The Sales Discovery phase is the first step towards building a possible sales relationship. In this part, the sales team determines the specifics of a possible client situation, problems, goals, and needs. It is not just a casual chat; it is part of an investigation meant to learn more about a possible client.

Sales discovery is crucial in PreSales, as it lays the foundation for understanding the client-specific situation, problems, goals, and needs, guiding the journey from a prospect to a successful client partnership. (Care 2020)

Budget: Understanding the financial capabilities and willingness of potential clients. This helps tailor the solution offering without overshooting budgetary limits.

Authority: Identifying who has decision-making authority. This ensures that the sales and PreSales teams engage with individuals who can green-light a project.

Needs: Unearthing potential clients’ exact requirements, challenges, and pain points. This forms the crux of the discovery phase and dictates the positioning of the solution.

Timeline: Establishing when the client aims to implement the solution or when you anticipate making a decision. This helps align the sales process with expectations.

Documentation is the lighthouse in the vast ocean of PreSales and sales processes, guiding PreSales professionals through the complexities of discovery, scoping, and solution tailoring. Understanding and leveraging documentation is crucial for ensuring a streamlined and effective approach to sales and PreSales activities.

The Opportunity Scoping Document (OSD) is a vital piece of documentation that captures the essence of Sales and PreSales Discovery, acting as a bridge between the client’s needs and the offered solutions. It outlines the client’s challenges, pain points, budgetary constraints, decision-makers, and implementation timelines, offering a clear roadmap for tailoring solutions that resonate with client expectations.

Integrating the OSD into modern CRM systems enhances its utility, making information easily retrievable and shareable among team members. Tools like Gong.io elevate documentation by analyzing client interactions to offer granular insights, enabling data-driven decision-making in the PreSales process.

Sales Discovery is an integral part of the PreSales journey, shaping the entire engagement with the client. It ensures continuity in conversation, awareness of commitments made during sales interactions, and a proactive approach to addressing client queries. This balance between PreSales and sales necessitates effective communication, coordination, and documentation, ensuring a harmonious relationship that leads to organizational success ​​.

In an ideal scenario, the pre-sales team is introduced into the client engagement process after the sales discovery phase. This ensures that you are presented with a structured understanding of the client, allowing them to focus on the technical and solution-oriented aspects.

However, there are scenarios in which PreSales might be roped into Sales Discovery, especially when the sales team is new or unfamiliar with certain functional and technical nuances. Your technical expertise can aid in setting the right expectations and answering intricate questions upfront.

It is crucial for the pre-sales team to be aware of the topics mentioned during the sales discovery phase, which is when the sales team first speaks with a potential customer to find out about their needs. This covers any assurances given as well as whether the prospective customer satisfies the BANT requirements (budget, authority, need, and timing). When the pre-sales team steps in later, having this knowledge makes their work easier.

PreSales personnel may participate in the discovery process, particularly if the sales team is inexperienced or requires assistance with technological matters. When they do, they can assist in providing answers to complex technical queries, establishing appropriate expectations, and ensuring that the BANT criteria are understood right away.

Because it gives the pre-sales and sales teams a comprehensive understanding of the potential client, the BANT framework is very important. This data serves as a kind of road map for PreSales, enabling them to customize their strategy and demonstrate to the customer how their products may satisfy the client’s particular requirements. Ensuring that all parties are aware of the insights gained during the sales discovery stage facilitates a seamless transition from preliminary discussions to the specifics of the client’s requirements, resulting in satisfied customers and profitable transactions.

The sales process, especially in B2B, is really complex and involves a lot of people’s time and company resources. When you think about how much effort goes into chasing a potential deal, from the Sales, PreSales, to Product Management teams, it’s just the tip of the iceberg. There are hidden costs too.

Here’s a closer look:

Opportunity Cost: Time spent on one deal means you might miss out on others. If you don’t land the deal, that’s a big opportunity lost.

Resource Drain: Every lead that’s not really going to buy but goes through your sales process anyway uses up valuable resources.

Dilution of Focus: Trying to catch every lead can mean you’re not giving your best shots the attention they deserve.

Financial Implications: Costs like travel, demos, and sometimes offering trials add up. Without careful lead qualification, you’re spending without a guaranteed return.

Overhead Costs: The everyday costs to keep your team running, like rent, utilities, and software licenses, add up in the background.

Training and Development: There’s a significant investment in making sure your team knows their stuff through training and certifications.

