Sales professionals know that asking the right discovery questions is key to advancing the sales process. But what are the right discovery questions?
The purpose of discovery questions is for salespeople to conduct valuable conversations with multiple influencers within a company. Good discovery questions, directed to the right person at the right time, can help uncover customer needs and wants and ultimately close more sales.
Good discovery questions lead to good conversations, that don’t happen by accident. But to execute conversations that win, discovery questions must set the tone and guide the customer to share how a change to the current state impacts their business.
This blog post presents seven high impact discovery questions that are targeted at the customer’s point of view that help cultivate great customer conversations.
Seven B2B Sales Discovery Questions For Success
1. Why did you agree to meet with us today?
2. The top three challenges our customers address with our solutions are (challenges 1, 2, and 3). Can you share if these challenges apply to your organization? If so, tell me more. If not, which challenges are you hoping to address with a solution like ours?
3. What expected outcomes might your firm be looking for in making a change or deploying a new solution? When would you wish to see the results?
4. What metrics or KPIs will you evaluate to measure success with a solution like ours?
5. Solutions such as ours often involve an internal business case for change. Can you describe where you are currently in this process?
6. What are the most prominent internal barriers or obstacles you’ll need to overcome to make a change?
7. Why are you considering a change rather than waiting until the next quarter or year?
Every salesperson should be competent in asking discovery questions.
The process starts with research and planning to develop intelligent and well-thought-out questions from the customer’s point of view.