumption out loud for the first time. The middle tier isn't struggling because they can't sell. They're struggling because nobody's defined the ICP or what "should win" means. That's reflection. That's where deals get won. Miller and Rollnick discovered; People believe what they say themselves, not what they're told. Reflection is the discovery skill no methodology teaches. SPIN, Sandler, Challenger — they're all question lists. None of them teach how to make the buyer think. But this is at the core of Gap Selling. It's what Gap Selling is all about. Stop asking questions for answers, ask questions for reflection. There is a difference between answering and reflecting, a big difference! The best discovery isn't the rep who asks the most questions. It's the rep who makes the buyer think the hardest.

Aggressive selling is dead. This is how I build trust and win long-term partnerships in 2026. I've been thinking a lot about how sales people approach discovery calls nowadays. What I noticed is when reps treat SPIN (Situation, Problem, Implication, Need-Payoff) like a rigid script, they risk generic conversations that leak urgency, qualification and consensus. I think SPIN remains relevant in 2026 but more as a thinking framework and not the entire operating system. Here how I see the modern SPIN upgrade: 1️⃣ Minimise Situation (S) Questions In 1988, reps needed to ask, "What CRM are you using?" because firmographic data wasn't available. Today, asking questions that can be answered by 10 minutes of research is PREP work, not discovery. • The Modern Rule: Situation questions should be minimal, only confirming what you can't reasonably research beforehand. Leading with lazy S-questions damages your credibility. • The Goal: Confirm context asynchronously so you can dedicate live call time to diagnosis. 2️⃣ Double Down on Problem (P) & Implication (I) In modern discovery, spend 80–90% of your time exploring Problem, Implication, and Need-Payoff. • Problem: Focus on friction, inefficiencies and where the current setup actually breaks. Ask: "Where is pipeline leaking today?" and not just "What are your challenges?" • Implication is your superpower. This is the engine of urgency. Explore the cost of inaction, delays, errors and resulting internal stress. Implication questions uncover the commercial impact and emotional anchor of the current state. 3️⃣ Let the Buyer Say the Need-Payoff The goal of Need-Payoff questions is not to pitch your solution, it's to make the buyer articulate the value of solving the problem in their own words. • The Modern Rule: Get them to say why they need it and not only what they need. • Crucial Step: Capture those exact phrases and reuse them in summary emails, proposals and executive decks. This buyer-led buy-in converts interest into commitment. 4️⃣ Plug SPIN Into Your Modern Operating System SPIN shouldn't dictate your entire sales process; it should power the content within it. • SPIN + MEDDIC: SPIN provides the conversational structure to elicit pain, build champions and uncover decision criteria. SPIN lives in call transcripts, MEDDIC lives in your CRM. • SPIN + Challenger: Use S/P to understand their world, use Implication to explore the cost of the status quo, then "Teach" by reframing those implications with your unique insight. • SPIN + Gap Selling (by Keenan): Situation is the Current State, Problem and Implication define its cost and Need-Payoff articulates the Future State. When you skip Situation, go deeper on Problems and Implications and let buyers voice the Need-Payoff themselves, SPIN becomes the backbone of elite discovery in 2026 P.S. Repost it if you think your network could benefit from this framework 💖 ✨

Your discovery questions are terrible because they produce predictable answers. "What's your biggest challenge?" "What keeps you up at night?" "What's your goal this year?" Prospects have answered those questions 100 times already. The best discovery questions make the buyer stop and think. Here are 10 of my favourites and why they work: 1. What changed in the last 90 days that made you take this call? - This is my favorite discovery question. - Because buyers don't wake up one morning and randomly book demos. - Something changed: A missed target, a new leader, a budget shift or a customer complaint. - Find the trigger and you'll usually find the real opportunity. 2. What happens to your team in 6 months if this stays the same? - Most reps talk about pain. - Top reps uncover the cost of inaction. - If there's no consequence, there's usually no urgency. 3. Walk me through how you handle this today. - Not: "What tool are you using?" - Actually walk me through it, step by step. - This is where you understand manual work, bottlenecks, spreadsheets, workarounds and hidden frustrations. 4. What have you already tried and why didn't it work? - This question saves months. - You immediately learn: What they've tested? What they hated? What failed before? - And what you should avoid pitching. 5. Six months after we go live, what's true that isn't true today? - This forces buyers to define success. - In their words, not yours. - Those answers become your future ROI story. 6. Walk me through how a decision like this gets made. - Don't ask: "Who's the decision maker?" - Ask about the process. - The process reveals the people, the reverse rarely works. 7. If you had to rank your top 3 priorities for the quarter, where does this fit? - Everything sounds important on discovery calls. - Very few things are actually urgent. - This question helps separate the two. 8. If we agreed on terms tomorrow, what happens next on your side? - A real buyer and a real champion knows. - Someone who says "I'm not sure" usually doesn't control the process. 9. Who else are you evaluating and what's pulling you toward them? - The second part matters. - Most reps ask who, but very few ask why. - The "why" tells you what buyers actually care about. 10. What's the worst-case scenario if you choose the wrong vendor here? - This is where the real risk shows up. - Not company risk or personal risk, but the fear nobody talks about. - And those are often the real reason deals stall. One last thing: Don't ask all 10. Discovery is a conversation, not an interrogation. Pick the questions that fit the situation. Then listen longer than feels comfortable. Most prospects will tell you exactly how to win the deal if you stop trying to pitch and start trying to understand. — Follow Noam for more AI × Sales systems.