Technical discovery can make or break your sales process. Discovery is a critical early-stage process in the sales cycle aimed at gathering in-depth information about a prospective customer's needs, challenges, objectives, and current processes. It's an investigative step where sales engineers and account executives work to uncover the pain points that the potential solution can address
As a sales engineer, your ability to uncover and understand buyer needs sets the foundation for everything that follows. Let's explore how to master this critical skill and transform your discovery conversations.
Technical discovery goes beyond basic fact-finding and information-gathering. It represents a critical early opportunity to build trust, demonstrate expertise, and lay the groundwork for a successful technical sale.
For sales engineering leaders, the difference between good and great sales engineers often comes down to their discovery skills. But many sales teams rush this crucial step, eager to showcase their solution's features.
As research shows, teams that take time to understand real user problems before proposing solutions see dramatically better outcomes. Below are some best practices to help you elevate your technical discovery approach from good to great.
When sales engineers skip preparation and jump into discovery without researching their buyer's company or reviewing past conversations, you can actually see the frustration on buyers' faces.
In contrast, when an SE does their homework and demonstrates knowledge of the prospect's business, referencing their tech stack, recent earnings reports, or previous discussions, prospective customers are more open and engaged, ready to provide more detailed information.
Before any discovery call, do your homework:
A structured, but not rigid, approach helps ensure you capture all necessary information while keeping conversations flowing naturally. Break your discovery into these key areas according to the buyer's goals and processes:
Your questioning strategy is crucial to the success of the conversation. Focus on what you don't already know rather than going through a standard checklist of questions. Often, explaining the purpose behind your questions helps buyers feel more comfortable opening up.
Remember, your job as a sales engineer is to investigate the prospect's needs and offer advice, not to interrogate them. So, information sharing should be a two-way street.
Mix your questions with informative statements about:
Active listening underpins successful discovery. Yes, you need to gather information about technical requirements and business needs. But great discovery goes beyond checking boxes on a requirements list. It's about understanding the deeper context, the why behind the what.
Practice these active listening techniques to ensure a smooth conversation:
Remember, the best technical discovery happens when you listen more than you talk.
As you focus your discovery technique around best practices, there are also some common mistakes sales engineers should be cautious of:
Buyers know "good" discovery when they see it, but it can be tricky to measure the effectiveness of discovery across a team.
Track these metrics to improve your discovery process:
As shown in the State of PreSales report, organizations that excel at technical discovery see higher win rates and shorter sales cycles. So, tracking discovery effectiveness and make process tweaks and improvements based on that data can have a big impact on the bottom line.
Thorough technical discovery can make the difference between winning and losing a deal, but nailing discovery on every opportunity is a time-intensive endeavor.
How can you find efficiency without cutting corners? Here are some tips:
Modern technical discovery benefits from purpose-built tools. AI assistants like Ava help capture and analyze customer interactions, account information, and industry research. This substantially cuts down both discovery preparation time and follow-up tasks, like summary emails and custom solution documents.
Improving your technical discovery skills takes practice and dedication but is well worth the effort. Start by implementing these best practices in your next discovery call. Document what works and refine your approach based on outcomes.
Remember: Good discovery fits your solution to the buyer's worldview. Great discovery transforms their thinking, bringing them into your worldview and making your solution indispensable.
Discovery is the process of understanding a prospect's needs, challenges, and objectives through structured conversations and research. It helps qualify opportunities and shape solution recommendations.
Focus on asking thoughtful questions, listening actively, and documenting insights. Prepare thoroughly, involve key stakeholders, and align technical discussions with business objectives.
Discovery typically occurs early in the sales funnel, after initial contact but before detailed solution presentations. It helps qualify opportunities and guide the sales approach.
This process involves gathering and analyzing information about a potential customer's technical requirements, business needs, decision criteria, and potential obstacles to determine deal viability.
The main types are: technical discovery (infrastructure and requirements), business discovery (goals and objectives), process discovery (workflows and operations), and stakeholder discovery (decision-makers and influences).
Examples include technical architecture reviews, workflow analysis sessions, requirements gathering workshops, and stakeholder interviews.
Present it as a collaborative process to understand their needs and ensure the best possible solution fit. Emphasize that thorough discovery leads to better outcomes and faster implementation.
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