No single sales call serves a single purpose

Last week I read an article online in which the author stated, "In sales, a discovery call is the first conversation between a salesperson and a prospective buyer.”No, it’s not.First of all, there is no such thing as “a discovery call.”No single sales call serves a single purpose.If you think it does, then perhaps that’s where you’re running into trouble trying to be of value to your buyers.Every interaction with a buyer is composed of a packet of activities.There will be relationship building. And trust building.There will be some discovery. In both directions.There will be some needs analysis.There will be some qualification. In both directions.There will be some storytelling and visioning.There will be some collaboration. And planning around next steps.There will be decision-making. Are you worth more of their time? Are they worth yours?It’s important that you stop thinking of these critical, middle of the funnel sales processes as being finite. And confined to a single sales step.They aren’t. They continue until a decision is made. And, they often continue even after the prospect becomes a customer.-Andy