Sell Playbook (Part 2): How to Structure an Effective Discovery Call (Nick & Armand)

ACTIONABLE TAKEAWAYS Know Competitors' Fiscal Periods: Be aware of when your competitors’ fiscal periods end to anticipate price drops and position yourself better. Phased Approach: When price matters, propose only the essentials for day one to make your quote smaller and easier to accept. Timeline Stack: Identify key timeline drivers, like contract end dates or business seasonality, to create urgency. Turn Want into Why: During discovery, dig deeper to find the real business problem behind a customer’s desire for change. JOHNNY'S PATH TO PRESIDENTS CLUB Commercial Account Executive @ Talkdesk Enterprise Sales Development Manager @Talkdesk Team Lead, Enterprise Sales Development @ Mimeo Enterprise SDR @ Mimeo RESOURCES DISCUSSED: Join our weekly newsletter Things you can steal

ACTIONABLE TAKEAWAYS: Signal Prioritization: Categorize signals (e.g., high-intent, time-based) with different response SLAs to ensure timely outreach. Call Blitz Culture: Multiple weekly call blitzes with a virtual sales floor create a high-energy, team-building cold calling environment. Effective Personalization: Don’t rely on signals alone; combine them with company insights to craft personalized, compelling outreach. 80/20 Email Framework: Provide reps with an 80% completed template (signal, company insight, ideal state, light CTA), letting them personalize the final 20%. FLORIN'S PATH TO PRESIDENTS CLUB: Head of Sales Development @ Common Room Director of Sales @ Barley Senior Manager, Sales Development @ Loopio Manager, Sales Development @ Loopio RESOURCES DISCUSSED: Join our weekly newsletter Things you can steal

ACTIONABLE TAKEAWAYS: Facial Expressions Control Tone: Your facial expressions influence your tone. For example, leaning in creates a concerned tone, while tilting your chin up can convey curiosity. Slow Down Your Questions: Asking questions too quickly leads to poor answers. Slow down the second half of your question to give prospects time to think and respond meaningfully. Master the Five Types of Tone: Use different tones—curious, confused, concerned, challenging, and playful—to guide conversations and elicit the right responses. Challenge Prospects with a Direct Tone: A challenging tone helps push prospects to take action, especially when addressing tough issues like low-quality leads. JEREMY'S PATH TO PRESIDENT'S CLUB: Founder @ 7th Level VP of Sales @ Pinnacle Security RESOURCES DISCUSSED: Join our weekly newsletter Things you can steal

FOUR ACTIONABLE TAKEAWAYS To learn about what’s going on in other parts of your organization, get on the email alias distribution lists. Build out your go team of people that you can rely on in legal, product, marketing, deal desk, etc. so that you’re never stuck trying to figure out how to get a function to help you with a deal. To determine the next steps and what’s important to a buyer, ask, “Say you’re evaluating a few technologies, and they’re similar. What are the things that make you pick one over the other?” When dealing with technical buyers, always under promise so you don't lose credibility. PATH TO PRESIDENT’S CLUB Named Account Manager - Digital Natives UK @ Databricks Named Account Manager - Digital Natives @ Databricks Snr Manager, Commercial Sales, ANZ @ Databricks Enterprise Account Executive @ Databricks RESOURCES DISCUSSED Join our weekly newsletter Things you can steal

This is an except from the Make It Happen Mondays podcast with John Barrows Check out John's weekly sales podcast here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/make-it-happen-mondays-b2b-sales-talk-with-john-barrows/id1265697819

ACTIONABLE TAKEAWAYS: 80/20 Rule for Experimentation: Keep 80% of your team's work process-driven and reserve 20% for new, experimental ideas to avoid chaos. Track MQL to Reply Rates: Use the MQL to reply rate metric to gauge how well your messaging engages prospects. Key Metrics for Pipeline Meetings: Focus on leads by source, conversion rates, meeting-to-op conversions, and total pipeline in every pipeline meeting. Methodical Problem Solving: When top-of-funnel issues arise, fix one area at a time—start with accounts, then people, triggers, and finally messaging. SONNY'S PATH TO PRESIDENTS CLUB: Director of Global Sales Development @ Panopto Senior Manager, Global Sales Developnent @ Sift Sales Development Manager @ Sift Manager, Account Development Team @ Mesosphere RESOURCES DISCUSSED: Join our weekly newsletter Things you can steal

FOUR ACTIONABLE TAKEAWAYS: Know Your Solution – Understand the problems you solve, their root causes, and the demo paths before your discovery call. Model Multiple Scenarios – Present "worst," "average," and "best" cases to appear more impartial and handle objections better. Link Problems to Causes – Connect the buyer’s problem to its root cause and offer a solution that directly addresses it. Demo Through Stories – Use storytelling in your demo to illustrate how your product fits into the user’s daily workflow, rather than just listing features. GAL'S PATH TO PRESIDENTS CLUB: CEO & Co-Founder @ Aligned Chief Revenue Officer @ Anagog VP Global Sales @ Syte Director of Sales @ Sisense Enterprise Account Executive @ Nanorep RESOURCES DISCUSSED: Join our weekly newsletter Things you can steal

FOUR ACTIONABLE TAKEAWAYS Find your prospect's birthday and then add them to your calendar to send thoughtful notes If a competitor is faltering run a list report of all their customers and prospect them If doing in-person office visits bring a gift to break the ice and leave a memorable impressions If you missed something on a meeting, don't wait until the next meeting, just give the buyer a call on their mobile phone and ask (don't make it awkward) PATH TO PRESIDENT’S CLUB Senior Mid-Market Account Executive @ Motive Senior Commercial Account Executive @ Motive Commercial Account Executive @ Motive Sales Consultant & Benefits Advisor @ First Mainstreet Account Executive @ Procore Technologies RESOURCES DISCUSSED Join our weekly newsletter Things you can steal

Nick and Armand give an overview of all the content in their Amazon best selling book "Cold Calling Sucks (And That's Why It Works)" Order the book

TOP ACTIONABLE SALES TAKEAWAYS: Layer your discovery tree: After a prospect speaks, pull up your discovery tree and ask, "Where are we now?" Identify if they mentioned a situation, problem, or impact, and discuss where to guide them next, actively engaging your team. Keep it punchy and efficient: Drive the screen share, skip small talk, and use the transcript instead of video to review sessions faster, aiming for under 30 minutes. Prep before discovery calls: Reps should know the expected problem and who they’re meeting. Also, plan who they should meet with next after the call. Three key questions: Focus on what the prospect said, what to ask next, and evaluate the rep's performance. Keep the discussion centered on these points. ARMAND'S PATH TO PRESIDENTS CLUB: Founder @ 30MPC VP of Sales @ Pave Director of Sales @ Carta RESOURCES DISCUSSED: Join our weekly newsletter Things you can steal