A Guide to Discovery Calls: How to Successfully Close a Deal

When in business, nothing feels better than successfully closing a deal after a long call. But more often than not, doing this can be challenging for many entrepreneurs. Between negotiating, finding common ground, and figuring out fair compensation, everyone has their own style of handling these experiences. 

If you face many challenges in closing your deals during a call, you might be doing something wrong. Learn more about how you can turn your situation around by becoming an expert in discovery calls through the infographic below. 

What Are Discovery Calls? 

After you connect with a prospect, your first call will be considered the discovery call. During this time, you can ask your potential customer a few questions to get to know them and their needs      concerning your product or service. 

For example, a potential client may contact you about your service. To ensure that your brand matches their needs and goals, you’ll need to know more details about what they expect from you and if they can get the desired results. 

A Guide to Discovery Calls: How to Successfully Close a Deal 

1. Uncover your prospect’s problems

To ensure that you give your customer the best service, talk more in-depth about the issues they’re facing. It can include the cause of the problem, how often it reoccurs, and their main concerns. 

2. Ask the right questions

Focus on the current issue and avoid stretching the conversation to other topics. The right questions will always revolve around the center of the problem or make their way towards it. 

3. Stay conversational 

Keeping the tone conversational can help your customers feel more relaxed and answer better. Rather than pressuring them to leak information, make them feel they can trust you with the information they give you. 

4. Maintain the ideal talk-to-listen ratio

Getting interrupted constantly can ruin the flow of the conversation and make your clients feel like they can’t fully express themselves. It can cause them to hold out on valuable details of their problem, which can be harder to solve. 

5. Subtly add a small value 

Suggesting small recommendations to your clients can give them simple ways of remedying the issue. It can be helpful to them while being careful not to overwhelm them with multiple options. 

6. Repeat a few important factors

Reiterating key phrases from the conversation helps make your client feel they’re being paid attention to. These phrases should be major contributors to the idea discussed. 

7. Always clarify your understanding 

Assumptions won’t lead you anywhere. Rather than ending the conversation after your client explains their end, keep asking questions to get a full idea of the situation. 

8. Use assumptive selling tactics

After a great conversation with your client, create further exchanges as if they’re already buying your offer. The key is to be assertive enough to convince them, yet not too pushy that it can lead them away.

9. Provide a synopsis

Summaries help both parties fully realize if you’re on the same page or not. Give a quick rundown of each major factor in your discussion, from the cause and known issues to the proposed solutions.

How to Set the Stage during Discovery Calls?     

Before the Call:

• Research about the company

Get to know your prospect’s business in every aspect imaginable. Take a deeper look into their values and goals and see how their problems affect those checkpoints. It’ll help you better understand their needs and provide a solution to meet them. 

• Have solid product knowledge

Before you can help anyone else, you need to establish yourself as an expert in what you do. It starts with understanding the ins and outs of your products to see if they can be a compatible solution for your clients. 

• Prepare discovery call questions

Always have your questions ready before you initiate a call with your prospects. It’ll give you enough time to determine if your queries are suitable for the client or not. 

• Qualify the prospect

Since your resources are limited, they won’t always be compatible with your clients. To ensure that you can effectively help them with their issues, you must determine if they qualify for your services. 

• Set a time and date convenient for both parties

Find out when it’s convenient for both parties to have a lengthy conversation about your client’s issues. It’ll give you enough time to prepare as you establish a goal and agenda. 

During the Call:

• Ask more about the company

You’ll clearly understand your client’s goals and values by getting them to elaborate more about what they do. It’ll help you get to know both the business and the client, which is essential for establishing a good relationship

• Know who you’re talking to

Understanding someone is easier when you have a one-on-one conversation. Ask about the client’s position in the company and what they do. While you can always do your research, you can unlock more details when you lead the discussion.

• Ask about the problems encountered by the company

Discuss the concerns in detail and why it’s an issue for your client. It can help you empathize and better understand the problem.

• Know what solutions they’ve tried

Being given the same advice repeatedly can be tedious and frustrating. Avoid making your clients go through this and ask for solutions they’ve already tried before you suggest new ones.

• Move the deal forward

Once all the final details have been established, encourage your client to move the deal forward and check if everything is acceptable. It’ll help prevent major revisions to the plan and save both parties more time. 

Qualifying vs. Disqualifying Questions during Discovery Calls     

Qualifying and disqualifying questions both have a purpose during the discovery call. 

Qualifying questions help uncover the needs and challenges of your client, telling you which of your products can apply to the situation most. Asking these questions is also necessary since it’s the first part of the sales qualification process. 

Here are some examples of qualifying questions:

• What are your goals?
• What are the problems you’re trying to solve?
• What’s the source of these problems?
• What’s your priority today?
• How do you envision a successful outcome?
• What’s keeping you from addressing these problems?

While qualifying questions help you understand your client and their needs, disqualifying questions eliminate other factors that may not be as important. These usually consist of deadlines, budgets, limitations, and many more details. 

