Discovery

The first substantive conversation with a buyer, run as a diagnosis rather than a pitch. You set a frame so they stop expecting a demo, then ask probing questions that move from situation (how they do things today) to problem (what that situation costs them) to impact (why an executive would fund fixing it) — before you say anything about a solution. The output isn’t a proposal; it’s a qualified problem, a described future state, agreed next steps, and money already on the table.

Source: 30 Minutes to President’s Club, The Perfect Discovery Call (PRACTITIONER) — the discovery-tree method (situation → problem → impact), the Purpose–Plan–Outcome opener, the magic-moment question, and the five-minute drill. The posture that keeps it an expert’s conversation comes from Blair Enns’ The Four Conversations.

First used in: 2.7 · Discovery: diagnose before you prescribe