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The trickiest part of a sales process is identifying whether your solution fits the potential buyer’s needs. A discovery call is the best way to crack this detail and lay the groundwork for successful deal closure.
Salespeople who ask the right sales discovery questions can save time by focusing on high-intent leads rather than wasting their time chasing prospects who aren’t ready to buy.
Questions focusing on buyers’ pain points, needs, and biggest roadblocks help shape a sales engagement strategy to match their expectations.
In this guide, we’ve curated 30 of the best sales discovery questions every sales account executive must ask their sales-qualified leads.
Below are the best open-ended discovery call questions split across various categories and intentions:
These questions set the stage by giving you complete insights into the potential buyer’s background and situation and if they’re ideal candidates for your solution.
This question gives prospects a chance to describe their company more deeply in their own words. However, it must be asked after stating what you already know about the prospect’s company.
Asking how a prospect heard about your business lets you uncover the trigger that made them look for a solution in the first place. For example, if they were browsing through tailored solutions to fix their specific challenge.
This question helps you casually build rapport with the individual without diving into details. Most prospects would be happy to share what their usual day looks like.
This can be a follow-up question to the previous one. By understanding their responsibilities and what metrics they’re in charge of, you can assess how your offering can improve the metrics in question and inform them.
The following set of open-ended sales discovery questions explores the current situation of your prospect’s business and how it relates to what you’re selling to them.
Understand the prospect’s likes and dislikes with their current solution.
This question unlocks the urgency of their goals and if your solution can act as a critical asset to help them achieve their prioritized objectives within the necessary timeline.
Use this question to understand their priorities better and where their current solution fails to meet their expectations.
Asking this question can create an urgency in prospects’ minds to imagine the adverse effects of continuing with their current inefficient process. It stresses the need to take immediate action with a better solution.
Hearing firsthand about prospects’ actual needs and problems can help you position your product or service as their perfect solution.
Below are a few open-ended questions that make prospects comfortable sharing their pains and expectations:
This is a very straightforward question to set the tone. Note the challenges they share to frame further questions and show how your solution fixes them.
This question lets them go a little more in-depth about their current process and how it's inefficient or outdated. It can also help them understand their roadblocks.
You can ask this question so your focus is on the ultimate pain area and use their example to map your solution further down the line.
If the problem or challenge is their top priority and your solution can solve it, you’re most likely to accelerate the buying process.
Ask this question to gauge their urgency for an alternate solution and readiness to accept one.
Ask this to identify how a prospect imagines solving their problems (even if their route is not part of your solution). This will also expose where their priorities and perspectives lie and how to tailor your solution to be the perfect fit.
Guide the prospect to discuss the key metrics they envision as their “ultimate results.” This can give you insight into how realistic their expectations are.
This question tells you the timeline for their expected results and whether it's achievable. If your timelines aren't compatible, it can also be a major sign to disqualify the prospect.
It tells you if the prospect has or lacks the proper motivation to make a purchase decision right away.
This helps you understand why the prospect is currently hunting for a solution.
This prompts them to consider the potential challenges and outcomes of continuing their current process without a new solution. It also motivates them to address their challenge as soon as possible.
Helps them see how widely their pain areas have been affecting their team and not just themselves.
We’ve listed some questions for the decision-making process so you can determine which prospects are actively looking for a solution and which aren’t.
This is a straightforward and must-have question to determine whether the prospect has enough money to invest in your solution and whether their budget suits your resources and time.
It shows how often the company purchases a solution like yours and whether there’s a pre-existing decision-making structure for purchase.
Identify the top decision-makers you may be dealing with during the buying process and if they are already on board with the decision.
This question lets you uncover the concerns or objections the key decision-maker may ask or have during the buying stage so you’re well prepared.
It lets prospects consider specific stakeholders who play a key role but are not yet on board or convinced they need a better process or your solution.
At this point, you may have built a solid rapport and trust with the prospect. So it’s best to ask this frank question about an amicable purchase process.
Ask this to reveal if you must foresee any unexpected challenges that might delay or halt the purchase process.
This question is a clever way to set a timeline and to ensure it's hard for them to back away from the deal, considering all circumstances are met.
If they have a reason or objection, address it. If they don’t, they are most likely to move the purchase forward.
Close the discovery call on a solid note by getting the best date to follow up and stay in touch.
Pro tip: AI digital assistants like Docket equip your sales account executives in the discovery process by providing instant access to relevant information and resources.
Here are a few tips and best practices to ace your next discovery call:
A few things to get in order by researching before hopping on that discovery call:​
All these insights ensure you ask the right questions and don’t waste time looking for answers already available online.
Discovery calls can have a strong grip on how the deal progression may go. So it only makes sense to paint a clear picture of expectations before the call. Â For this, create an agenda for each prospect and ask them to add items if necessary.
Generic “yes or no” or one-word responses feel more like an interrogation than a conversation.
Always have open-ended questions handy instead of generic ones. Open-ended questions promote a two-way conversation and keep the flow going.
Disqualifying prospects on a discovery call is as important as qualifying them. This practice ensures you don’t waste time pursuing unfit prospects.
It’s okay to be more frank while allowing the prospects to answer carefully. Some example questions are “What’s your current budget?” and “What’s your timeline for implementing a solution?”
If the prospect has agreed on the next steps, follow up on the agreed-upon timeline for the next call or meeting. Use follow-ups to keep the conversation going and offer prospects more insights or exclusive resources. And remember to be persistent and not pushy.
Preparation is the ultimate key to displaying confidence on a sales discovery call. It also helps to focus your time and energy on prospects worth pursuing.
Boost your preparation further using the right tools.
Docket AI gives your sales account executives firsthand access to your solution’s intel by retrieving insights and data from several integrated knowledge sources. This way, your sales and GTM teams are well-informed and ask the right questions for successful sales discovery. ​