Here are some examples of disqualifying questions:

• What are the roadblocks to implementing the plan?
• Whose budget does the funding come from?
• What’s your timeline for implementation?
• What’s the approximate budget?
• Is the budget provider an “exclusive sponsor”?
• Are you flexible with other solutions?

Nail the Landing: Tips and Reminders on Closing a Deal

As a business owner, the goal is to help your clients get what they need according to the set expectations. But sometimes, doing this can be easier said than done, especially when you don’t know how to properly close a deal with a difficult caller. 

Approaching every prospect should be done with caution and careful consideration. Learn how      to polish your discovery call approach with the right call center outsourcing service. Reach out to Executive Boutique Call Center to learn more today.

Source: https://ebcallcenter.com/uncategorized/guide-to-discovery-calls-how-to-successfully-close-a-deal

2023 Buyers Guide

Get Listed

Computer Telephony Integration

 

1.)

Premium Listing Call Center Studio Call Center Studio Call Center Studio is the world’s first call center built on Google and is one of the most secure and stable systems with some of the industry’s best reporting. It is one of the most full-featured enterprise grade systems (with the most calling features, one of the best call distribution, outbound dialing features and integrations—including IVR, AI Speech Recognition, blended inbound/outbound calling and includes Google’s new Dialogflow and Speech API. Call Center Studio is the absolute easiest to use (with a 10 minute setup), and is the price performance leader with lower equipment cost and less setup time.

2.)

AMC Technology DaVinci DaVinci provides Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) to a library of pre-built applications + UXiPaaS (User Experience Integration Platform as a Service) built specifically for contact centers. As contact center needs evolve, organizations need to have access to extend or create new functionality, without waiting to be a part of a software roadmap. Get the benefits of CTI within your CRM like screen pop, click-to-dial, screen transfer, speed dial and more, but future-proof your contact center so you can expand and integrate how and when you want.

3.)

ComSys S.A. CLink for CRM and Call Center Integration CLink by Comsys is a middleware that connects in real-time the CRM and the contact center applications. CLink enhances the CRM with interaction management capabilities from the contact center that allow agents to work more productively across all communication channels. Comsys is a provider of οmnichannel customer engagement solutions that assist companies around the world in delivering unique customer experiences. For the last 15 years, Comsys designs and implements complex projects for clients from the outsourcing, financial services, telecommunications, and retail sectors. Comsys enjoys strategic partnerships with technology vendors like Cisco®, Aspect Software®, and Microsoft® for the delivery of innovative interaction management and contact center optimization solutions.

4.)

Consilium Software Consilium UniAgent™ Today’s call centers need their agents to work more naturally, and respond better and faster. Here, we talk about the innovations Consilium has made with the latest desktop and mobile agent releases of the UniAgent™ CRM connector. From small enterprises to Fortune 500 companies and governments across 110 countries, UniAgent™ comes into action right at the moment of reckoning, making every contact center experience engaging and personalized, powered by simplified customer identification and anticipating customer needs. UniAgent™ provides CRM integrations between all the Cisco contact center solutions (UCCX, PCCE, UCCE and HCS-CC) and over 20 CRMs, such as Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics 365... (read more)Today’s call centers need their agents to work more naturally, and respond better and faster. Here, we talk about the innovations Consilium has made with the latest desktop and mobile agent releases of the UniAgent™ CRM connector. From small enterprises to Fortune 500 companies and governments across 110 countries, UniAgent™ comes into action right at the moment of reckoning, making every contact center experience engaging and personalized, powered by simplified customer identification and anticipating customer needs. UniAgent™ provides CRM integrations between all the Cisco contact center solutions (UCCX, PCCE, UCCE and HCS-CC) and over 20 CRMs, such as Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Oracle Service Cloud & Siebel, BMC Remedy, Sugar CRM, ServiceNow, SAP C4C, FreshDesk, and more. Consilium UniAgent™ CRM connectors are proven in over 110 countries with thousands of agents globally. Enterprises are proactively working towards enhancing their Customer Experience (CX) strategy to optimize omnichannel interaction throughout the customer lifecycle. Consilium UniAgent™ is delivering this as a Connected Digital Experience, being at the center of the agent and customer interaction. The 8.0 release of UniAgent™ is designed to help organizations deliver intuitive, contextual and experience-driven customer service across voice and digital channels (chat, SMS and social media.) As we enter the next stage of the global pandemic, contact centers are faced with the prospect of permanently allowing at least some of their agents to be Work-from-Home agents, without reducing the customer experience (CX.) UniAgent™ Mobile (UA™ Mobile) provides a mobile phone-based solution for Work-from-Home (WFH) agents, and can also be used from tablets or PC’s, all without the need for installing anything or requiring VPN. UniAgent™ is now available in a cloud-hosted deployment model. Our choices of subscription-based or owned-license pricing gives the flexibility customers and partners need. UniAgent™ can reduce call handling time, accelerate resolutions, and allow for faster call processing to reduce customer wait times in queue. Contact centers can shorten the total time agents spend on inbound and outbound calls, increasing agent productivity by up to 25% by providing customer information to an agent's desktop at the same time the customer call arrives. This cost saving alone can provide a rapid return on investment (ROI). In addition, quick resolution of customer concerns is possible because agents can now use the historical information in CRM’s to shorten call hold times and quickly address the problem. Finally, simple on-screen click-to-talk capabilities are integrated into the CRM screen, allowing agents to initiate outbound calls quickly. Features and Benefits • Automatic logging: Administrators and managers get Cisco CUIC reporting of all agent activity, and voice and non-voice contact activity is also saved to the CRM. • Omnichannel federation: Support for voice, chat, email, and Universal Queue/UQ routing with Single-Sign-On supported • One-click dialing: Agents need only to click on a phone number once in the CRM to place calls, saving time and removing the possibility of dialing wrong numbers. • Pre-packaged integration: Allows pre-packaged integration between CRM’s and the Cisco Unified Contact Center solutions for fast, easy installation, and easy upgrades when Cisco Unified Contact Center and CRM product versions change. • Full telephony functions: All telephony functions in the CRM agent desktop including phone control, caller identification, and screen pops • Proven architecture: A robust, proven architecture that has been successfully deployed for governments and Fortune 500 companies since 2008.

