Sales Qualification

Skill: Sales Qualification & Discovery

Combined sales methodology skill covering discovery calls, deal qualification, objection handling, and competitive positioning. Use when: (1) evaluating whether an idea requires enterprise sales (red flag for Perlantir), (2) designing UberKiwi's sales call structure, (3) building sales-enablement features into OUTBOUND or Agent Arena.

Source: agency-agents/sales-discovery-coach.md + agency-agents/sales-deal-strategist.md

Discovery Call Frameworks

SPIN Selling (Question Sequence)

The key insight most people miss: Implication questions do the heavy lifting because they activate loss aversion.

Situation (2-3 max — every one you ask that you could have Googled signals laziness)

• "Walk me through how your team currently handles [process]."
• "What tools are you using for [function] today?"

Problem (open the door — but don't stop here)

• "Where does that process break down?"
• "What's the most frustrating part of how this works today?"

Implication (THIS is where deals are made — expand the pain)

• "When that breaks down, what's the downstream impact on [related metric]?"
• "If that continues for another 6-12 months, what does that cost you?"
• "Who else in the organization feels the effects of this?"

Need-Payoff (let the buyer sell themselves)

• "If you could solve that, what would that unlock for your team?"
• "What would it mean if [problem] was no longer a factor?"

Gap Selling (Current State → Future State)

CURRENT STATE (where they are)
├── Environment: tools, processes, team structure
├── Problems: what is broken, slow, painful, missing
├── Impact: measurable business cost
│   ├── Revenue (lost deals, slower growth, churn)
│   ├── Cost (wasted time, redundant tools, manual work)
│   ├── Risk (compliance, security, competitive exposure)
│   └── People (turnover, burnout, missed targets)
└── Root Cause: WHY do these problems exist?

FUTURE STATE (where they want to be)
├── What does "solved" look like in specific, measurable terms?
├── What metrics change, and by how much?
└── What is the timeline for needing this solved?

THE GAP = the sale
├── How large is the distance?
├── What is the cost of staying in current state?
├── Can the buyer close this gap without you? (If yes, no deal.)

Root cause is the most important question and most often skipped. "Our tool is slow" doesn't create urgency. "We're on legacy architecture that can't scale, and we're onboarding 3 enterprise clients this quarter" does.

Sandler Pain Funnel (3 Levels Deep)

• Level 1 — Surface: "Tell me more. Can you give me an example?"
• Level 2 — Business Impact: "What has that cost the business? What have you tried?"
• Level 3 — Personal Stakes: "How does this affect you day-to-day? What's at stake for you personally?"

Level 3 is where most sellers never go. "We need better reporting" vs. "I'm presenting to the board in Q3 and I don't trust my numbers." The second drives urgency.

UberKiwi Discovery Application

For UberKiwi sales calls with SMB owners:

• Situation: "How do customers find you right now? Do you have a website?"
• Problem: "When's the last time someone said they couldn't find you online?"
• Implication: "How many customers do you think you lose per month because they Google you and find nothing — or find a competitor instead?"
• Need-Payoff: "If you were the first result when someone searched '[service] near me', what would that mean for your business?"

Discovery Call Structure (30 minutes)

Opening (2 min): Upfront Contract

Set expectations, get time agreement, normalize a "no" outcome:

"I'll ask some questions to understand your situation. You should ask me anything. At the end: we'll either see a fit and schedule next steps, realize it's not right and I'll tell you honestly, or need more info. Any of those is fine."

Discovery (18 min): 60-70% on Current State & Pain

Spend the majority here. Not ready to pitch until you can articulate their situation back to them better than they described it.

Map these 6 things:

1. What is broken? (in their words)
2. Why is it broken? (root cause, not symptom)
3. What does it cost? (dollars, time, risk, people)
4. Who else cares? (stakeholder map)
5. Why now? (what changed — the trigger)
6. What if they do nothing? (cost of inaction)

Tailored Pitch (6 min): Only What's Relevant

Map your solution directly to their stated problems. 2-3 capabilities max. Relevance beats comprehensiveness.

Next Steps (4 min): Be Explicit

Define who does what by when. Set next meeting before ending this one.

MEDDPICC Deal Qualification (Scoring X/40)

For evaluating whether an idea requires complex sales (red flag) or for qualifying UberKiwi/OUTBOUND deals:

Scoring Thresholds

• 28-40/40: Strong deal — high win probability
• 20-27/40: Battling — winnable if gaps close in 14 days
• Below 20/40: At risk — needs major intervention or qualification out

Scout Application: Sales Complexity Filter

When evaluating a startup idea, use MEDDPICC as a complexity detector:

• If the product requires scoring on all 8 elements to close a deal → enterprise sales motion → RED FLAG for Perlantir (long cycles, need sales team)
• If the product only needs Metrics + Pain + maybe Champion → self-serve or founder-led sales → GREEN LIGHT
• If Paper Process is heavy (compliance, legal, security) → adds 2-6 weeks per deal → factor into revenue timeline

Objection Handling: AECR Framework

Acknowledge → "That's a fair concern." Empathize → "If I'd been burned by [similar], I'd be skeptical too." Clarify → "When you say timing isn't right — budget cycle, bandwidth, or something else?" Reframe → "Here's how other teams in your situation thought about that..."

Common Objection Distribution

Budget objections are almost never about budget — they're about whether the buyer believes value exceeds cost.

Competitive Battlecard Template

For each competitor in a deal or market:

Winning / Battling / Losing Zones

• Winning: Criteria where your differentiation is clear AND buyer values it → amplify, make these weigh heavier
• Battling: Both vendors credible → shift to adjacent factors (implementation speed, TCO, ecosystem)
• Losing: Competitor genuinely stronger → don't attack. Reposition: "They're excellent at X. Our customers find Y matters more at scale because..."

Landmine Questions

Questions that surface requirements where you're strongest:

• OUTBOUND example: "How do your reps currently know which accounts to prioritize this week?" (exposes lack of signal-based prioritization)
• Agent Arena example: "When your agents fail, how do you know which one underperformed and why?" (exposes lack of competitive benchmarking)

Challenger Teaching Sequence

For products that need to educate the buyer (not just solve a stated problem):

1. Warmer: Demonstrate understanding of their world (pattern recognition, not flattery)
2. Reframe: Challenge current assumptions with data
3. Rational Drowning: Stack evidence until status quo feels untenable
4. Emotional Impact: Make it personal — who on their team feels this daily?
5. A New Way: Present the methodology that solves it differently (not your product yet)
6. Your Solution: Connect product as the inevitable conclusion

Agent Arena application: "Most companies test AI agents in isolation. Here's what happens when you put them in competition..." → leads naturally to Agent Arena's value prop.

Changelog

• 2026-03-22: Created from agency-agents/sales-discovery-coach.md + sales-deal-strategist.md — combined into single skill with Scout/UberKiwi/OUTBOUND examples