Salespeople are missing a crucial opportunity. Buyers enter the sales process looking for help – guidance in understanding their challenges, clarity on their goals, and insight into potential solutions. Yet, salespeople default to pushing their product or running through scripted qualification processes like B.A.N.T. leaving buyers frustrated and underserved.
We’ve collected data that makes clear: buyers value problem-centric conversations. They want salespeople to dig into specific issues. They do not want sellers to skim the surface with irrelevant questions or boilerplate presentations. When discovery fails to align with buyer needs, trust erodes, deals stall, and both sides lose.
This blog breaks down some of the research found in the A Sales Growth Company Survey “How Buyers Want to be Sold”, examines why sellers continuously fall short, the consequences of misaligned processes, and actionable steps to fix them.
Discovery Processes are Misaligned
Buyers expect discovery to clarify their challenges and goals, yet salespeople struggle to deliver. Research shows a glaring disconnect: while 46% of buyers spend less than half of their time defining business problems, salespeople also fail to prioritize these issues, focusing on low-value topics like company details and product features.
This misalignment is evident in how discovery meetings are conducted:
Misplaced priorities
Buyers rank understanding current business problems and exploring desired outcomes as top priorities, but these topics are rarely covered in depth in discovery. Instead, salespeople frequently emphasize product/service information or general industry data, which buyers rate as significantly less important.
Irrelevant Questions
Buyers often report discovery fatigue, citing irrelevant or surface-level questions that fail to address their unique challenges. Their disinterest combined with poor questioning leads to incomplete and inaccurate information, furthering derailing the process.
Wrong Focus
Only 24% of buyers say they spend more than 60% of their time defining business problems. Salespeople, rather than correcting this trend, lean in and mirror the product-centric focus, leaving critical buyer issues unexplored.
Failure to align discovery efforts with buyer priorities leads to incomplete diagnosis of buyer challenges, which in turn increases the likelihood of incorrect purchasing decisions. Irrelevant or self-serving questions from salespeople erode their credibility, undermining trust, and stalling the sales process. Addressing these issues requires a shift in discovery practices, placing buyer challenges and goals at the center of the conversation.
Consequences of Poor Discovery
The consequence of misaligned discovery are significant, both for buyers and sales organizations. Data shows that ineffective discovery frequently leads to incorrect purchasing decisions, stalled sales processes, and diminished trust between buyers and sellers. These outcomes are systemic issues resulting from a lack of focus on buyer-specific problems and goals.
Evidence supports these findings:
Wrong purchases
Nearly half (47%) of buyers report purchasing the wrong product or service due to a salesperson’s failure to fully understand their business challenges. Furthermore, the issue is compounded when we consider that 48% of buyers have made a poor purchasing decision because they themselves misunderstood the problem they were trying to solve.
Rescoping during the sales process
77% of buyers reports that they rescope their understanding of the problem at least once during the sales process, with 62% doing so between one and four times. This rescoping indicates one of two things: initial discovery efforts often fail to provide the clarity needed or interactions with the salesperson gave buyers an additional perspective on what the problem truly was.
Disengagement and Stalled Deals
Misaligned discovery practices erodes buyer trust which in turn leads to a hesitancy to continue conversations or start new conversations with reps. Once buyers “go dark” 71% never reconnect with the salesperson, highlighting the importance of getting the first interaction right.
Again, misaligned discovery process result in lost opportunities and revenue. But, as shown above they also perpetuate negative buyer perceptions of salespeople. Ineffective discovery leads to sales processes that are reactive rather than proactive, forcing buyers to take on the burden of diagnosing their own issues, a task they are ill-equipped to handle.
What Buyers Actually Want in Discovery Calls
We’ve mentioned that buyers continuously and consistently express a need for discovery processes that are problem-focused, exploratory, and collaborative. Research shows that buyers prioritize discussions about their business challenges, desired outcomes, and how potential solution address these issues.
Priorities in Discovery
Buyers rank understand known business problems, exploring desired future outcomes, and discussing product relevance to solving these issues as the most important elements of discovery.
Credibility
When engaging with salespeople, 82% of buyers state that credibility is more important than likability. This credibility stems from the salesperson’s ability to understand the buyer’s environment and provide insights into their challenges, rather than product pushing.
Preferred Approach
Buyers view the discovery process as a joint effort. They value discussions that help them uncover gaps they may not have previously identified and seek salespeople who can guide them in understanding the root causes of these problems.
For salespeople to meet buyer expectations, they must shift from seller-driven approaches to one that emphasizes diagnostic exploration and collaborative problem-solving. Sellers continue to default to outdated qualification frameworks like B.A.N.T., focusing on budgets and timelines rather than the buyer-centric insights leaving buyers feeling unheard and disengaged.
New Approach to Sales Discovery
The data highlights a critical need for sales teams to meet buyers where they are and start shifting from product-focused to buyer-focused discovery practices. They want salespeople who show up as trusted advisors, offering insight into their business challenges and helping them find opportunities for improvement.
Fundamental changes in the sales approach that buyers want:
Ask diagnostic questions
Buyers noted that they respond positively to diagnostic, business-focused questions that delve into root causes of their challenges. Irrelevant or shallow questions lead to disengagement, with buyers citing a lack of relevance as a primary reason for withholding information.
Problems, Not Products
Research shows that buyers are more engaged when salespeople prioritize discussions about current and potential business problems, rather than product discussions. This problem-centric approach aligns with buyer’s desire for guidance and clarity.
Tailor the Process to the Buyer
Discovery should be dynamic and adaptable, reflecting on the unique context of each buyer’s business. Customizing the process around that buyer builds credibility and sets the stage for more effective demos and presentations later in the sales cycle.
Implementing these changes requires structural changes to sales enablement and training:
Training on business acumen: salespeople need to understand the industries, business models, and operational challenges of their buyers. The Problem Identification Chart (PIC) provides a structural framework for training in these areas.
Replacing outdated frameworks: Traditional qualification methods like B.A.N.T. or MEDDICC often prioritize seller needs over buyer goals. Transitioning to frameworks (like Gap Selling) that focus on diagnosing buyers challenges with better align discovery with buyer expectations.
Final Thoughts
The discovery process is a cornerstone of effective sales, yet a majority of sales teams are reluctant to align it with buyer’s needs. Research shows that buyers crave guidance in understanding their challenges and achieving their goals, but salespeople tend to default to product-centric approaches.
The consequences of misaligned discovery are clear: wrong purchases, rescoping challenges, and disengagement are the direct results of shallow, irrelevant interactions. Buyers want salespeople to act as credible partners, asking diagnostic questions, uncovering root causes, and tailoring solutions for their specific business problems.
To meet these expectations, sales teams must prioritize a problem-centric approach to discovery. This includes training reps on business acumen, adopting frameworks like the Problem Identification Chart, and moving away from outdated qualification methods.
Deals are won or lost in discovery. By aligning with how buyers want to be sold, sales organizations can differentiate themselves, shorten sales cycles, and win more deals. The future of sales belongs to those who help buyers buy, not those who try to sell.
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