Run a mock round

A discovery call is a structured conversation to understand whether there is a real problem worth solving, and to qualify the opportunity.

I open with context and permission: "I would like to ask a few questions so I understand your world, then I will be honest about whether we can help." I ask about the current situation, the trigger event, the impact, and the people involved. Good questions are open ended: "Walk me through how you handle this today" and "What happens if nothing changes?"

I take notes, reflect back what I hear, and avoid pitching too early. I end by confirming next steps and identifying the decision process, timeline and budget.

The output is not a demo. It is a shared understanding of the problem plus a clear, mutually agreed next action with a date.

These are stages of qualification, not different kinds of people.

A lead is an unqualified contact who has shown some interest, perhaps by downloading a guide or attending a webinar. We do not yet know whether they fit our market or have a real need.

A prospect is a lead that has been qualified against basic criteria such as fit, budget and authority. There is a plausible problem we could solve, but no confirmed buying process.

An opportunity is a qualified prospect with a defined need, a decision process, a timeline and a realistic path to revenue. It is what gets forecast.

The practical value is discipline. Treating leads as opportunities inflates the pipeline and wastes selling time, while treating opportunities as leads lets real revenue slip through the cracks.

Treat price objections as a signal that value has not been established, not as a rejection.

A useful approach:

• Acknowledge: "I understand budget matters, especially right now."
• Isolate: "Other than price, is there anything holding you back?"
• Reframe to value: connect cost to the outcome, for example hours saved, revenue gained or risk avoided.
• Quantify: "The plan is 12,000 a year; if it saves your team 15 hours a week, it pays back in under two months."
• Offer options: a smaller tier, annual billing or a phased rollout rather than an immediate discount.

Never discount reflexively; it trains buyers to negotiate and erodes trust.

My starting point is that a discount is a trade, never a gift.

When a buyer asks for a lower price I first understand the reason. Is it budget reality, a competing quote, or a negotiation tactic? I isolate it: "If we could solve the price, is there anything else in the way?"

Then I trade. A discount buys something: a longer contract, annual prepayment, a case study, more seats or a faster signature. For example, I might offer ten percent off in exchange for a two year commitment. I never lead with the maximum discount, and I keep pricing consistent across similar customers so I do not create precedent problems.

If the gap is genuine and we cannot bridge it, I qualify out rather than destroy the value of the product. Discounting to win often loses the account's future expansion.

Silence usually means something changed, not that they dislike me. I do not flood their inbox.

First I send a short, low pressure note that gives them an easy way to reply: "Have you deprioritised this, or is there something I can clarify?" I offer a specific reason to reconnect, such as a relevant case study or a change in terms.

If there is still no response, I try a different channel, a call, a message or a brief voicemail, and I space contacts out. I also check whether the deal was ever real. Did we confirm a problem and a timeline, or did I mistake politeness for interest?

After three or four attempts over a few weeks I move them to nurture and keep adding value through useful content. Many come back when budget or priorities shift.

Accurate CRM data is what makes forecasting and handovers possible, so I treat updating it as part of the work, not as admin.

After every call I log the key points within the hour while they are fresh: who attended, what they said, the agreed next step and the date. I keep the next step as a task so nothing depends on memory.

I use consistent stages and close dates, and I only advance a stage when the buyer has actually done something, not when I have sent something. I flag risks and competitors in dedicated fields.

I also clean my own pipeline weekly, and we review it as a team, which keeps everyone honest. The test is simple: if a colleague picked up an account tomorrow, could they understand it from the record alone?

One deal I expected to win was a mid-market account where the demo went perfectly and the champion was enthusiastic.

I lost it to a competitor who was cheaper, but the real reason was that I had never met the economic buyer or confirmed the decision criteria. My champion liked us, but the finance director chose on integration cost, something we had never discussed.

After the loss I ran a review and changed my process. On every deal above a certain size I now ask early: "Who else needs to be involved, and what will they measure the decision on?" and I ask to meet them. I also started writing a one page business case for the buyer's boss.

Since then my enterprise win rate has improved and I am surprised far less often.

I treat the pipeline as a leading indicator of revenue, so it has to be honest and current.

Each week I review every open deal on three dimensions: stage accuracy, a next step with a date, and overall deal strength. If a deal has no dated next step, it is not really in the pipeline. I check coverage, typically three to four times quota, and the mix of stages to spot future gaps.

I also look for stalled and ageing deals. A deal that has not moved in three weeks gets a specific action or moves to nurture. I keep CRM notes factual so the forecast is not wishful thinking.

The goal is to know early where the quarter will land and where to spend effort, rather than discovering a shortfall in the final two weeks.