Finding Value in the First Call: Asking the Right Questions with Bryan Whittington

Bryan Whittington is the founder of ebs/growth, a firm that helps companies create a more effective sales team. Also, he is the host of the Talent Sales & Scale podcast, and was a sales trainer for over ten years.

In this episode, Bryan discusses how he handles exploratory or discovery calls. He explains how he talks with his clients and potential clients in order to find the root cause of their problems, and shares some of his techniques to get these clients to propose the possible solutions to their problems themselves.

Why you have to checkout today's podcast:

• Learn how an expert like Bryan Whittington handles discovery calls
• Acquire new techniques in scrutinizing your clients' problems
• Discover smart ways to find a solution to your clients' problems

"Pricing is a belief. You either believe that your price is not worth what you're asking, or you're able to convey that your price is worth it to your prospect, your buyer. But price is absolutely a belief. You choose which belief you want."

– Bryan Whittington

Topics Covered:

01:15 – How Bryan got into pricing

02:08 – Selling value vs. selling a commodity

05:08 – What to avoid when having a discovery call

07:02 – How to handle a discovery call, step 1

09:23 – Why it is better to setup that next meeting

13:30 – How to handle a discovery call, step 2

14:19 – Why you shouldn't allow your clients to rate their problem a 7/10

15:01 – How to handle a discovery call, step 3

17:59 – Finding out the root cause of the clients' problems

22:54 – When and how to name the price of your solution based on the magnitude of the problem

24:46 – Pricing table topics: "Salespeople use every tool available to close a deal. When given authority to discount, they will use it more often than necessary"

28:20 – Bryan's pricing advice

Key Takeaways:

"Sales is how you identify what their challenges are, whether or not you can solve the problem of those challenges, and then understand the value of you fixing those problems for that organization will be, and you can charge an appropriate value for it." – Bryan Whittington

"That conversation should take anywhere between 5 to 8 minutes. And if it's longer than that, you've already started your initial first sales call, and I wouldn't suggest you do that." – Bryan Whittington

"Often, the problem that the person brings you is never really the problem. We have to identify the real root cause to know whether or not your solution will work. If your solution won't work for that root cause, then make an introduction to somebody where it will." – Bryan Whittington

People / Resources Mentioned:

• ebs/growth: https://ebsgrowth.com/
• Talent, Sales & Scale Podcast: https://ebsgrowth.com/podcast/

Connect with Bryan Whittington:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brywhittington/
• Email: bryan@ebsgrowth.com

Connect with Mark Stiving:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/
• Email: mark@impactpricing.com