Why ‘Discovery’ Often Fails in Sales, According to Leslie Venetz

In a recent LinkedIn post, Leslie Venetz discusses a critical pitfall in sales processes: the failure to properly execute discovery calls, leading to lost deals that sales teams believe they had already won. Venetz argues that the root cause is frequently found in the initial moments of the conversation, when sales representatives prioritize pitching over genuine listening.

Leslie Venetz highlights the common misconception that lost deals are due to external factors like timing or budget. Instead, she points to the sales rep’s behavior early in the call as the primary culprit.

“The real cause is almost always what happened in the first ten minutes of the call, when the rep started pitching instead of listening and the prospect quietly started pulling away.”

As Venetz notes, research indicates that sellers often dominate discovery calls, talking as much as 75% of the time. This excessive talking prevents reps from understanding the prospect’s true needs, which subsequently leads to irrelevant product demonstrations.

The Pitfalls of Pitching Over Listening

Leslie Venetz elaborates on how this imbalance in conversation directly impacts the sales outcome. When a representative talks more than they listen, they miss crucial information about the prospect’s specific challenges and requirements. This lack of understanding transforms what should be a needs-assessment conversation into a generic product showcase.

“When your rep is talking, they are not learning what the prospect actually needs. When they do not know what the prospect needs, the demo that follows is a feature tour nobody asked for, and the deal that looked real in the CRM starts dying in silence.”

Venetz shares an anecdote from 2024 where a fast-growing SaaS CEO approached her with a specific problem: a discovery call win rate of only 28%, with a goal to reach 45%. The CEO observed that the calls felt like rehearsed pitches, not authentic dialogues, which was reflected in the dismal numbers.

The Power of Preparation and Hypothesis-Driven Discovery

According to Leslie Venetz, the solution to this pervasive issue lies not in refining sales scripts, but in elevating the standard of preparation. She advocates for a shift towards a more proactive and informed approach before the call even begins.

Developing a Point of View

Venetz suggests that before engaging with a prospect, sales representatives must develop a well-researched point of view regarding what is most important to that specific client. This involves moving beyond a standard set of qualifying questions.

“Before a rep could get on a call, they had to develop a point of view about what mattered most to that specific prospect based on real research. They stopped showing up with a generic list of qualifying questions and started showing up with a hypothesis they could test.”

This preparatory work allows reps to reframe the opening of the call. Instead of the passive question, “tell me about your challenges,” Venetz proposes an opener that demonstrates prior research and invites confirmation or correction, such as, “based on my research, I’m guessing X or Y is top of mind for you right now. Is that where we should focus, or is something more pressing?”

Transforming the Buyer Experience

Leslie Venetz argues that this subtle yet significant shift in approach fundamentally alters the prospect’s experience of the entire sales conversation. A well-executed discovery call, in her view, is neither an interrogation nor a pitch.

It is an opportunity for the sales representative, armed with prior research, to ask insightful questions that prompt the buyer to pause and reflect. Venetz emphasizes that the goal is to reach a point where the prospect thinks, “We hadn’t considered that.” This moment signifies a transition, where the representative moves from being perceived as a mere vendor to becoming a trusted advisor, which directly influences the closing rates.