The Best Sales Discovery Questions

When people need information, they open their favorite web browser and consult the infinite wisdom of the internet. If your company's marketing department is doing their job, potential buyers should find your product and service within in the search results. If your company's web development team did a good job, your potential buyer should be interested enough to click that shiny, 'Book A Demo' or 'Book Discovery Call' button.

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Or, maybe you rely on smiling and dialing to outbound leads to book discovery calls and demo's with decision makers. Either way, you're responsible during a discovery call is to increase your buyer's interest level while also qualifying your buyer quickly to ensure you're not wasting your time. 

To ensure that you and your buyer get the most out of the initial discovery call, you're going to want to ask the right questions.

The right questions should allow you to position yourself as an expert, allow you to maintain control throughout the interaction and help your buyer come to their own conclusion that you have a possible solution to their problem.

If you have the right discovery call questions, you'll be able to:

1. Identify the specific problem your buyer is looking to solve
2. Understand how long they have been aware of this problem
3. What your buyer has attempted to do about this problem in the past
4. What your buyer is currently doing to solve this problem

You'll also be able to enjoy a bonus - if you do this right. Asking your buyer to tell you what they've tried in the past and what they are currently doing to solve a problem will inadvertently allow them to conclude that what they are currently doing isn't working. After all, that's why they are on the call with you in the first place. 

The discovery call questions below should help get your initial customer interactions rolling and give you the information you need to line up a proper sales presentation.

• On a scale from 1-10, 10 being the highest priority and a 1 being the lowest priority, where would you put [problem/interest] on that scale?
• How long have you had attention on this [problem/interest]?
• Have you ever attempted to find a solution for this [problem/interest] in the past?
  • If so, how did it work?
  • Were you satisfied with the way it worked?
  • What was your favorite part about it?
  • Looking back, what would you have changed about it knowing what you know now?
  • Did you place more attention on finding the most cost-effective solution or the most valuable solution?
• What are you currently doing to do [XYZ]?
  • What's your favorite part about what you're currently doing?
  • Has it been worth the investment so far?
  • Would you do it again?
  • If you had a magic wand and could change one thing about the way you're currently doing [XYZ] - what would you change if you could?
• Is there anyone that you would like to be involved in this decision?
• Is there a specific timeline or time constraint that you have in mind for this project?
• Would you like anyone else to be included in the decision making process?
• Do you have a budget for a project like this?
• Even if we were able to check all the boxes and exceed your expectations, how will you know that you've found the right solution?
• Assuming that we were able to bring you the result(s) you're looking for, how would I be able to know that we checked all the boxes and exceeded your expectations?
• How many people would be involved in using this solution?
• Is there anyone in your team/family/organization who would be hoping for a different outcome?

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