Here's why most salespeople get Discovery wrong:
- Avner Baruch
- Sep 26
- 2 min read
Too many reps confuse qualification with discovery.
They walk into a first meeting with a checklist:
Do you have Budget?
Who’s the Authority?
What’s the Need?
What’s your Timeline?
The problem?
Those questions don’t reveal anything new to the prospect.
They already know their budget.
They already know their timeline.
So instead of adding value, you end up frustrating them — because the conversation feels one-sided and self-serving.
Let’s compare 👇
❌ Bad Discovery (a.k.a. Qualification) Rep: “What’s your budget for this project?”
Prospect: “We don’t know yet.”
Rep: “When are you planning to make a decision?”
Prospect: “Not sure.”
👉 The rep leaves with half-answers.
The prospect leaves thinking, That was a waste of time.
✅ Great Discovery (Value-Based)
Rep: “Based on what we see in your industry, most teams overspend by 30% when they approach this the old way. Can I walk you through how leading companies are cutting costs without slowing down delivery?”
Prospect: “Wait, really? Show me.”
👉 The rep leaves with insight into the prospect’s challenges. The prospect leaves thinking, I learned something I didn’t know — I want to continue this conversation.
That’s the difference.
True discovery happens when the customer discovers something new:
A blind spot in their own business or market
New opportunities they didn’t realize were possible with the right partner
A better way to make decisions and achieve outcomes
That their assumptions were holding them back
And ultimately — that your solution could be the partner to unlock those outcomes
Final thoughts: Stop thinking about discovery as what you need to know.
Start thinking about discovery as what the customer needs to discover.
That’s when deals move forward. More practical tips and frameworks can be found in my book series - Project Moneyball.
💡If you haven’t yet read my books, I invite you to explore a truly innovative approach to GTM - one that flips the customer lifecycle on its head:
Book One: https://lnkd.in/deZ-TZGH
Book Two: https://lnkd.in/dGTKZWHd
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