Your MEDDIC Fields Are Full, But Your Pipeline's Leaking: The Real Reason Deals Leak Out

Your MEDDIC Fields Are Full, But Your Pipeline's Leaking: The Real Reason Deals Leak Out

Oct 05, 2024

One click of an internet search brings up at least 300+ links about Sales Discovery.


All promise that if your team uses these checklists - somehow magically, these unicorn opportunities will fill the pipeline and everyone will be living in a revenue fairy tale land.


Maybe you've seen them:

  • 30 Sales Discovery Questions
  • 22 Steps to a Successful Discovery Call
  • The Ultimate Discovery Call Checklist
  • The Simple Checklist to Maximize Discovery Calls


These checklists and guides promise that if your team asks all the right questions during discovery and the sales process, and fills every field in the CRM, you’re sure to close the deal.


So why aren't deals closing?


Because your "bucket" has holes.


The #1 question I’m asked over and over by reps is:


"What questions should I ask during discovery—do you have a list?"
Every time, my response is the same: "What problem do you solve that you want to learn more about from the customer?"


Here’s the thing. If your team isn’t asking problem-centric questions—questions aimed at understanding the buyer’s environment —you’re just sending them into a fact-finding mission.


You can check every box in the CRM, but it won’t lead to deep, meaningful conversations with buyers, and it certainly won’t build a strong case for change. Hence why when we do pipeline/deal review - deals are in there with no data and we have no real information about our buyer's environment or WHY they should change.


A Case in Point

During a recent discovery call, I was asked, "Why haven't you asked me about the Decision Maker yet? (a classic MEDDIC field any seller can check off).
My response: "I don’t even know if you have a problem I can solve—why would I skip ahead to the Decision Maker?"


They were caught off guard, but they got it. That’s because I focus on problem-centric discovery, not a list of predetermined questions.


What Google Misses

A Google search for discovery tips floods you with checklists - same goes for all the influencers building their email lists dangling the "snag my discovery checklist here":

  • 28 Questions to Ask on a Discovery Call
  • The 7-Point Discovery Call Checklist
  • A Comprehensive Discovery Call Checklist for SDRs


But they all miss one critical point: what problem are you trying to solve?
No one can answer this question when I push back on these types of posts! I usually post about what has to happen BEFORE you send your team out tehre with "question"...which is what unique problems do you all solve....


IT'S THE HARDEST PART, SO EVERYONE SKIPS IT


Do Not Pass GO Until You Do This...

Instead of chasing these step-by-step guides and questionnaires, what should teams do FIRST?


1. Understand the Unique Problems You Solve

There are only 3-4 core problems your product or service solves for your customers. For real - that's all. No, the buyer doesn't tell you what they are (I hear that too - "we ask our buyer to identify what they are struggling with - PS. you don't solve all the worlds problems - you solve for a FEW.


The key is to know what these problems look like in the buyer's environment and understand the downstream impacts. Your team should be trained to identify those problems from the get-go.


Again, everyone skips this because it's hard, and also, because they think it's a technical problem they are solving.


2. Build Business Acumen

Your sales team should be so sharp on the customer’s business environment that prospects see them as trusted advisors. This means deeply understanding the industry, market challenges, and internal dynamics—not just following a script.
There is no excuse here. The internet is our friend. 10x repots, fricking ChatGPT can analyze websites and reports and literally anything to help your team immerse themselves in your buyer's world.


3. Make the Problem/Product Correlation

Train your team to make connections between the problems a prospect is facing and how your product or service solves them - UNIQUELY. This is where the magic happens in discovery—it’s not about checking off MEDDIC fields, it’s about helping the buyer see the impact of their problems and making a case for change or case of inaction.


Ditch the Checklists

Checklists and scripts can’t replace genuine understanding. This is why reps continue to flock to the internet to find fixes because they are doing outreach daily and handling calls where they are fishing for anything - instead of knowing exactly what to look for.


They can fill out all the fields in the CRM, but they won't move the needle on trust, value, or urgency.


This is one of the main reasons your deals are stalling - back it up to what happens before discovery. Your miss on not knowing the problems you solve is making your team have surface level discovery which means fluffy deals, a leaky pipeline, deals that go no where and long sales cycles.


Train your team to go deeper, focusing on the buyer’s problems and impacts—not on ticking off boxes.


We dig deeper into why the checklist approach isn’t enough, and where it goes wrong, in this breakdown: Gap Selling Meets MEDDPICC.

Death to the checklist.