21 Sales Discovery Questions You Should Be Asking

Sales discovery questions help you get to know your prospect, understand the landscape, create rapport, and inch closer to a final sale—or learn enough to feel confident moving on to someone else.

Short Answer: The best sales discovery questions uncover the prospect’s problems, goals, budget, decision-making process, current solutions, and timeline. Ask open-ended questions and let the prospect do most of the talking.

Important: Don’t ask these questions rapid-fire. You don’t want to seem like a robot reading from a script. Have a real conversation. These questions are meant to guide you, not rigidly confine you. Tweak them to suit your personal selling style.

What Questions Should You Ask About the Company and Role?

Quick Answer: Ask prospects to describe their company and role in their own words. You’ll learn how they see the business and whether they’re a decision maker worth persuading.

1. What does your company do?

Depending on your lead generation strategy, you might already know. But the point is getting your prospect to talk about their business in their own words. How do they see the business? How do they describe it? You’ll learn something about the business and the person.

2. What do you do for your company?

Find out their job title and how they function in the hierarchy. It helps you learn about their perspective and whether they’re a decision maker worth persuading.

What Questions Uncover Problems and Pain Points?

Quick Answer: Ask about current challenges, root causes, why problems persist, and what an ideal solution looks like. These questions reveal opportunities for your solution.

3. What problems are you trying to solve?

Tailor this to the person’s role and organization. What are the biggest issues this person faces? What obstacles stand in the way of their goal progress?

4. What are the root causes of these problems?

Be an advisor and work together to figure out root causes. Is there a tool that’s missing or insufficient? An organizational hierarchy problem? Something else at play?

5. Why haven’t these problems been solved yet?

Assuming they know the root causes, why haven’t they been addressed? You’ll likely hear “lack of budget,” “lack of interest,” or “I don’t know.” These are valuable opportunities to move in with a recommended solution selling approach.

6. What would the perfect solution look like?

Ask your prospect to describe the ideal solution. If they describe something like what you’re selling, get ready for a persuasive slam dunk. Most likely, they’ll describe something unrealistic—which gives you an opportunity to present a practical alternative.

What Questions Reveal Goals and Timelines?

Quick Answer: Ask about short-term and long-term goals, plus deadlines. Timeline determines urgency—an end-of-year goal creates immediate opportunity; a 10-year plan may not be ready for your solution yet.

7. What are your goals?

Phrase this as an individual question or organization-level question. First, focus on aspirations for the next few weeks and months. Then, focus on aspirations for the next several years.

8. What are your goal deadlines?

This is huge. If you have a chance of helping your prospect achieve their goals, you need to know the timeline. If they’re trying to accomplish something by the end of the year, that’s a perfect opportunity to step in now. If they’re working with a 10-year timetable, they may not be ready yet.

What Questions Should You Ask About Budget?

Quick Answer: Ask about available budget and who controls it. No use selling a $1,000,000 tool to someone with $10,000 to spend.

9. What’s your budget?

Assuming you’re talking to a decision maker, ask about budget directly. This saves time for both parties.

10. Who is responsible for allocating this budget?

In larger organizations, figure out how budget is determined. Is it something that could change with influence and persuasion? Or is it set in stone?

What Questions Uncover Current Solutions and Competitors?

Quick Answer: Ask about existing solutions, how well they’re working, and what would persuade the prospect to switch. This reveals competitive positioning opportunities.

11. Do you have a current solution or vendor in place?

If there’s a problem that needs solved, there may be a solution already in place. Figure that out.

12. How is that solution working out?

Is it excelling or merely getting the job done? Do people seem to like it, or is there collective frustration with the system?

13. What would persuade you to switch?

If they love their current product, is there anything that could persuade them to switch? You’ll often hear “lower price” or “better service.” This is your chance to jump in.

What Questions Reveal the Decision-Making Process?

Quick Answer: Ask how purchases are approved, who’s involved, and how you can make things easier. Understanding the process prevents deals from stalling.

14. What’s your purchase decision-making process like?

Is one person ultimately in charge? Does it have to be approved by 16 people in 10 different departments? Knowing this helps you navigate the sale.

15. How can I make things easier?

You’re the problem solver. It’s your prerogative to make things easier. Figure out how.

What Questions Create Urgency and Uncover Objections?

Quick Answer: Ask if they’re ready to act, what alternatives they’re considering, what’s stopping them, and what happens if they don’t do anything.

16. Are you ready to solve the problem today?

Only roll this out if you get positive answers on earlier questions. You’ve got them interested. They know they need a solution. Are they ready to solve it today?

17. What are the alternatives?

If they say no, figure out why. What other alternatives are they considering? Can they tolerate a world where this problem continues?

18. What’s stopping you from moving forward?

Follow up here. What’s preventing this prospect from moving forward? See these common sales objections and how to overcome them.

19. Are there obstacles that could get in the way?

Assume they’re into your solution. Do they foresee obstacles preventing adoption? A manager who naysays every new solution? A tight budget?

20. What will happen if you don’t do anything?

If someone’s hard to persuade, get them thinking about consequences of inaction. What happens if they don’t move forward? What happens if the problem persists?

21. Tell me more.

This isn’t technically a question, but it’s one of the most important phrases in this list. Ask your prospect to tell you more about anything that seems interesting or important. Keep them talking and absorb information. Open-ended sales questions are excellent ways to get prospects talking.

What Is the Sales Discovery Process?

Quick Answer: The 6-step discovery process includes introducing yourself, warming up, understanding goals, educating the prospect, showcasing a brighter future, and making the pitch.

Step 1: Introduce yourself

Don’t launch into questions right away. Take a moment to introduce yourself, talk about your company, and set the stage.

Step 2: Warm up

Spend time with small talk. It loosens people up. Learn about how they work and live. The better you know them, the more effectively you can sell to them. Your path to understanding helps you bond with them.

Step 3: Figure out their goals

Everyone has a goal. Figure out theirs. Are they trying to win more sales? Reach more people? Communicate better with the team? You may or may not be able to help—if you can’t, you won’t waste more time.

Step 4: Educate them

One of the best plays is adopting the role of consultant (see consultative selling). You’re not an outsider trying to push a product; you’re a team member trying to achieve a common goal. Frame yourself as an expert. Educate them about the problem and your solution.

Step 5: Showcase a brighter future

After asking questions and setting the stage, show your prospect a vision of a brighter future. Explain how you can help them achieve their loftiest goals. Paint an irresistible picture.

Step 6: Make the pitch

You should have their attention now. Prove your vision is logistically possible. Cite statistics, name drop clients, list referrals—do whatever it takes to show you’re not all talk. Social proof goes a long way. For help, see our guide on how to close the sale.

How Do You Track Discovery Call Effectiveness?

Quick Answer: Track email metrics like response time and message volume to measure how effectively you’re engaging prospects before and after discovery calls.

Before you get to discovery calls, you’ll likely contact prospects via email. Cold prospecting and making introductions via email can be powerful. EmailAnalytics helps you learn about your email habits—your average response time, number of messages sent, and engagement patterns.