To build a successful go to market strategy you need a combination of knowing who to target (an ICP) and a hyper relevant message that focuses on their problem at the right time. 

In order to fulfil the second part of this you need to be solid with your qualification across all aspects of your business. 

If you are able to do this then you will see increases in sales efficiency, productivity (as the seller will only work on deals which have a high chance of closing), accuracy of forecast and it will help to build a repeatable process as you can refine your process and ICP. 

Therefore knowing how to have an effective discovery conversation is at the heart of being good at qualifying. 

This was the basis of the 2 day intensive Mastering Client Interactions course last week at Aon. 40 colleagues from across EMEA gathered together for 48 hours of theory and interactive role plays with some challenging ‘clients’! 

In the past I have used the SPICED framework (below) to help guide my discovery conversations and during the MCI course we focused on the SOWA model (Situation, Opportunity, Walls and Actions). 

Here is my  ‘cheat’ sheet to help guide conversations in the future with several questions that don't take you to a solution but keep qualifying and will hopefully fulfill your qualification criteria (mine is MEDDPICC):

• Open the conversation with a comment about their current situation or ‘how is business?’ 
• What needs changing about the situation?
• What is it that concerns you about this situation?
• How does this situation as it stands impact you?
• Does it impact anyone else? How?
• If we could resolve this situation successfully what would this look like from your perspective?

This can transition you from S into O which takes you to W and finally the A whilst also helping you qualify your prospect further so ultimately you know if a) you should spend time with them as an opportunity b) what messages to use to move them through their buying process. In a large organisation like Aon being able to do this and spot broader opportunities can add huge value to our clients.