When I was first starting out in business, I didn’t know what a discovery meeting was. I had heard the term thrown around but never really understood what it meant or why they were important. Thankfully, I had a mentor who sat me down and explained the importance of discovery meetings and how to make them work for me and my business. Now, whenever I’m meeting with a potential new client, I always make sure to prepare a discovery meeting checklist.
What is a Discovery Meeting?
The discovery meeting is an opportunity for the project team to learn about the client’s business and objectives for the project. It is also an opportunity for the client to learn about the team’s process and approach. The meeting typically lasts 1-2 hours.
The goal of the discovery meeting is to determine whether there is a fit between the buyer’s needs and the salesperson’s products or services.
During a discovery meeting, both parties will discuss the goals of the project, the resources available, any limitations, and any other factors that may affect the success of the initiative. This data will be used by the team to help determine the next steps and to write a report on the findings.
Get to Know Your New Agency Clients
Before heading into a sales meeting, it’s important to evaluate the current state of your prospect’s business. Ask them:
- Which agency services are you interested in?
- What is your main marketing challenge?
- When would you like us to start if we’re the right fit?
Part two involves researching your new clients. Look at their corporate profile, mission, website, and social media pages. By doing this, you’ll gain a better understanding of who they are and what they want from a partner.
If you specialize in paid advertising, try to run their ads and then assess the quality of the copy based on keywords.
To get started, set a time for the discovery session. This will allow you to learn more about their target audience, marketing strategies, and the level of support they need from you.
Define the Main Target Audience
The first step in identifying a business’ needs is to define its target market. This can be done by segmenting their audience into specific demographics, such as age, gender, and location.
By narrowing down your audience to your ideal clients, you can target your marketing efforts toward those who are more likely to convert.
There are several ways to categorize your audience. First, categorize them into four groups:
- Geographic
- Socio-demographic
- Psychographic
- Behavioral patterns
Once we’ve created our categories, we can then create a list of the different characteristics of each.
After you’ve narrowed down your target audience, you can focus on creating marketing strategies that appeal to that audience. You can do this by asking questions about their existing customers, or the ones they wish to attract.
By identifying your target customers, you’ll be able to better determine which channels, such as social media, will be most effective.
Analyze Your Client’s Marketing Campaigns
After you’ve asked them about their current marketing efforts, you need to ask them about their past efforts. Ask them about 5-7 key questions about their marketing plans, spending, and results.
- How many appointments (leads) and sales (conversions) has your company acquired from your marketing channels?
- Which channels were most successful?
- Give an example of your best and worst campaign.
- How much money is spent on each channel and do you track results?
- What is the next campaign you want to work on?
This should give you an idea of how your client has marketed in the past. Use this information to get a feel for what will work for them, within their budget.
Determine Your Level of Involvement
When creating your marketing strategy, budget and scope of work are two important factors to consider. The scope of your project will determine how extensive the work will be, and your budget will decide what resources are available to you.
Your client may be looking for you to handle all of their marketing efforts, or they may be looking for someone to manage just their PPC campaigns.
When talking about their budgets, remember to:
- Work out their current budget
- How long do they plan to run certain campaigns
- What marketing areas need fixing
Not all marketing requires a big budget and it’s important to know what your customers want to achieve and link it to what has and has not worked for them.
Look at The Big Picture
Finally, it’s important to consider the client’s entire business when developing a marketing strategy. This is because you don’t want to base your strategy on a weak side of the client, but rather on their strengths.
Ask simple questions such as:
- What are your unique selling points?
- What are your business goals?
- What areas of the business are performing strongly and poorly?
- Who is your main competition?
What Happens in a Discovery Call?
A discovery call is a conversation between a potential customer and a sales representative. The purpose of the call is to learn more about the customer’s needs and to see if there is a fit between those needs and the company’s products or services.
During the call, the sales representative will ask questions about the customer’s situation and try to understand their specific needs. They will also share information about the company’s products or services and how they might be able to help the customer. If both parties feel like there is a potential fit, they will move forward with further conversations or meetings. If not, they will part ways.
How Do You Prep for a Discovery Meeting?
There are a few things that you can do to prepare for a discovery meeting. First, research the potential client ahead of time. This will give you an idea of their business, their goals, and any pain points they may have.
Second, come up with some questions that you can ask during the meeting to get a better understanding of their needs.
Finally, be prepared to share your own expertise and knowledge about your services.
By doing these things, you’ll be able to make the most out of your discovery meeting and increase your chances of landing the project.
What Should I Cover in My Discovery Meeting?
The discovery meeting should cover the following topics:
- The potential client’s needs and objectives
- The potential client’s budget
- The service provider’s capabilities
- The service provider’s proposed solution
Conclusion
After your discovery meeting, you should have a good sense of which areas to focus on.
All of this info will help both you and the client to get on the same page.
A discovery session is a chance for you and the client to get to know each other and to clearly define your respective roles. By understanding each other’s goals and expectations, you can work more efficiently together to achieve those goals.
Ready to incorporate a discovery meeting into your social media marketing strategy?
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