Tools and Software: The cost of CRM systems, analytics, and communication tools is significant but necessary.

Travel & Accommodation: Meeting clients in person or doing on-site demos isn’t cheap, with flights, hotels, and meals all costing money.

Collateral Development: Making sales materials like brochures and presentations has its own set of costs.

Miscellaneous Costs: Things like legal fees, contract work, and even taking clients out add to the overall expense.

When you add all these costs up, the seemingly conservative estimate of $9,900 for an 8-month sales cycle based on just person-hours is actually much lower than the real cost. This highlights how critical it is to pick the right opportunities to pursue.

For a PreSales Consultant with a $1.5 million yearly quota and a 35% close rate, focusing on the right deals is key. Assuming it takes 80–160 hours to work on a $300k deal, and you have about 1600 hours a year to work, you can only handle 10–20 deals. This makes your pipeline worth 3–6 million, aiming to close 1–2 million of it. So, every deal you work on and don’t win means you’re less likely to meet your quota.

Starting a long sales cycle without being sure the lead is qualified risks not just money but also the team’s morale and energy. That’s why qualifying leads well at the start isn’t just smart; it’s essential for your bottom line and keeping your team focused and motivated.

If you are interested in a BANT Framework, check out the PreSales Mastery Course; it contains the BANT Form along with an Excel-based Qualification Schema that you can utilize for your chances.

While BANT is still useful for basic qualification, many sales professionals now prefer more customer-centric approaches like CHAMP (Challenges, Authority, Money, Prioritization) or MEDDIC (Metrics, Economic Buyer, Decision Criteria, Decision Process, Identify Pain, Champion).

The CHAMP framework is a modern sales qualification approach designed to prioritize understanding the customer’s needs and challenges. The acronym CHAMP stands for Challenges, Authority, Money, and Prioritization. Here’s a breakdown of each component:

Challenges

Identify and Understand Problems: Focus on the prospect’s core challenges and pain points. Understanding these issues helps you determine how your solution can address their specific needs.

Deep Dive into Impact: Analyze how these challenges affect their business operations, efficiency, and overall goals. This insight helps tailor your solution to provide the maximum value.

Authority

Identify Decision-Makers: Determine who in the organization has the power to make purchasing decisions. This could be one person or a group of stakeholders.

Understand the Decision Process: Learn about their decision-making criteria and processes to align your approach accordingly.

Money

Assess Financial Capability: Understand the prospect’s budget and financial constraints. This helps you propose a solution that is within their financial reach.

Demonstrate ROI: Clearly show the return on investment (ROI) your solution will bring. This can help justify the cost and secure the budget.

Prioritization

Gauge Urgency: Determine how urgent the prospect’s need is for a solution. Are they actively looking for a fix, or is it a lower priority?

Align with Business Goals: Understand how high your solution ranks in their list of business priorities. This helps you time your sales efforts and tailor your approach.

Key Takeaways

Customer-Centric Approach: The CHAMP framework shifts the focus from the seller’s needs to the customer’s challenges, making the sales process more about adding value than just closing a deal.

Qualitative Insight: By understanding the challenges and the decision-making process, sales professionals can provide more relevant and effective solutions.

Strategic Alignment: Knowing the financial capacity and priorities of the prospect helps in crafting proposals that align with their budget and business goals.

The MEDDIC framework is a comprehensive sales qualification approach that emphasizes understanding the prospect’s buying process and key decision criteria. The acronym MEDDIC stands for Metrics, Economic Buyer, Decision Criteria, Decision Process, Identify Pain, and Champion. Here’s a breakdown of each component:

Metrics

Quantify Success: Identify the key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics that the prospect uses to measure success. Understanding these metrics helps you align your solution with their goals and demonstrate tangible benefits.

Show ROI: Provide clear evidence of how your solution can improve these metrics, thereby delivering a strong return on investment (ROI).

Economic Buyer

Identify the Economic Buyer: Determine who has the final authority over the budget and purchasing decision. This person controls the financial approval for the purchase.

Understand Their Perspective: Learn what matters most to the economic buyer, including their strategic goals and financial priorities, to tailor your pitch accordingly.

Decision Criteria

Know Their Criteria: Understand the specific criteria the prospect uses to evaluate potential solutions. This can include technical requirements, cost, vendor reputation, and more.

Align Your Solution: Ensure your proposal meets or exceeds these criteria to position your solution as the best fit.

Decision Process

Map the Process: Learn the steps the prospect will take to reach a buying decision, including the stakeholders involved, timelines, and any necessary approvals.

