What to say on a discovery call to close more deals

The Foundation: The FTA (First Time Appointment)

Before conducting a discovery call, you should have already had a critical 15-minute initial meeting with the prospect. This first touchpoint has two main objectives:

Ensure Shared Values and Mutual Fit

This initial call allows you to gauge if the prospect’s values and needs align with what your MSP business offers. Use this time to determine if this is truly a client you want to acquire and work with long-term.

Qualify Financial Situation

The second key objective is to verify the prospect is financially qualified and understands you are not the lowest-cost option in the market. Set the expectation that you provide premium IT services at a corresponding investment level.

Setting the Stage: The Upfront Contract

Once you’ve cleared the initial meeting hurdle, it’s time for the discovery call itself. Open this call strongly by providing an “upfront contract” that sets expectations:

“I appreciate you taking the time to meet today. As we discussed, we’re here to conduct a thorough discovery to learn about your company, understand your challenges, and explore if we may be able to assist. You’ll have questions for me, and I’ll have questions for you. Typically these meetings last 30-45 minutes, after which we’ll jointly decide on next steps, if any. Does that sound okay? May I begin with my questions?”

This upfront contract puts the prospect at ease by laying out the meeting structure and purpose. It makes the process feel like a two-way conversation rather than an interrogation.

The Discovery Process: Asking the Right Questions

Now it’s time to dig into the meat of the discovery using a structured guide with proven, topical lines of questioning. Your aims during this stage are to:

Understand Business Goals and Technology’s Role

What is this company striving to achieve? How does technology integration and optimization help drive those goals? Where do they currently see tech as an enabler or impediment?

Identify Current Pain Points

What existing issues, frustrations, and challenges are they facing with their technology setup and cybersecurity posture? How are these problems impacting productivity, growth potential, compliance, etc?

Map the Organization and Decision Structure

How is the company structured in terms of reporting lines and hierarchies? Who are the decision makers when it comes to IT investments? What budget approval processes exist?

Explore Previous Solution Attempts

The discovery call should naturally cover what solutions or service providers the prospect has used before to try addressing their current problems and pain points. Why did those past approaches fail or prove insufficient?

Throughout this questioning, your output should be a crystal clear picture of:

Their acute pain points and how tech problems amplify or create them
The organizational layout, players, and processes for IT decision making
What has and hasn’t worked before based on their experiences

It’s not an interrogation – engage in a dialogue, take notes, ask follow-ups, and have them expand and clarify their situation.

Summarizing the Pain and Building Rapport

Once you have gathered all the pertinent information, it’s time to summarize and confirm your understanding. Restate the key challenges and pain points they expressed:

“Okay, let me summarize what I’ve heard to ensure I understand correctly. The biggest issues you’re facing are X, Y, and Z which seem to stem from legacy systems, security risks, and internal resource constraints. Over the past few years, you’ve tried approaches like P and Q to resolve matters, but struggled with R, S, and T roadblocks.”

Then use the brilliant “summary technique” from expert Chris Voss – simply ask: “Do I have that right?”

If you’ve misconstrued something, the prospect will correct you. If you accurately captured their situation, they’ll acknowledge you “get it” and have demonstrated true understanding. This builds crucial rapport and trust.

“Not just checking boxes, but making the prospect feel truly heard, is the real purpose of a quality discovery call”

The Critical Security Pivot: Proposing the Risk Assessment

No matter the situation, every discovery call should transition into proposing a comprehensive cybersecurity risk assessment before any IT recommendations. Position this as following the same best practices as the medical field:

“Based on our discussion, I’d recommend we initiate a full cybersecurity risk assessment as the next step. This in-depth process is akin to a doctor’s examination before treatment – we need to run all the diagnostics first.

Just like you wouldn’t want a dentist pulling teeth without X-rays, or a physician prescribing medication solely based on surface symptoms, it would be irresponsible for us to quote any IT overhaul without first conducting an assessment tailored to your organization’s needs.”

Explain that during the risk assessment your team will effectively become “white-hat hackers.” You’ll dig deeper into their environment than even a malicious attacker would in order to comprehensively identify vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, compliance gaps, and areas for improvement.

Only after running through this thorough diagnostic process can you provide surgically precise solution recommendations, scope of work, and accurate pricing that speaks to THEIR specific situation – not just a generic, one-size-fits-all approach.

Position the risk assessment as a comprehensive analysis and consulting engagement, making it clear there is an associated fee (don’t quote it yet). Stress the value of this deep-dive which will enable your team to make customized recommendations to permanently solve their challenges rather than applying band-aid fixes.

The Proposal

Now present the concrete details and mechanics of the risk assessment in a logical, low-pressure manner:

“For this cybersecurity risk assessment, here’s how it would work. We have a specialized team that will essentially go ‘hacker deep’ into your environment – studying everything from network architecture to user practices to legacy vulnerabilities and more, building out an unrivaled level of knowledge about YOUR business.

