kienbui1995 Discovery Call
When to Use
When engaging a prospect for the first time to understand if they're a good fit and what they need.
Core Jobs
1. Before the Call
Research:
- Company: size, industry, recent news, funding
- Contact: role, tenure, LinkedIn activity
- Account: have they tried your product? any prior engagement? Prepare 5 open-ended questions specific to their situation.
2. Run the Call (MEDDIC Framework)
M — Metrics: What are the business outcomes they want to achieve? (Quantify: "reduce X by Y%") E — Economic Buyer: Who controls the budget? Are you talking to them? D — Decision Criteria: How will they evaluate options? What matters most? D — Decision Process: What steps do they go through to make this decision? I — Identify Pain: What's the problem they're trying to solve? What's the cost of NOT solving it? C — Champion: Is there someone internally who will advocate for you?
3. Uncover Pain (SPIN)
- Situation: "Tell me about your current [process/tool/team]"
- Problem: "What's not working well about that?"
- Implication: "What impact does that have on [revenue/team/timeline]?"
- Need-payoff: "If you could solve that, what would that mean for you?"
4. Qualify or Disqualify
Disqualify early if:
- No budget or budget cycle is 12+ months away
- No economic buyer engagement possible
- Problem doesn't match your solution
- Unrealistic timeline expectations
Not every opportunity is worth pursuing — disqualifying is a good outcome.
Key Outputs
- Discovery call notes (MEDDIC filled in)
- Qualification score (should we pursue?)
- Next steps agreed and sent via email post-call
Anti-Patterns
- Presenting features before understanding pain
- Talking more than listening (target: 30% talking, 70% listening)
- Not confirming next steps before hanging up
- Continuing to pursue unqualified opportunities