Short answer
Discovery identifies whether a sales opportunity has a verified problem, a plausible buying path, and enough fit to justify further work. It turns research and buyer conversations into evidence for qualifying or ending an opportunity.
About Discovery
Identifies qualified opportunities through relevant research, purposeful outreach, and conversations that verify the buyer's problem, context, and ability to act.
Use this competency for
- Sales roles that research, contact, and qualify prospective buyers.
- Roles expected to decide whether an opportunity merits further sales work.
Do not use this competency for
- Roles that receive fully qualified opportunities and do not verify buyer need or fit.
Important distinctions
Solution selling
Discovery verifies the problem and buying context. Solution selling connects those verified needs to relevant capabilities and value.
Expectations by level
IC1
Individual contributor 1
Researches and qualifies straightforward opportunities with guidance, using the team's questions and criteria while recording what is known and still unverified.
Observable behaviors
- Reviews available account context before outreach.
- Asks approved questions about the problem, impact, and decision process.
- Records evidence and open questions in the shared opportunity record.
Examples
- Before a first call, noted the prospect's relevant business context and two points to verify.
- Kept an opportunity in discovery because the decision process was still unknown.
IC2
Individual contributor 2
Independently runs discovery for varied opportunities, adapts questions to incomplete answers, and qualifies or closes work based on current evidence.
Observable behaviors
- Follows vague answers with questions that test the underlying need.
- Separates stated interest from evidence of a problem and buying path.
- Ends or advances opportunities with a written reason.
Examples
- Disqualified an interested prospect after confirming that the problem was outside the supported use case.
- Mapped an unclear approval path by asking who would review cost, security, and implementation.
IC3
Individual contributor 3
Defines discovery practice for complex opportunities across the sales team, frames new qualification risks, and improves how others gather and inspect evidence.
Observable behaviors
- Sets evidence requirements for recurring opportunity types.
- Reviews discovery records for unsupported assumptions and missing stakeholders.
- Changes shared questions when repeated qualification gaps appear.
Examples
- Added an implementation-readiness check after several late discoveries of unavailable buyer resources.
- Reviewed a complex opportunity and identified that urgency came from the seller's timeline, not the buyer's.