One thing I see often in sales calls is reps pitching too early.
The prospect mentions a problem.
The rep recognizes something the offer can solve.
And suddenly we’re presenting.
The problem is we still don't know enough.
If someone tells you:
“Our sales team isn't converting.”
Okay. Why?
Is it the leads?
Low show rate?
Weak discovery?
Price?
Follow-up?
Are reps even talking to the right people?
Until we understand that, recommending a solution is mostly guessing.
Discovery doesn't need to be complicated
You don't need 20 or 30 questions.
I mainly want to understand:
Where are they now?
What's happening today? What's working? What's not?
Where do they want to be?
What are they actually trying to change?
What's the gap?
What's stopping them from getting there?
Then I want to understand why that gap matters.
Maybe they're losing revenue.
Maybe the owner is still closing most of the deals.
Maybe they're spending more on leads without seeing enough return.
Maybe the team simply isn't consistent.
That's where the real conversation starts.
Don't turn discovery into an interview
This is another mistake I see.
A rep learns a discovery framework and suddenly has a checklist of questions they need to get through.
Question.
Answer.
Next question.
That's not a conversation.
If someone tells you:
“Our close rate dropped.”
Stay there.
How much?
When did it start?
What changed?
What have you tried?
One answer can give you the next question.
You don't need to follow your script just because question #7 comes next.
Listen to what they're telling you.
Then make the recommendation
By the time you present, you should understand:
Current State → Desired State → Gap → Impact → Urgency
And you should be able to explain it back to them.
Something like:
“From what I'm hearing, leads aren't really the issue. You're getting enough appointments, but your show rate has dropped and follow-up isn't consistent. You've already increased lead volume, but revenue hasn't moved with it.”
Then recommend what makes sense.
Now the recommendation isn't coming out of nowhere.
It's connected to the conversation you just had.
And sometimes you'll realize your solution isn't what they need.
That's okay.
Discovery isn't about finding enough pain to convince someone to buy.
It's about understanding the problem well enough to know what you should recommend.
If you don't understand the problem yet, don't pitch yet.
Ask another question.