1. Understanding the customer's needs: During the discovery call, the salesperson has the opportunity to ask strategic questions to understand the customer's needs and challenges. This allows the salesperson to identify how their solution can help solve those specific problems.
2. Relationship Building: The discovery call is an opportunity to establish a connection with the customer. By demonstrating a genuine interest in understanding their needs, the salesperson creates a solid foundation for a trusting relationship, which is essential in the B2B sales process.
3. Lead qualification: During the discovery call, the salesperson can assess whether the prospect is the right fit for the solution being offered. This helps avoid wasting time with leads who have no real interest or purchasing power.
4. Personalization of the approach: With the information gained during the discovery call, the salesperson can personalize the future approach, presenting arguments and solutions relevant to the client. This increases the chances of success in the negotiation.
5. Anticipating Objections: During the discovery call, the salesperson can identify potential objections the client may have regarding the offered solution. With this anticipation, the salesperson has the opportunity to prepare compelling responses and arguments to address these objections when they arise.
6. Agility in the sales process: By conducting a discovery call, the salesperson can quickly identify whether the customer is genuinely interested in the solution offered. This allows the salesperson to focus their efforts on more qualified leads, streamlining the sales process.
In short, conducting a discovery call before moving forward in the sales process brings a number of benefits, from understanding the customer's needs to better qualifying leads. This stage is critical to the success of a B2B negotiation.
What are the main challenges and how to overcome them?
A Discovery Call is an initial call made by a B2B salesperson with the goal of better understanding the prospect, their needs, and challenges. This stage is crucial to understanding whether there is a business opportunity and how the salesperson can help the customer.
However, there are some challenges that may arise when making this call. Here are some of the main challenges and how to overcome them:
1. Obtain relevant information: Often, potential clients may be reluctant to share detailed information about their company or needs. To overcome this challenge, it's important to establish trust from the beginning of the call, showing genuine interest in the client's activities and demonstrating knowledge of the industry in which they operate. Additionally, it's essential to ask open-ended, leading questions to obtain the necessary information.
2. Overcome objections: During the call, the prospect may have objections to the salesperson's offering, such as price, implementation time, or the risks involved. To overcome these objections, the salesperson must be prepared with compelling and solid answers, demonstrating the benefits and results their solution can deliver. It's important to listen carefully, validate the job seekers data client's concerns, and present persuasive arguments to address their objections.
3. Maintain control of the conversation: In some situations, the prospect may want to steer the conversation to less relevant topics or have difficulty expressing themselves clearly. To maintain control of the conversation, the salesperson must be proactive and steer the call toward important topics. It's essential to ask clear and specific questions to obtain the necessary information and prevent the conversation from getting sidetracked.
4. Generate interest: In a B2B environment, it's common for the client to have already been approached by other salespeople and to be tired of hearing similar proposals. In this sense, it's important to highlight the differentiating features of your offering and demonstrate how it can solve the prospect's specific challenges. It's essential to demonstrate value from the outset by presenting success stories or results achieved with other clients.
5. Adapt to different personalities: During the call, the salesperson may need to adapt to different personalities within the prospect's company, such as managers, decision-makers, or influencers. Each of these personalities has different interests and concerns, so the salesperson must tailor their approach and pitch accordingly. It's essential to research the company and the people involved before the call to better understand their needs and expectations.
Overcoming these challenges requires practice, experience, and effective communication skills. Over time, B2B salespeople can improve their approach and make discovery calls more productive, thereby increasing their chances of success in acquiring new business.