Based on those comprehensive findings, we’ll provide a detailed report outlining prioritized risks and remediation recommendations tailor-made for your operations. No generic, check-box solutions – this is 100% customized to maximize impact based on YOUR specific parameters.

The investment for this risk assessment engagement is X. We’re currently booking roughly X weeks out to initiate the process, with the final results delivery slated for around DATE. Does moving forward with this assessment resonate with your needs and make sense for YOUR business based on what we discussed today?”

Notice there is no abrupt sticker shock pricing disclosed from the outset. The value of the assessment is clearly established first by framing it as an essential diagnostic process and drawing parallels to the medical field.

Only then do you quote the flat-fee investment required, position it as the logical next step, and tie it back to solving their acute organizational challenges.

This approach avoids being prematurely reduced to a commodity sales pitch where you’re judged solely on price. You’ve invested the time to diagnose before prescribing, adding that strategic layer of value through comprehensive discovery.

Managing Pricing Objections: A Lesson in Psychology

If the prospect pushes back on pricing, avoid instinctively defending, justifying or negotiating. The decision to engage is an emotional one, often involving a difficult internal change to how they’ve operated in the past. Respect and empathize with that psychology.

Share a personal anecdote of a time when you had to make a tough, uncomfortable pivot in your own business dealings because the old way wasn’t cutting it anymore. Perhaps even recommend they talk it over internally and get back to you in a few days if they need to.

Trying to force a decision in the moment or dropping your price is a rookie mistake that erodes your value perceptions.

The Buyer’s Emotional Journey

Always keep in mind that making a significant IT investment is an emotional, high-anxiety decision that likely requires internal change management for your prospect. Even if they acknowledge a burning operational need, actually signing on the dotted line involves:

Rethinking past habits and approaches
Altering future budgets and priorities
Onboarding new vendors and workflows
Embracing accountability for past oversights

As the guide, you must demonstrate emotional intelligence. Prospect defensiveness often arises from fear of change, not necessarily resistance to your specific solution.

Walking them through your own personal anecdotes of navigating difficult pivots and business shifts breeds trust that you understand the psychological barriers at play and can empathize with their internal struggle.

Rushing a hard close or aggressively combating objections will likely backfire. Calmly reiterate the value of your diagnostic-first approach and continue validating their apprehensions.

Time kills more deals than any other factor – don’t allow impatience to toxic the relationship. Planting seeds and maintaining composure always generates far better long-term results than trying to force an on-the-spot decision.

Success Stories: Social Proof and a Clear Path

While no technique generates an automatic “yes” 100% of the time, following this structured methodology pays dividends. You’ll consistently convert more prospects into long-term clients by positioning yourself as a trusted advisor first and salesperson second.

To make the advice more tangible, share case studies of MSPs like Stephen Jopo. He joined our Elite coaching program and immediately began closing deals by working this scripted discovery call process:

“Within Stephen’s first month of implementing our methods, he ran discoveries that closed two new managed service clients at $4,900 in monthly recurring revenue. His new clients raved about how Stephen truly took the time to understand their challenges before recommending anything.”

Provide social proof that these methods have been proven effective at real-world MSPs as motivation. And remind prospects that while these aren’t get-rich-quick gimmicks, sticking to the process DOES produce consistent revenue acceleration for those willing to put in the work.

A Path to Faster Growth

While free MSP resources on discovery calls and sales tactics exist, most providers avoid publicly sharing their full playbook of trade secrets.

That’s why many top-performing MSPs join training programs like the 7-Figure MSP Elite to access comprehensive education, templates, and coaching:

“To further explore implementing this proven discovery process into YOUR business, we’d be happy to set up a consultation. On that call, we can learn about your services, growth goals, and current challenges in order to determine if our Elite program could be a fit in accelerating your trajectory.

The program provides a full curriculum and community focused on repeatably attracting, closing, and retaining profitable clients like those you aim to pursue. We’ll decode the entire sales methodology and define a roadmap to reach your expansion milestones.”

The key is to avoid pushing a hard sale on the Elite program during the discovery call itself. Simply plant the seed and offer a logical next step for prospects who want to further scale and optimize their operations for landing higher-value deals and clients.

Master the Process, Accelerate Your Success

The discovery call is the beating heart of any MSP’s sales cycle and client experience. Investing in formalizing and optimizing this process pays dividends through:

Higher average contract values by uncovering and speaking to suppressed client challenges
Quicker sales cycles with less back-and-forth
Improved sales efficiency and consistency
Qualifying only ideal-fit customer relationships
Positioning your team as trusted strategic advisors

Do the hard work of conducting thorough, diagnostic first discussions, and you’ll rapidly outclass your competitors chasing transactional business or hawking cut-rate services.

Follow the structure outlined here, leverage tools like discovery guides and call scripts, and embrace continuous methodological improvement through sales training programs.

It won’t happen overnight, but steadily optimizing your discovery process places you on an exponential trajectory toward sustainable, profitable growth alongside deeply satisfied, long-term accounts.