The 7-Step Framework for Winning the Moment of Discovery by Steve Reid

After analyzing over 70,000 deals, we identified a significant drop post-Discovery call.

To address this, we partnered with Steve Reid, CEO of Venatas and sales growth expert, who has scaled companies from $10M to $40M in just 18 months.

In a recent webinar, Steve Reid joined Mark Fershteyn, CEO of Recapped, to share proven methodologies for conducting effective discovery calls that build trust and advance deals. With their combined experience in sales and deal execution, they broke down why traditional discovery approaches often fail and introduced a framework designed to put the customer first.

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Your key takeaways:

✅  Build Trust Instantly: Ask powerful questions that establish credibility.
✅  Reveal Hidden Opportunities: Use the Socratic Dialogue to uncover deeper buyer challenges.
✅  Align with Decision Makers: Practical tips to engage key stakeholders and eliminate deal risk.
🎁 Download free 2 Pager PDF of Steve's 7-Step Discovery Framework with Socratic Dialog questions

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Our GTM Advisor and Guest:

1. Steve Reid, CEO of Venatas
2. Mark Fershteyn: CEO of Recapped
   

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The #1 Discovery Mistake Salespeople Make

The biggest mistake in discovery calls is talking too much about yourself and your product instead of truly understanding the customer's needs.

In enablement about 80% of all sales training is focused on the product.

‍"We spend the majority of that initial discovery meeting not really discovering anything much about them, but trying to have them discover a lot of stuff we want them to know about us," Steve explains.

This approach creates several problems:

• Customers struggle to process information and find relevant connections
• They don't feel heard or understood
• The true business issues aren't uncovered
• There's no context for how your solution helps their specific situation

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The Doctor's Office Analogy

Steve emphasized the parallel between effective discovery and a doctor's visit. Just as you wouldn't trust a doctor who prescribes medicine without asking about your symptoms, buyers need to feel heard and understood before receiving a solution. This approach builds credibility and trust, even if you've seen similar situations hundreds of times before.

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The 7-Step Discovery Framework for Winning Your Discovery

Steve introduced a systematic framework designed to put the customer first and create a genuine dialogue:

1. Start with Socratic Questions:
   Begin by engaging the customer in a two-way conversation by asking insightful questions. Uncover their needs, challenges, their ideal solution, the business impact they desire, and the decision urgency they feel. Let them do most of the talking.
2. Provide a Confirmation Statement:
   Confirm your understanding and show you’ve listened well by summing up what you heard by highlighting the customer’s objective, obstacle, and urgency.
3. Diagnose:
   Use what you learned to diagnose the customer’s use case and to establish a focus for how you will present your solution value.
4. Value Alignment:
   Share insights and perspectives in the form of market proof, business impact, and customer proof to establish value, expertise, and authority.
5. Solution Snapshots:
   Showcase a few key features of your solution using the Tell-Show-Tell model. Align what you share to the specific needs the customer identified during your discovery questioning.
6. Decision Insight:
   Engage with your customer to qualify their Decision Intent. Learn about their decision process, and identify the members of the buying group.
7. Next Steps:
   Agree upon clear and definitive next steps. Get it on the calendar. Email a summary of your discussion to the customer, and update the CRM with meeting notes.
   
   💡 Instead of lengthy emails, try a digital deal room like Recapped to consolidate the summary, business case, next steps, and more. Here's a Mutual Action Plan template to get you started.

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The Socratic Dialog Questions

Start putting your customers first by having meaningful dialogue!

🎁 Get your free 2-pager PDF of the 7 Step Discovery Framework and the Socratic Dialog Questions.

Thank you Steve for allowing us share this with others!

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The Power of Customer's Own Words

There's immense value in getting customers to articulate their challenges and needs in their own words, because people want to stay consistent to their words.

This approach serves multiple purposes:

• Creates accountability through the customer's own stated priorities
• Provides a foundation for the business case
• Allows you to reference their exact language throughout the sales process
• Makes it harder to backtrack on stated needs and urgency

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Matching Your Sales Process to Buyer Priorities

Mark emphasizes that "We are not going to be able to shift company priorities - those are set by people way above our pay grade. The only thing we can do is match our solution to what they're trying to achieve in their outcomes."

Some customers require immediate solutions, while others have competing priorities. A practical way to match urgency is simply just by asking: "I'm here to match your urgency. So help me understand, what are your priorities?"

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Building Credibility Through Process Leadership

Position yourself as an expert by suggesting typical next steps that buyers go through. "If they're giving me this much guidance before I even signed the check and paid them, I imagine it's going to be 10 times that when we actually do."

Key tactical tips:

• Document key commitments and quotes immediately
• Set clear owners and due dates for next steps
• Use a mutual action plan to map out the entire buying process
• Show them the common "potholes" other customers have faced and how to avoid them

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Making It Work

To implement this framework effectively:

• Budget your time carefully to complete all 7 steps in 45-60 minutes
• Document key quotes and commitments from the customer
• Use a mutual action plan to outline next steps and build accountability
• Focus on helping customers buy rather than selling to them
• Remember that most buyers purchase infrequently and need guidance

As Steve notes,

‍"The best sales methodology is the one that you will use."

Mark adds that

‍"The best buyer experience you could deliver is a well-run sales process."

The key is shifting from presenting features to having a genuine dialogue about business problems and solutions. When done right, discovery builds the trust and understanding needed to earn the next steps in your sales process.

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What's next?

For more personalized training, Steve Reid's contact info:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-reid-csl/
• Email: steve@venatas.com
• Website: https://venatas.com/

For easiest implementation of mutual action plans and consolidating information into a deal room, our team at Recapped is happy to help. Schedule your personal consultation today!

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Additional Free Resources:

1. Steve Reid's 2 Pager PDF of the 7-Step Framework and Socratic Dialog questions 🎁
2. Mutual Action Plan Template in Recapped