Discovery Calls: Phone, Zoom, or In-Person?

Which is the best way to deliver a discovery call? We have three options. Let’s see them.

Phone discovery calls are ideal depending on three factors: the client size, the deal size, and the sales cycle. Small-Medium Businesses would work well with phone discovery. A small deal size, say a Saas of 10k ACV, would be good for phone discovery. Last, if the sales cycle is weeks and not months, the phone could be great. The good old phone has some nice features. Of course, it’s easier to schedule, even for the prospect, and it has less pressure. It’s more casual, less structured, and it requires less involvement from the buyer. Of course, though, the attention you get from a buyer in a phone call is lower. You don’t know if they are replying to an email while you are talking to them. You have their ears, but you don’t have their eyes. If the businesses are small, the deal is not big, and the sales cycle is simple, it could be easier to get buyers to agree on a phone discovery call.

Video discovery calls are becoming the norm in many industries. While before COVID, they were rare, COVID institutionalized them and made them common. Buyers got used to them and now they enjoy their flexibility. Needless to say, they are fantastic for sellers too, who do not have to spend money and time going to the office of the buyers. They are ideal for$20k to $200k ACV, Saas, consulting and professional services, AI platforms, cloud infrastructure, or similar. They are also good when there are multiple stakeholders you need to convince. Video brings stronger rapport building, a better interaction, and, of course, it’s necessary when you need video sharing of content.

In-person discovery calls should not make sense. Honestly,t here is not much evidence that the presentation could be more effective when delivered in person rather than via video. Video could also be recorded and watched after. The information can be transferred effectively via Zoom or Microsoft Teams. People could actually give you more attention if you present through video. In-person discovery calls are expensive. They require money fortravel, meals, and accommodation. They take a lot of your time. So, that’s when they make sense. They remain the best option when you want to show your buyers you are willing to invest those resources to get their business. They are so important as clients that you want to signal you don’t care how much it costs you. You want to be there for them. Big deals, big clients, big projects, and complex sales cycles would want this. ERP vendors such as Oracle or SAP, consulting companies like McKinsey or BCG, industrial equipment, aerospace, or defense contractors should rely on in person discovery calls.

A great solution to maximize benefits? Don’t treat discovery as a single event, but as a progression. The cold call, if there is one, or the first inbound call, should start the discovery process. You will be able, with some lightweight qualification, to understand if the next step could be video or if you should jump directly to in-person. Video offers deeper need exploration as the second contact point with the buyer. If it goes well, in-person discovery comes to build strategic alignment.

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