DOJO
In the early stages of a B2B setup you are still trying to identify where your solution really fits in for your client. That’s OK. You’re going to learn how to dig deeper to really understand the problem that you are trying to solve. In this video, we identify the 5 basic stages of creating your first sales funnel. We’ll look at identifying who you want to talk to and how to find them, and share more on how to approach discovery calls.
This exercise is intended for individual or team sales agents as a way to practice and reinforce learning. Incorporate this practice into your day and, if possible, into your ongoing sales work. This practice shouldn’t take you more than 10-15 minutes a day. Keep it simple. Good luck and have fun!
Introduction: A key difference between an established business and a new one still learning and growing into itself is that a new business is still figuring out its problem-solution fit. It’s important to practice listening, digging deep to understand customer pain points and adapting your strategy if needed. As the old Chinese saying goes: we have 2 ears and 1 mouth for a good reason: so that we can listen twice as much as we speak. Take every opportunity to listen and learn as much as you can about your potential customer and her needs.
Step 1: Imagine you have already gone through steps 1-7 outlined in this video and you are now ready to tackle Step 8: discovery calls. You’ve prepared your notes about the problem you are solving and you’ve identified your problem owner.
Step 2: Take the time to craft 3-5 key questions related to understanding your customer’s pain points. How is she currently solving the problem that your product solves? How does this less-than-perfect solution impact her life? What other hurdles and road-blocks is she hitting that you perhaps have not yet considered? Who else is affected by the current sub-optimal state of operations? Is your assumed problem owners truly the problem owner? If not, who is suffering the consequences of the problem you are trying to solve?
Step 3: Go for it and reach out to your customer. Ask your relevant questions. Listen to understand. Do you really have a problem-solution fit with this customer or no? Refrain from pitching your product until the very end of the call (or defer your pitch to a future call). Maximize your time on your initial discovery interaction to understand your potential customer and his/her needs as much as possible. It is not about you and your product - it is 100% about the customer and their needs!
Step 4: If yes, and there is a problem-solution fit on the horizon, continue to dig deeper to better understand your customer’s pain points. Make sure to listen much more than speaking yourself.
Step 5: If no, and there isn’t a visible problem-solution fit with this customer, what can you learn from this interaction? Where and why does your hypothesis of “Our product is solving a relevant problem of this type of person” fall short? It often happens that good theories do not pan out in practice. Take notes - you never know - you may need to pivot your sales strategy in the near future. Once again, make sure you’re listening to your conversational partner more than speaking yourself.
Step 6: Summarize your notes in an organized way (CRM software or otherwise) and move on to the next discovery call.
Goal for the week:
Tuesday: Go for 1 discovery call today while applying the above steps. Focus on asking relevant questions and listening to understand.
Wednesday: Go for 2 more discovery calls today and take notes.
Thursday: Go for 3 more discovery calls today and take notes.
What have you learned from your discovery calls this week?
✅An important part of building your first funnel is identifying the problem owner. Interested to learn more? Head on over to “Early Stage sales for B2B Explained”
✅Once you get going with your sales funnel you’ll need to learn to keep it groomed and clean! When you’re ready for this step head on over to “How to Work with CRM systems” to learn more