Knowledge Library · discovery
Current Quality5/10?
How should SEs prepare discovery calls to align with AE discovery and reduce wheel-spinning?
Answer
SEs own technical discovery; AEs own business discovery. Pre-call alignment: AE sends SE the MEDDPICC summary (Metrics, Economic Buyer, Decision Criteria), then SE runs a 20-min pre-call with IT/Ops to map tech debt and integrations. Force.com and MEDDPICC frameworks show aligned deals close 24% faster than siloed discovery.
Pre-Call SE Prep (Before the Live Discovery)
AE sends SE this brief:
- Annual revenue & vertical (signals scale).
- Current tech stack (CRM, data warehouse, integration platform).
- Primary pain (AE's hypothesis from first conversation).
- Decision timeline (14 days, 3 months, TBD).
SE then runs a 15-min "tech mapping" call with IT/Ops (not the executive buyer) to uncover:
- Actual vs. claimed tech stack ("We use Salesforce" often means broken, 5-year-old instance).
- Data quality issues ("Can you export all customer records as CSV?" vs. clean API feeds).
- Hidden integration cost ("Do you need Zapier, or can we hit the REST API?").
Live Discovery Call (30 min, 4 people)
| Role | Questions | Why |
|---|---|---|
| AE | "What's your current cost per deal? How long is your sales cycle?" | Business metrics |
| SE | "Walk me through your current tech. Where do you lose data?" | Tech bottlenecks |
| IT Lead | "Show me your architecture diagram." | Uncover constraints (on-prem, air-gapped, 3rd-party dependencies) |
| Buyer | "If we solved data flow + speed, what would that unlock?" | ROI anchor |
Alignment Rules
- AE and SE sync 15 min before the call (AE shares MEDDPICC frame; SE asks clarifying questions).
- SE never says "This looks like you need a custom integration" without documenting exactly why.
- SE drives the technical conversation while AE holds the timeline + stakeholder map.
- Post-call: AE and SE debrief for 10 min (SE identifies build-vs-buy decisions; AE maps to contract scope).
sequenceDiagram
AE->>SE: Send MEDDPICC + tech stack intel
SE->>SE: Pre-call with IT/Ops (15 min)
SE->>AE: Confirm call talking points
AE->>Customer: Live discovery kickoff
AE->>SE: Business metrics + stakeholders
SE->>Customer: Technical deep-dive
Customer->>SE: Architecture + pain points
SE->>AE: Integration scope + cost estimate
AE->>SE: Post-call debrief (10 min)
TAGS: discovery,SE_AE_alignment,MEDDPICC,integration,deal_prep,Force_Management
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Sources cited
joinpavilion.comhttps://www.joinpavilion.com/compensation-reportbridgegroupinc.comhttps://www.bridgegroupinc.com/blog/sales-development-reportforcemanagement.comhttps://forcemanagement.com/meddpicc/salesforce.comhttps://www.salesforce.com/blog/meddpicc/Deep dive · related in the library
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