My Discovery Call Didn't Go As Planned. Here's Why It Still Worked

I don't usually do it often, but yesterday, I joined a sales call with one of my client's Account Executives.

It was a discovery call with a mid-market organization in Italy.

I acted as the VP of Sales, and my colleague (my client's AE) as their Account Executive.

The call went well, but it wasn't perfect.

I didn't have some part of the qualification and couldn't book the next step on the call.

Things that I "teach" all the time. 😅

What went wrong?

We didn't have the actual decision maker, and they would now involve the right person (we have his name and email) for a second discovery call.

When I realized they were on the call (maybe) for the wrong reason, I switched the script to get the right decision-maker and tried to understand more about the company.

No biggies.

The point is that I joined the call to "show in real life" what a good discovery call looks like.

Most fractional engagements do not involve live conversations with my client's prospects and clients.

Sometimes, I can join live calls, but I can only do so after I have learned more about the product and its ICPs, like yesterday.

But still, the call didn't go as I planned.

Why? Because each call is different. It's as simple as that.

Anything that is said in a call can derail or not your intentions.

It can change the outcome.

But why did the call end up going well anyway? Why was it okay, even though I had never sold this product before?

Because I had a script.

Because I have a structure for all the discovery calls that I do.

If you have a script or structure, you will always be okay.

This is what I usually do.

Preparation:

Before each discovery call, I go on ChatGPT and start chatting with the AI about the person and the company.

I ask about balance sheet data, challenges, and late news.

Then, I give the name and surname of the person I was meeting and their role.

I bounce some ideas about their pains and challenges.

The AI becomes my sounding board.

Then, right in the call, the structure is always the same.

I go on Linkedin and check their profile, what they share, and what they care about.

Finally, I map the decision makers using the Sales Navigator.

ACE to start.

• A: Thank them for the call, icebreaker.

• C: Confirm the time.

• E: Set the expectations for the call.

Then, I start by deep-diving into why they took the call, trying to stay high and strategic.

I try to bring home how they buy, who is involved, whether they have a set budget for this, and when they are looking to start.

Simple and easy BANT will do for easy calls.

Trying not to interrogate anyone and have a conversation, but with structure.

Lastly, I will try to book some next steps if they make sense.

That's it. It can go either way, but I still try to follow the overall script.

This is also why I can hop on live customer calls.

I can still run a discovery call with my scripts even if I'm an external and have never sold their product.

Because B2B calls are more or less the same.

There is somebody who is trying to solve a problem and somebody else who may have a solution for that problem.

More or less. 😅

Thanks for reading this far. I will see you all next week.