30 points · 30% of the score
Discovery
Whether you found the real problem, the money behind it, and the decision path — before you ever talked about your offer.
Almost every objection that shows up at minute 40 was created by something you skipped at minute 6. Discovery is where the close is actually won, which is why it carries the same weight as closing itself.
What earns the points
Question-to-statement ratio (first 5 minutes)
6 ptsHow much of the opening you spent asking versus telling.
More questions than statements in the opening window, with follow-ups that go a layer deeper instead of moving down a list.
Pitching, credential-dropping, or explaining the process before the prospect has said what hurts.
Problem depth
8 ptsWhether you got past the stated problem to the cost of it.
Three layers deep: what's happening, what it's costing, what they've already tried and why it failed.
Accepting the first surface answer ('we need more leads') and building the pitch on it.
Quantified stakes
6 ptsWhether a number ever entered the conversation.
Deal size, close rate, missed revenue, or timeline stated by the prospect in their own words.
You supplied the numbers, or nobody did — leaving price with nothing to sit against.
Decision process
5 ptsWho signs, who else weighs in, and what happens after this call.
Named decision-makers, budget reality, and the actual next step surfaced before the pitch.
Discovering a spouse, partner, or procurement step only after you asked for the sale.
Listening quality
5 ptsWhether their answers changed what you said next.
You quote their language back and adapt the pitch to what they gave you.
Same pitch regardless of the answers — discovery ran as a formality.
How it's measured: Scored from the transcript: opening question count, depth chain per stated problem, presence of a prospect-supplied number, and whether the decision path was mapped pre-pitch.
Green flags
- The prospect talks more than you do in the first third of the call.
- You ask 'what have you already tried?' and then sit in silence.
- A dollar figure or a deadline comes out of their mouth, unprompted.
Red flags
- Screen share opens before minute ten.
- You answer a question they never asked.
- The word 'budget' appears for the first time next to your price.
This week's drills
- 1
Invert the ratio: on your next call, cap yourself at five statements before minute five.
- 2
Ask 'what does that cost you a month?' on every single call this week, no exceptions.
- 3
End discovery with a summary the prospect has to confirm out loud before you present.