S
S

Salesandcoffeedude

Business Development Representative

Valued Contributor
Opinionated
Personal Narrative
+4

Should SDR or AE do discovery?

Came across a few organizations where the SDR does discovery and qualifying in the same call before passing it to an AE.


This is great for AEs but I think it makes a leaky sales funnel. What do you think?


Cant think of a single pro other than the SDRs getting discovery training for when they leave to be AEs somewhere else.

👑 Sales Strategy
🧢 Sales Management
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34 comments

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Avon
Politicker
11
Senior Account Executive
Im not trusting an SDRs discovery. They can do their own, but I'm never not going to do my own as well.
Sunbunny31
Politicker
9
Sr Sales Executive 🐰
SDRs/BDRs qualify, AEs do discovery.

Discovery is also a constant - each new contact will know something different, and the AE (and SC, etc) should always be asking questions and listening.
MCP
Valued Contributor
4
Sales Director
I think we need to visit definitions. You can’t effectively qualify without discovery. SDRs should be doing high level discovery to qualify the lead as far as need (current sitch vs desired future; why do something), AEs confirm & ask next level questions to fully qualify & progress.
Sunbunny31
Politicker
2
Sr Sales Executive 🐰
Fair. The definitions were too broad. And of course you’re always qualifying and discovery is continual.
Salesandcoffeedude
Valued Contributor
1
Business Development Representative
I like this answer. But the problem is our AEs don't do any discovery at rhe beginning of the call... and I see it as an issue.
Sunbunny31
Politicker
1
Sr Sales Executive 🐰
Ah, so that is why you were asking. Yes, your AEs should be doing discovery. Always be asking questions.
MCP
Valued Contributor
2
Sales Director
Definite issue. Proper disco is a major skill for AEs. SDRs should learn the basics and then grow with it as an AE. How can you properly apply a solution without fully understanding the situation? Would you trust a doctor or mechanic if they didn’t discover to diagnose?
Sunbunny31
Politicker
1
Sr Sales Executive 🐰
"Let's just open you up and see what's going on in there"
SaaSam
Politicker
7
Account Executive
Discovery needs to be a constant. Every time someone is engaging with a prospect, there needs to be discovery taking place.

SDRs, if you guys want your ops to qualify, do as much disco as you can. AEs, if you want your deal to close, do as much disco as you can.

Knowledge is power, and a lot of that is obtained through... you guessed it. Discovery.
Epictetus
Valued Contributor
2
SaaSy
But in this case, it sounds like the SDR is running an initial discovery call. I can't imagine that them running the initial disco is good for the deal progress. I'd imagine a lot of extra meetings needing to take place to rediscover pains. I wouldn't trust a full meeting to someone that hasn't really been in sales that long, i.e. the majority of SDRs. Would you? So this rediscovery would mean more time for each deal, and time kills all deals always.
SaaSam
Politicker
2
Account Executive
If it was a cold call then the SDR can and should do disco and qual before setting the meeting with the AE.

If prospect is responding to a cold email it wouldn't be all that difficult for the SDR to agree with them to a time in which they give them a call where they perform disco and qual then set the zoom with an AE.

SDRs shouldn't be sending things to AEs unless they understand that there is a pain that can be solved. That is only done through disco.
MCP
Valued Contributor
0
Sales Director
Yeah.
Salesandcoffeedude
Valued Contributor
0
Business Development Representative
Exactly my thinking... I wouldn't trust myself with discovery if I was an AE
Tcup
Good Citizen
5
Head of Sales Excellence
100% AEs. Discovery is the most important part of the sales process, why leave it to the least experienced rep?
fidelcashflow
Catalyst
5
Account Executive
SDRs sole purpose should be to cold prospect, get people interested, and then book a meeting for an AE to do some discovery. Anything coming inbound should never go to an SDR and should go straight to the AE where they disco. So, imo SDRs should not ever disco. Anyone saying that the sdrs should disco and then the AE do their own, fuck right off. Imagine being a buyer and you get disco'd twice. No thank you.
MCP
Valued Contributor
1
Sales Director
Depends on your definitions. SDRs should absolutely conduct high level disco, particularly around need to see if it even makes sense to further the conversation.

