Go beyond generic empathy like 'that sounds tough.' Instead, specifically acknowledge the thankless, often unrealistic expectations placed on your prospect. This demonstrates a profound understanding of their world and builds significant trust.
Ask a personal, slightly controversial question early on. The prospect's passionate response provides a unique, memorable hook you can reference in a follow-up email subject line to cut through the noise if they go dark.
When closing an executive, position the next step as a continuation of the strategic conversation ('let me show you how a peer solved this'), not a product demo. This offers continued value and avoids the 'sales process' resistance a demo request can trigger.
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.
Don't pitch your product; tell a story about how a similar, respected company solved the same problem. This lowers the prospect's defenses and allows them to evaluate the idea on its merits before they feel they are being sold to.
At the end of a discovery call, ask two distinct questions. First, validate the problem's importance. Second, qualify its urgency by adding 'right now.' This simple addition uncovers crucial timing and budget cycle information for more accurate forecasting.
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.