Instead of asking a long list of generic questions, identify the single trigger event or struggle common to your best customers. The entire discovery process then becomes asking prospects if they have that specific "pull." If not, they are disqualified, saving immense time and preventing wasted demos.
Any element in a sales process, from pitch to demo, that doesn't directly align with the customer's pre-existing demand creates "drag," slowing or killing the deal. The solution is not to push harder on the prospect but to re-engineer the sales motion to remove this friction by aligning with their goals.
After learning to disqualify prospects without demand during sales calls, the next evolution is to stop talking to them altogether. This insight forces a re-evaluation of upstream activities like marketing messaging, ad targeting, and outbound criteria to ensure the pipeline is pre-qualified for customer "pull."
When a clunky sales process fails, founders often incorrectly conclude their product isn't good enough and retreat to building more features. The real problem is typically the sales motion itself, which isn't aligned with customer demand. This leads to a cycle of building instead of fixing the sales process.
When switching from a long, feature-focused pitch to a short, demand-focused one, founders often feel exposed. It seems insufficient, like not using all their ammunition. This discomfort is a sign of progress, as it forces a dialogue about fit rather than a one-way lecture about the product.
Most product demos fail by giving a ground-up tour of features, integrations, and setup, which confuses the customer. A far more effective demo starts by showing the final, valuable output (e.g., the finished report) and simply stating, "This is what you get, and it all happens automatically."
A sales pitch doesn't need to convince a prospect they have a problem; it needs to align with their existing demand. This allows a 20+ slide deck to be reduced to two core slides: 1) "Here's the progress customers are trying to make," and 2) "Here's how our product helps them achieve it."