Extending Discovery's from 30 to 45min Results

Lately, I've been experimenting with extending all my introductory and discovery meetings to 45 minutes instead of the usual 30-minute duration. The reason behind this change was that during the 30-minute meetings, I often found myself running out of time. Additionally, many of my prospects would be transitioning from another meeting and would need some time to download Zoom, causing a consistent 10-minute delay.

After implementing the 45-minute meetings for about a month, I've noticed a significant increase in the value I can provide:

· This extended time allows me to delve deeper by asking third-level questions, probing further by asking "why" to most of their responses.

· I've also been able to showcase our product during the discovery phase if there is a genuine pain point.

· Notably, I've never had a meeting run out of time since making this change.

· When I get aligned with the Sales Engineers, I can ensure that all the SE questions are answered during the meeting, which ultimately saves time between the discovery and demo stages.

Initially, I was concerned that asking for more time might lead to more declines from prospects, but surprisingly, most people who couldn't meet for 45 minutes were willing to adjust the meeting to a 30-minute slot.

One of the best unexpected benefits is the flexibility of using the full hour if the conversation is exceptionally engaging. Since people rarely schedule 15-minute meetings that start at 12:15 or 12:45, they usually have the freedom to extend the meeting if necessary.

Has anyone made this transition or thought about making the switch?