Facilitate the Process: Provide the necessary information and support to help the prospect navigate this process smoothly and efficiently.

Identify Pain

Uncover Pain Points: Identify the specific problems or challenges the prospect is facing. Understanding their pain points is crucial for demonstrating how your solution can alleviate these issues.

Highlight Urgency: Emphasize the impact of these pain points on their business to create a sense of urgency for your solution.

Champion

Find a Champion: Identify someone within the prospect’s organization who advocates for your solution. This person can influence the decision-making process and help overcome internal resistance.

Leverage Their Support: Equip your champion with the information and tools they need to effectively promote your solution internally.

Key Takeaways

Customer-Focused Insight: The MEDDIC framework centers on understanding the prospect’s buying process, decision criteria, and pain points, ensuring your solution is precisely aligned with their needs.

Strategic Alignment: By focusing on metrics and the economic buyer, you can tailor your approach to demonstrate clear value and secure financial approval.

Process Efficiency: Understanding the decision process and having a champion can streamline the sales cycle and increase the likelihood of a successful outcome.

Summary

BANT: Good for quick and basic qualification, focusing on whether the prospect has the budget, authority, need, and timeline for the solution.

CHAMP: Provides a more customer-centric approach by focusing on understanding the prospect’s challenges and prioritizing their needs and urgency.

MEDDIC: Offers a comprehensive and detailed framework, ideal for complex sales, by covering financial metrics, decision criteria, and the entire decision-making process.

In the B2B sales world, the Sales Discovery phase is your first chance to learn about a potential client’s specific situation, including their issues, goals, and needs. This isn’t just small talk—it’s about digging deep to understand the potential client better. This phase is super important in PreSales because it helps you grasp what the client really needs and sets the stage for turning them into a successful partnership.

The BANT framework is your best friend during this phase. BANT stands for Budget, Authority, Needs, and Timeline. It’s like a map that helps you navigate through the discovery process, making sure you don’t miss out on understanding the client’s budget, who decides, what they really need, and their timeline for making it happen.

Budget: Know how much your potential client can spend and match your solution to fit within their budget.

Authority: Find out who has the power to say yes, so you’re talking to the right people.

Needs: Dig into the client’s challenges and requirements. It’s all about showing you really get what they’re facing and can offer a solution that hits the mark.

Timeline: Align your sales process with the client’s schedule for buying or implementing your solution.

Documentation, like the Opportunity Scoping Document (OSD) and using CRM systems, is key. It makes sure every insight from the discovery phase is recorded and shared, so you can transition smoothly from initial talks to offering the right solutions. Modern tools, like Gong.io, even let you analyze client interactions for deeper insights.

Sometimes, PreSales jumps into the Discovery phase, especially if the sales team is new or needs help with tech stuff. Your expertise can help clarify things early on and ensure the BANT qualifications are spot on.

Basically, Sales Discovery is where you lay the groundwork. It determines how well you understand the potential client and guides the rest of your engagement. And remember, starting with a strong qualification process is crucial because it saves time, resources, and makes sure you’re aiming for deals you can actually close, keeping your team focused and boosting your chances of hitting those sales targets.

While BANT is still useful for basic qualification, many sales professionals now prefer more customer-centric approaches like CHAMP (Challenges, Authority, Money, Prioritization) or MEDDIC (Metrics, Economic Buyer, Decision Criteria, Decision Process, Identify Pain, Champion).

These frameworks provide deeper insights into the prospect’s challenges and decision-making process, making them more effective in complex sales environments. All these sales qualification frameworks—BANT, CHAMP, and MEDDIC—share a common goal: to help sales professionals determine whether a prospect is a good fit and worth pursuing.

Ultimately, it’s not about how well we fit to the client or how we can make a sale. It’s about truly listening to the client’s problems and determining if we can genuinely add value. How you come to this understanding is secondary.

What matters most is the commitment to understanding and solving the client’s real issues.

By focusing on these fundamental elements, you can increase your chances of closing deals and achieving long-term success, regardless of the specific framework you employ. Going through a structured approach, however, makes sense to ensure thorough and consistent evaluation.

In the B2B sales world, the Sales Discovery phase is your first chance to learn about a potential client’s specific situation, including their issues, goals, and needs. This isn’t just small talk — it’s about digging deep to understand the potential client better. This phase is super important in PreSales because it helps you grasp what the client really needs and sets the stage for turning them into a successful partnership.