What Are the Most Common Discovery Call Mistakes?

Don’t let discovery call mistakes ruin your chances to make a sale. As SalesFuel points out, “Discovery calls are the most important part of the sales process.”

It's the moment you assess the prospect’s need for your offering and make your first impression, which is crucial. It lays the foundation for what could be a lucrative relationship down the road.

Avoiding even the simplest mistakes ensures you not only gather the necessary insight to move ahead but also create a connection.

What are the most common discovery call mistakes?

Despite the importance of this part of the sales process, sellers often get tripped up during discovery. SalesFuel research reveals that nearly a quarter of sellers say discovery call questions are a top weakness.

HubSpot’s Kiran Shahid agrees that this part of the sales process can make or break a deal.

“Most sales professionals unknowingly sabotage these calls and make predictable mistakes that kill rapport and crush their chances before the deal even begins.”

Sellers can protect themselves against these mistakes by learning common pitfalls and how to avoid them.

Too much talking

One of the biggest discovery call mistakes, according to Shahid, is talking too much. Yes, it’s important to establish value during this first call. But it shouldn’t come at the expense of the lead.

“It’s easy to feel pressure to prove your expertise by over-​explaining what you or your product does,” he writes.

“But the entire purpose of a discovery call is to find out what the prospect needs.”

Not sure if you out-​talk your prospects during discovery? During your next meeting, be aware of your speaking-​to-​listening ratio.

If you find that you’re speaking for most of the time, try these tactics to let the prospect be heard:

• Ask three open-​ended questions.
• While they’re speaking, close your eyes to enhance your focus on what they’re saying.
• Take notes while they talk to avoid interjecting unnecessarily.

And for even more ways to balance your speaking and listening during discovery, take a look at these other tips that can help. Don’t let talking too much hurt sales. Learn to enhance your focus on listening more to understand buyers' needs and build better connections.

Not digging deep

Another one of the most common discovery call mistakes is not digging deep enough. Discovery offers the seller a chance to learn about the buyer. But you should seek out more than just surface-​level information.

This requires sellers to ask the right questions to get a more thoughtful response. As the professionals at SalesGrowth Company point out, sellers must “define everything” to get the information they need.

“As a seller, you must understand that the way you frame the question impacts the level of detail and the actionability of the responses,” they explain.

“You must move beyond accepting a vague answer to allow yourself the ability to quantify the impacts of the current problems.”

So not only should you be asking probing questions but you should encourage the buyer to offer a more thorough response.

Here are some examples of probing questions that you can add to your discovery. And to get deeper answers, Shahid recommends adding in these questions following a response:

• How long has this been a problem?
• Why is it still a problem?
• What have you tried in the past to solve it?
• Why haven’t those solutions worked?

Adjusting discovery now fuels sales later

By taking the time to learn about easy-​to-​make discovery call mistakes, you prevent yourself from hitting roadblocks. And the more you incorporate these practices into each discovery, the likelier they will become habits that lead to wins.

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