First 15 min. – Discovery: Don’t talk, listen carefully !

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You've established a connection and a friendly atmosphere. You feel like the prospect is about to open up and give you all the information you need to help you solve any problems you may have.

However, you are still not quite sure what your problem is. You probably have an idea, because they correspond to a specific segment/ICP.

But don't forget one golden rule of prospecting: never assume, ask them to tell you.

You may assume that they fit into a specific category or will use your product in a specific way. You may be 80% right, but you need to get a direct quote.

They should say it in their own words, and you should repeat it back to them and focus on telling them canadian ceo email list how you will solve it.

And to do that, you need to set the phone tone for the next 10 minutes.

If it's an inbound sales call, they've probably done some research and so you can start with that:

“Okay, the goal of today’s call is to understand how we can help {{companyName}} .

I could give you a demo of our software, but if I don't understand your needs first, it will be boring and useless.

I'd like to take the first 5-10 minutes to talk about what you've done so far within the {{industry}} industry .

What has worked for you and what hasn't?

What tools have you used before and what do you plan to do with {{productName}} ?

See what I did there?

I explain to them that I don't want to give them a generic demonstration, but rather provide them with value, good!
I define the topics to be discussed in the next 5-10 minutes.
I use open questions.
I ask them what hasn't worked for them => This is the most important question. If they come to you, something has been wrong up to this point and this will be the key to your sale!
From there, don't interrupt. They talk and you listen. Take notes and then dig deeper into their needs.

When taking notes, it is important to write down the same words they use when formulating their problems, so you can use them during the call and in your follow-up email.

If this is an outbound call, the best question you can ask is

“Why did you pick up the call?”

This is the best way to start a discovery call. Don't ask about business priorities, don't use BANT questions. This only puts your prospect in a defensive mode, and people are less and less patient.

“Why did you take the call?” is great because it’s open-ended! And then, as mentioned above, don’t interrupt, listen and take notes.

In both approaches, go deeper by asking “how and why” questions.

When we do discovery calls for LaGrowthMachine, this is how we usually start:

What is the potential goal of hiring LaGrowthMachine?
In the case of LaGrowthMachine, it can be cold calling, recruiting people, automating inbound, creating marketing awareness, etc.