SSS#2 Recession-Proof Discovery

Reading time: 4 minutes

Happy Friday to 5,549 ambitious SaaS sellers!

Today's SaaS Sales System is the exact 4-step discovery system I used to close ~ 50 new customer logos and $1M+ ARR as a SaaS account executive.

Recession-Proof Discovery

Prospecting through the recession is perhaps the #1 LinkedIn topic these days.

Pipeline is extremely hard to come by. Lots of reps out there are putting in the hard work every day to book meetings with prospects.

But what happens once you booked the meeting? How do you convert it into qualified pipeline and set up the sales cycle for success?

IMO discovery is just as important as prospecting. It takes both to win in the recession:

Discovery saves your quota

Average sellers lose 50% of their pipeline to the status quo (no decision) and another 25% to the competition (dead - lost).

Top reps lose fewer deals to the status quo and the competition, and as a result they close more - up to 40-50% of their pipeline. How do they do it?

How top reps do discovery

 They follow these 4 steps:

1. They prep every call with upfront research

2. They set the right expectations for the call

3. They quantify the cost of inaction

4. They set up mutual action plans

Research - never ask a question you can Google

• "What's your business model?"

• "Who are your customers?"

• "How many employees do you have?"

Eliminate this type of questioning from your discovery calls. They make prospects throw up 

Respect their time by never asking a question you can Google. This allows you to go much deeper in the call.

• "What challenges are you facing with regards to forecasting?"

Set expectations with the Upfront Contract

Ever had a discovery call that went really bad? Typically the result of a mismatch of expectations.

Some prospects expect a demo.

Some expect pricing or a proposal.

Some expect a detailed deck of your products and services.

You? You expect a discovery conversation. Make sure the prospect expects the same.

The upfront contract gets that right by highlighting:

• the goal & purpose of the meeting: what's in it for them?
• a high level agenda - ensures good time management
• 3 possible outcomes - sets expectations and provides an easy way out (in case they're not interested)

Quantify the Cost of Inaction (COI)

COI is the new ROI.

ROI is so 2022. Buyers don't care about the upside anymore - they're much more afraid of the downside (losing money).

If you want to close any SaaS deal in 2023/24 you must demonstrate that the cost of buying from YOU (including licence cost, implementation, change management and maintenance) is less than the cost of their existing problem.

It's basic human psychology: the fear of loss is 10x greater than the desire to gain.

Which statement do you think creates more urgency with a C-level executive?

a) "We have a problem with forecasting"

b) "We do not have access to real-time forecasting. This sometimes causes inaccurate forecasting, which impacted our pipeline generation by 20% last month. This equals up to 600k in lost revenue per year."

a) or b)? Go figure.

I personally love the GAP Selling methodology to derive the COI in 6 steps: 

Get commitment with the Mutual Action Plan 

Deals slipping?

Long sales cycles?

Difficult to manage next steps?

These are all symptoms of a lack of commitment from buyers.

Consider using mutual action plans (MAPs). MAPs are a terrific way to qualify deals and set them up for success. Here's how:

• They front-load friction in the sales cycle by asking all the uncomfortable questions

• They clear up the backend of the sales cycle for smoother closing. Less bad surprises and you can forecast with more confidence.

A good MAP defines

• timeline of the evaluation (a.k.a. the sales cycle)

• Meeting cadence & agenda for each meeting

• participants to involve the full committee

That's it! I hope these 4 steps will help you make your discovery process recession-proof.