AEs should confirm what the SDR discovered & do the deep dive.

If you’re using SDRs as appointment setters you’re wasting time & money.
Kosta_Konfucius
Politicker
2
Sales Rep
SDR can be on the disco call for intros, but I believe disco is more of an AE activity
CuriousFox
WR Officer
2
🦊
BDR needs to stick to qualification. True qualification.
MCP
Valued Contributor
1
Sales Director
Which requires some disco.
FranchiseSalesQB
Politicker
1
Franchise Sales QB
Of course.
ThatNewAE
Big Shot
1
Account Executive - Mid enterprise
SDR should qualify the very very basics of whether or not they even have the business model / tech fitment. The discovery should always be done by the AE. The customer experience is something an AE needs to take care of, and that starts at discovery.
DW92
1
Team Lead - Business Development
We encourage BDR’s to run discovery calls after 8-12 months on the job. The AE is still on the disco call but they let the BDR take the lead. Vital for progressing into the AE role - how else can you get practical experience?
tightlines
Politicker
1
Account Executive
especially when SDRs are compensated by “qualified leads” (used very loosely) I think it’s trash. Anyone with a pulse and says somewhat the right things will be qualified. Had wayyyy too many garbage leads come my way
nomdeguerre
Executive
1
Account executive
SDRs should do initial qualification to make sure it is a good prospect. But AE will do the thorough discovery.
lord999
Executive
1
Biz Dev Manager
Discovery is constant: when you speak with someone on any given, random day (not necessarily in your sales job) ... do you learn everything about them from one single conversation?

The answer is most likely to be "No"... so, always keep learning.
Thisme
Valued Contributor
1
Account Executive
Both, SDR'S to make sure quality leads are coming through and AE to stamp it o the finish line
dualaces123
Opinionated
1
Account Executive
Add me to the camp of SDRs should qualify and AEs should disco.
SoccerandSales
Big Shot
1
Account Executive
Discovery should be fluid. Important for SDRs to get qualifying discovery on the front end, but crucial for an AE to get decision-making discovery once an opp has been passed to them.
TennisandSales
Politicker
1
Head Of Sales
depends on how the meeting is set. if it is an inbound lead asking for a demo, dont send it to an SDR. send it to the AE that can close it.

if it is outbound than yes i think an SDR can do some discovery to get them to a next call.
antiASKHOLE
Tycoon
1
Bravado's Resident Asshole
I would take the info from a SDR with a grain of salt. "HOT LEAD INCOMING"
Chonkonaut
Valued Contributor
1
CSAM of Luke Warm Chowder
A good SDR's discovery sets an AE up for success.
GenuinelyCurious
Valued Contributor
0
Sales VP
Discovery is constant thing is true but that wasn’t really the question. Discovery itself other then having a continuous component most certainly should be the beginning of your conversation. It should depend on what you are selling. 1. Gather why they booked the call 2. Ask how long they have been experiencing the issue or thinking about changing what it is they’re looking to change with your product or service. 3 ask if they have tried to solve the problem on their own already and what was the outcome. 4 ask if it’s costing them money from an efficiency standpoint. 5. Ask what solving the problem would do for the business. 6. Finally, gauge urgency when are you trying to fix this?

Of course there is more and the steps provided are contextual but that’s what I would recommend for AE as a baseline
mode
Contributor
0
Sr. BDR
As a BDR, I do my best to qualify and uncover pain. Difficult during a cold sometimes. My org average BDR cold call for a meeting is like 2-3 minutes...MIne 8-10 minutes. I've had some that are 15+ minutes, and after that they want a demo, wherein, we do a disco/demo in a 1 hour span.

I think a 30-minute disco followed by a 1-hour demo with Q&A is best.
0
Licensed Sales Agent
In the past I have been frustrated to learn that an SDR had used one of my discovery topics already as part of their qualification call, presumably to build rapport.
Since that portion was already discussed, I felt like it hurt the process because so much of the discovery is "go on, go deeper, tell me more."

I have found that a successful close often relies on the bond between the AE and the prospect, and that the more you can have the conversation flowing between those two people, the better.

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