What!?
Sacrilege!
Not at all…
Here’s the reality – your buyer may be way down the path of their buying journey.
They don’t need more “discovery.” They need:
- More insight
- More clarity
- Direction
Why?
They need to make a decision and don’t want to screw it up (see the Jolt Effect and their incredible study on this).
Because of this reality, this requires a different conversation than your standard discovery.
If you attempt to back a prospect up and pepper them with questions to “understand their need,” you may just tick them off.
What can you do?
This may come as a shock…
Meet them where they are.
A couple examples:
“Oh, sounds like you’re well on your way – how can I best assist you?”
Or,
“Typically folks at this stage are thinking about X & Y, is this the case or am I off base?
Or,
“When I talk with others in your industry, the focus is often here & here (which is great) – are there any thoughts on this scenario, or is that off the table?”
Or,
Folks often reach out to us to avoid x & y, is that the case here, or am I way out in left field?
Or,
“Would you be open to approaching this a little differently than some of the standard approaches, or are you good with your current path?”
In short,
- Meet them where they are
- Discover what matters to them
- Help them make the best decision
Tip
- They may not know what they don’t know, that’s okay
- It doesn’t mean a trip all the way back to the beginning
- Rather, create a bridge from where they are to where they need to go