5.)

IntraNext Systems IntraNext Systems develops agent efficiency tools and data security software solutions for medium-to-large contact centers. Our Event Intelligence® Platform solutions include SmartCTI™, iGuard®, and SmartSIP™. SmartSIP is based on our patented SIP layer technology and provides a DTMF masking solution for VoIP environments.

6.)

Megacall CRM integration CRM We know how important it is for a business to obtain data from its customers and to manage them effectively, so we help small to large companies by integrating their CRM with the Virtual Switchboard. This type of integration will simplify the work of your team and improve the management performance of the contact list and its information.

7.)	NovelVox NovelVox CTI Connector NextGen Cisco Finesse, Genesys & Avaya Embedded CTI Connectors for Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics, ServiceNow, Zendesk & more.

8.)

PhoneIQ PhoneIQ What is PhoneIQ? PhoneIQ is the modern cloud phone system and contact center platform built exclusively for companies on Salesforce. Our all-in-one cloud communications platform brings together power dialing, local presence, voicemail drop, Salesforce call routing, call recording and a complete PBX replacement that lives within your CRM. With support for desktop, mobile, and desk phones, PhoneIQ works seamlessly at the office or remote, logging all interactions in Salesforce and generating reports in real-time. Best For Companies using Salesforce and looking for a phone system, dialer, or contact center software that provides deep integration capabilities with their CRM and expert Salesforce support.

9.)

PRILINK Easy Contact Center Traffic Analytics (Ec2Traffic) Prilink Ec2Traffic provides network traffic analytics (NTA) for Internet, SIP Trunk and WebRTC traffic for on-premises and cloud Contact Centers. Ec2Traffic analyzes network layer 2 to 4, RTP and SRTP packet loss and SIP protocols in real-time from the demarcation point or network edge, generating NTA metadata and requires little telemetry bandwidth. Ec2Traffic provides: - Year-round NTA metadata - Daily CSV files upload to Customer business applications - Capture packet to Wireshark for Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) - detect traffic anomalies - and more ....

10.)

Teckinfo Solutions Pvt. Ltd. InterDialog UCCS InterDialog UCCS - a robust contact/ call center software that helps organizations provide a seamless customer experience across all channels in the customer service journey. All interactions from various channels come to a single unified queue on the InterDialog platform. With unified view agents get to see all historical interactions , enabling him to give a resolution quickly. InterDialog UCCS is a comprehensive Contact/Call Center Software with robust CTI, Unified Q ( ACD), Reporting, Unified Agent Management, Administrator, Supervisor - Monitoring (Pmonitor)

11.)

The Primas Group Primas CX Primas CX is a CTI-based contact center enhancement suite that takes your contact center software to the next level. It provides a set of tools that every contact center needs, over and above their vendor features. *Advanced Call Back in Queue & SMS in Queue *Agent Screen Pop *Chatbot Automation *Welcome Back Greeting *Post Contact Survey *Dropped Call Reconnect *Digital Front Door & Many more As a Vendor Agnostic ISV, we pride ourselves on delivering the best COTS & Custom solutions for any contact center in any industry.

 

View more from Executive Boutique

Recent Blog Posts:

Call Center Technology: 5 Latest Trends and Strategies to Adopt	September 13, 2023
Call Center Burnout: 5 Causes and How to Overcome It	July 5, 2023
What is Blockchain Technology? Call Center Benefits and Uses	June 2, 2023
Cloud Computing: What It Is and How It Benefits Call Centers	May 22, 2023
5 Customer Retention Strategies Companies Should Implement	May 2, 2023
How to Detect Call Center Scammers: 8 Tips for Call Center Agents	April 4, 2023
The Future of Call Centers: 16 Must-Know Statistics and Trends	March 29, 2023
A Guide to Discovery Calls: How to Successfully Close a Deal	October 11, 2022
Data Privacy in Call Centers: An In-Depth Look Into HIPAA	August 18, 2022
9 Essential Tasks to Outsource for Your Ecommerce Business	July 12, 2022