Four Simple Mistakes That Are Sabotaging Your Discovery Calls (And How to Fix Them)
Many sales teams struggle with two major roadblocks to predictable revenue:
Low win rates for qualified opportunities
Stalled deals
The common denominator? The AE’s inability to properly identify and implicate customer pain points—both critical for creating value and urgency. How does this happen? Simple: poor discovery.
A strong discovery call sets the foundation for a consultative sales process and a healthy pipeline. A weak one fills it with bad deals that won’t close.
After analyzing hundreds of discovery calls across industries, we’ve pinpointed the four most common mistakes that derail them. Read on to learn what they are and how to fix them.
Mistake One: Your AE’s Aren’t as Prepared as They Should Be
How many of your reps know your customer acquisition costs? Do they understand how much time, effort, and money it takes to get a deal to the starting line? Underperforming AEs jump into discovery calls with only a surface-level understanding of the buyer’s business, executive team, and, in many cases, why the buyer took the call in the first place.
As a result, they:
Fail to enter the call with a strong point of view.
Struggle to connect the buyer’s problems to business objectives.
Miss the opportunity to lead a strategic conversation.
Fail to engage in a consultative dialogue.
How to Fix It:
✅ Establish a pre-call process. Engage the buyer before the call to clarify why they took the meeting, share relevant content that will help them prepare, and share the agenda so they know what to expect.
✅ Use a research template. Every AE should document:
Industry, employee count, and revenue
Business structure (public/private, key leadership)
Publicly available business objectives
Any existing trigger events (funding, M&A, leadership changes, product launches)
This level of preparation gives AEs the context and confidence to steer the conversation and uncover why the buyer should act now.
Mistake Two: Their Opening Has No Structure
Buyers don’t buy from reps they don’t trust. The first five minutes determine whether the AE is seen as a professional or just another salesperson.
Top-performing AEs maximize every minute from the moment the meeting starts. Average AEs waste time with small talk and vague, unstructured openings, like:
“Can you tell me a little about yourself and why you took this call?”
By the time the buyer finishes, 10 minutes are gone, and they have no idea what to expect. This leads to:
Buyer anxiety about where the conversation is headed.
The AE losing control of the call.
An unfocused, meandering discussion.
How to Fix It:
Use a structured Opening Framework to set the tone and establish trust:
1️⃣ Intro – Identify who’s on the call.
2️⃣ Greet – Show you’ve done your research. “I understand you’re evaluating ABC solutions to solve XYZ as you scale.”
3️⃣ Relate – Establish credibility. “I’ve worked with many customers facing similar challenges.”
4️⃣ Confirm Time – “We have 30 minutes. Do you have a hard stop, or can we go over if needed?”
5️⃣ Confirm Agenda – Share your plan and get buy-in:
🗣️ “Typically, we spend the first half understanding your priorities and challenges, then I’ll share how we’ve helped companies in similar situations. Does that sound fair, or is there anything specific you’d like to cover?” - This is one of the most important questions to ask on a call. Doing so creates buy-in and signals they’re ok with proceeding as described.
This structure instantly builds trust, demonstrates professionalism, and ensures a focused conversation.
Mistake Three: They’re Married to a Talk Track
This mistake is common with newer AEs, especially in SMB and mid-market sales. Talk tracks are great training tools, but top reps learn how to make them their own. The problem? Too many treat them like scripts.
When AEs stick too rigidly to a talk track, they:
Fail to actively listen.
Miss key insights the buyer shares.
Struggle to pivot when the conversation shifts.
How to Fix It:
✅ Nail your opening. A well-structured start makes the buyer more open to engaging in a meaningful conversation.
✅ Use a framework, not a script. Instead of memorizing lines, follow a flexible framework to help surface the problem → impact → priority.
✅ Practice, coach, review. Roleplay discovery calls, listen to recordings, and give real-time coaching to reinforce active listening and adaptability.
Mistake Four: They Jump on the First Problem They Hear
AEs are solution-oriented by nature. The moment they hear a problem they can solve, they pounce—but in doing so, they:
Leave deeper, deal-driving pain points undiscovered.
Fail to build urgency by exploring the full impact.
Shift too quickly to features, making the conversation transactional.
How to Fix It:
✅ Stick to the agenda. Discovery is about them, not your solution—at least at first.
✅ Resist the urge to pitch. Instead, dig deeper with questions like:
“What happens if this isn’t solved?”
“How does this impact the CEO/board/company objectives?”
✅ Follow a layering approach. Problems rarely exist in isolation. Push beyond surface-level issues to uncover cascading business impacts.
When you take time to uncover the full scope of the problem, you position yourself as a trusted advisor, not just another salesperson pushing a product.
Final Thoughts
Preparation, structure, active listening, and deeper discovery separate great AEs from average ones. Even your best reps occasionally make these mistakes—but fixing them leads to:
✔️ Faster deal velocity
✔️ Higher win rates
✔️ More predictable revenue
Want to sharpen your team’s discovery skills? Let’s talk.