Why Discovery Call Can Be A Secret Ingredient To Win Customers
The discovery call is one of the most effective sales techniques that you can use to generate leads and convert into customers. This technique is ideal for B2B sales reps because it helps them understand the customer's pain points, which will help them target the right customers with their solutions.
Contents
What is a Discovery Call?
The discovery call is a sales call made to the customer who is first identified as a potential prospect. The goal of the discovery call is to learn more about their business and determine if they are ready for your company's services or products.
Tips To Be Used
Once you have identified the target prospects, use these tips to make your discovery calls more effective:
Listen intently.
Have specific questions prepared in advance so that you can better tailor your conversation based on what the prospect has told you about their needs and interests.
Keep them engaged by asking open-ended questions rather than those with only one answer choice.
Add value by telling the prospect about your company or products, instead of asking them to come out and talk to you.
End with an attempt to schedule a meeting.
Schedule multiple discovery calls after identifying as many prospects as possible.
Call them back when you have the time, knowing that it may take 2-3 calls before you get one to go on record – don't expect leads this way.
Have an active CRM system that can help generate leads and convert them into customers – this allows you to send targeted lead nurturing emails after the discovery call which will increase your conversion ratio compared with phone-based sales calls in general.
Make it a goal over time to not only reach out to more prospects, but also convince those who show interest and desire for conversation. A great place to start is by setting aside about 20 minutes in the morning to schedule a call with each prospective prospect.
If you want your sales person's phone calls to be productive, create templates for all of their customer conversations that follow this process when they call prospects. Remember, customer conversations are like the rest of life – you can't force them to occur, but if you're actually staying on message and preaching your organizational value proposition , they WILL have one eventually.
Secret Ingredient To Win Customer
Answer Secrets To Tame Your Phone Sales Conversations
How do I know that my prospects don't show any interest in purchasing from me?
Keep a "cold reading" file
Listen more than you talk.
Remember: No prospects want to buy from you – they already have another source for their product or service; they just don't realize that! Your job is not to convince them of this fact, but find out if we're putting ourselves first below all other needs/wants etc.
Ask yourself: Are you selling them or are they buying from YOU? A salesperson can snake his way to a sale and convince the prospect – BUT only if he is actually making it an "I" thing. I am dealing with customers in their best interest, not just trying to get my checkbook filled at Amazon, Walmart etc., so what's really important here is that I'm bringing value first ; people will tell me if I've lost sight of that - trust me.
In truth – you can have a LOT of value to your prospect but it's a good idea not to bombard them with every detail at once. They are far too busy assessing all the information they get from sources other than YOU so give yourself time, learn how they make decisions (and don't forget before making any sale promises!) and be sure sellers know their market inside and out.
There's art for sale. It takes some time & a lot of practice, not just reading from books - nobody said it would be easy. Don't rush anyone into anything. And for heaven 's sake - do not get frustrated if things don't go as planned! People need to relax with YOU .. Remember, they're looking for someone who can help them.
Finally: Don't forget this fact – you're selling because of your passion , desire/dream; and money is just part of it all. They wouldn't buy from anybody else but You so sell with pride in whatever you are doing; USE the "I" word and make the customer feel special!
As a philosophy – Think more of your ACTIONS than merely driving around town in a car singing at the top of your lungs. If you're not sure how to go about something, ask; if unsure - consult someone credible – experts will set you straight almost every time as they know what's really important. Do it right or don't do it at all!
SELLING is a COMMUNICATION of VALUE, and anytime you see your prospects walking & smiling with thunderous confidence – realize it probably says something important about them.
Become part of their life now. Make them feel secure & make sure they see that YOU are perfect!
Always keep the customer in mind – things will happen without you anyway; it's your passion, commitment and desire for YOUR clientele to be YOURS (not someone else') that separates you from everyone else! Stand firm - It just might work.
Every Salesperson knows He/she has to be more than just a good listener and 'shoot first, ask questions later' – Prove your product or service EXCEEDS what you have to offer!
Be generous with praise – small words of gratitude can turn an unfavorable situation into new opportunities; Being consistent will help create RELATIONSHIPS that last longer & replenish faster. Serious entrepreneurs also remember giving gifts (within reason!) especially at the holidays as well as those hard earned parting gifts you can't afford on your own.
NEGOTIATE! As the saying goes "A little bit of fairness in business will go a long way"! Be reasonable, make it clear to both parties that neither one does well with insults (all sales involve some cheap talk written or spoken), know what motivates YOU and use that personality as a sign of who & what YOU are. Give real value then respect (in person & over the phone) will follow.
Never Give Your Confidence Away! Stand your ground; Sales are earned, hard work and Deeds do not - many times those from 'populist' professions can be insulted – so you know who's in control.– NEVER let anyone take advantage of you (and this means their demographic group as well: DO NOT GIVE AWAY INFORMATION…DO NOT SAY YOU WILL DO WHAT THEY WANT IF THAT'S NOT POSSIBLE – & never call 'on demand'). Be your own person; Remember, Promotion is not selling from you but it will always be an extension of yourself!!! Deeds come AFTER the product!
DO what YOU have to do for money about 4 days out of the month & only because it's good for business (it doesn't mean a thing if its unethical or criminal , keep your values simple and begin avoiding the pitfall of "business = business & politics = politics")
Be consistent in all areas – don't burn bridges by being inconsistent about who you are online, what is public or private information; Less is more. Be smart to know who is 'privileged' in relative degrees of access based upon SMART (Secretive, Modify or Tape) Rules.
Conclusion
In order to start a discovery call, you need to have a number of things in place. A calendar with dates for calls is one of the most important. A list of attendees will also be very helpful and it's a good idea to have an agenda in advance.
The next step is to prepare your documents, such as meeting minutes, notes from previous meetings and the like. Finally, it's important that everyone involved understands what they are expected to do during the call so that there are no surprises.
If you want more tips on how to set up a discovery call and how effective it can be, visit our blog post here!
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Vartika Sharma
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