Propose a link between your solution and a major company initiative. Even if your hypothesis is wrong, the prospect's correction will guide you directly to their most pressing business objective, which is more valuable than their polite agreement.
Related Insights
Prospects often describe wants (e.g., "a more efficient system"), which are not true problems. Asking about the motivation behind their desire forces them to articulate the underlying pain that actually drives a purchase decision.
Stop trying to convince executives to adopt your priorities. Instead, identify their existing strategic initiatives—often with internal code names—and frame your solution as an accelerator for what they're already sold on doing. This dramatically reduces friction and speeds up deals.
Companies don't sign six-figure contracts to solve one person's frustrations. To justify a large purchase, you must anchor the sale to tangible business outcomes. Frame discovery questions around the company's goals, not just an individual champion's personal pain points.
Using AI to generate a pre-call hypothesis about a prospect's priorities is valuable even when it's wrong. Presenting a thoughtful, albeit incorrect, idea demonstrates research. This prompts the prospect to correct you, immediately opening the door to a deeper conversation about their actual priorities.
To gauge a deal's urgency and qualify it, ask where the problem sits on their priority list. This forces them to state its importance out loud. It's psychologically difficult for someone to deprioritize something after they have verbally committed that it is a top priority.
Don't just solve the problem a customer tells you about. Research their public strategic objectives for the year and identify where they are failing. Frame your solution as the critical tool to close that specific, high-level performance gap, creating urgency and executive buy-in.
Instead of asking prospects to educate you with generic questions, conduct pre-call research and present a hypothesis on why you're meeting. This shows preparation and elevates the conversation. Even if you're wrong, the prospect will correct you, getting you to the right answer faster.
When a prospect describes an operational pain, present two common, high-impact business consequences you've seen elsewhere. This frames the problem in executive terms and guides them toward revealing a more significant issue, rather than hoping they connect the dots themselves.
Instead of asking broad discovery questions, present your pre-call research and immediately ask the prospect to correct you. This demonstrates diligence, makes them feel like an expert, and gets to the core issues much faster than starting from scratch.
Prospects often ghost because their internal priorities shift. To prevent this, don't just ask why a project is important now. Proactively ask, "What would cause you not to pursue this?" This negative qualification uncovers potential roadblocks and reveals the true level of urgency and executive commitment behind the initiative.
