Welcome to the fourth article in a six piece series where we are reviewing our 5 step sales process.  In this article, we will take a look at DISCOVERY step. In the last article, we, we examined the WARM UP step.

STEP 3: DISCOVERY

So, you’ve just spent the last half hour chatting up the client and they’ve agreed to let you in to conduct the discovery. Awesome!

Now what?

Before you begin talking to anyone, you need to figure out exactly who you should be talking to. In general, you should try to meet with the CEO, COO, CFO, sales or marketing manager, the front line, HR, and the current “IT guy”. In doing this, you can get each area’s particular pain points and address them later in the presentation and proposal. The discovery is the main way you can ensure that you’re selling the client solutions that they actually need, not ones that you think that they need.

Be sure that your questions fit the role of the individual that you’re dealing with. For example, if you’re speaking with the front receptionist, you shouldn’t ask them their opinion about the functionality of the company’s website to garner new leads. The receptionist would not be concerned about gaining new leads, as this question would be more appropriate for the sales or marketing manager.

You should never ever have to fabricate anything for your presentation if you’ve conducted the proper discovery. It’s the clearest and most honest way to gather information about the company because it’s from the employees themselves! If you can gain stories and issues from the staff and proceed to utilize them during your presentation, it shows that you did your homework and really care about the health of their network.

Take your time when conducting a discovery. Ask questions that really trigger the pain points for each and every officer. The next step is THE PRESENTATION!

See the outline for this series below: