The sales process · Proposal and follow-up
You cannot price a job you have not understood, and most jobs are priced anyway.
A discovery meeting is the conversation held before anybody quotes. You find out what the buyer is trying to fix, who else decides, what the work has to fit around, and what happens if nothing changes. You write it down in front of him and send the price later.
Scope, fee, reporting and term are agreed in writing after we have read your brief and spoken to you.
In one paragraph
A discovery meeting is the conversation held before anybody quotes. You find out what the buyer is trying to fix, who else decides, what the work has to fit around, and what happens if nothing changes. You write it down in front of him and send the price later.
The buyer agreed to meet on Thursday. Forty minutes later he has heard when your company was founded, how many machines you run, and the list of industries you serve. He has said about nine sentences. You leave with a good feeling and no idea what he actually needs.
Discovery is the opposite meeting. The qualifying framework in the step before decided he was worth your time. This one finds out what he is trying to fix, what it is costing him now, and who else has to agree before anything is bought. It is not the pitch, and the deck you carry has its own step later.
The hardest part is not the asking. It is leaving without giving a price. A number said in the room becomes the number, whatever you write afterwards, and the site visit or sample in the next step has not even happened yet.
Where this sits
Stage 7 of 10, proposal and follow-up. The meeting where you find out what they need, the quotation you send, and the chasing that decides most of it.
- The stage before
- Sales qualification
- The stage after
- Sales closure
If you want this done for you
New hires learn the job by listening in on other people's calls.
The work
What this step is actually like.
“An agenda sent the day before”
Three lines in a message: what you would like to understand, roughly how long it will take, and who you hope will be there. It costs two minutes and it changes the meeting. A buyer who knows he will be asked about volumes brings the figures. Ask for the works manager in that message and he is far more likely to be in the room.
“The buyer should be doing most of the talking”
If you have spoken more than he has, the meeting was a presentation. The fix is mechanical. Ask, then wait. The uncomfortable pause after a question is where the second half of the answer lives, and the second half is the part worth having. The enablement step on high-impact questions gives you the questions; this step gives them an hour and a room.
“Write it down in front of them”
Open a notebook and use it. A buyer watching you take down his exact words treats the meeting more seriously, and so do you. Read the notes back before you leave, in his words rather than yours. He will correct something, and that correction is the line you end up quoting back in the quotation.
“What you must not leave without”
The problem in his words, not yours. What the present arrangement costs him, in money or in time or in complaints. Who signs, and who can stop it. The date it has to work by, and what happens if that slips. The constraints that change the price: the floor level, the power supply, the lift, the approval from the association. And what he will do if he does nothing, because that is your real competitor.
What we do
What you end up with.
The artefacts this step produces, what each one is for, and how you know it is finished.
A one-page discovery sheet
Printed, eight headings, filled in by hand. What they asked for, what is actually wrong, what it costs them now, and who decides. Then the date, the site constraints, what they have already tried, and the next step agreed. An afternoon to draft with whoever prices your work.
Result: Whoever prices the job never has to ring the buyer back with a basic question.
Three lines of agenda
A saved message that goes out the day before every meeting. It has two blanks in it: the thing you want to understand, and the person you are asking for.
Result: Buyers turn up with the figures you were going to have to chase.
The read-back
Five minutes at the end where you say the notes aloud and ask what you have got wrong. It feels awkward twice and then it becomes the most useful part of the hour.
Result: Pricing starts from what the buyer agreed, not from what you remember.
A standing rule on quoting in the room
Nothing is priced in a meeting. The salesperson says what the quotation will cover and when it will arrive, and the owner backs him when a buyer pushes for a figure on the spot.
Result: No order is ever delivered against a number said in a car park.
Where this fits
Three pieces of sales work, in this order.
This work sits inside sales process design, at stage 4, presentation and proposal. The audit comes before it, and sales management keeps it running.
Step 1
Sales audit
Find where deals are being lost and what to fix first.
Start here if you cannot say where orders are lost.
Step 2 · you are here
Sales process design
One written way to sell, from first enquiry to repeat order.
Start here if every salesperson sells differently.
Step 3
Sales management
A target, a review routine and someone who owns the number.
Start here if the team has targets and no routine.
FAQ
Questions owners ask before they call.
Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.
How long should a discovery meeting take?
The buyer will not answer questions. He only wants a price.
Can discovery happen on a call?
Who should go to the meeting?
How long is the contract?
Who will actually do the work?
What do you need from us?
What if we are not happy with the work?
Where to go next
The work that carries this step further.
The rest of proposal and follow-up
Or read the whole sales process in order.
Your next practical step
Tell us what you are trying to grow, and we will read it before we call.
Eight short steps, mostly taps. Skip anything you would rather answer on the call.