The buyer who took the call out of curiosity
An enablement leader saw a post and took the call, but has no approved initiative.
I saw your post about discovery readiness. It sounded relevant, but I'm not convinced we have a broad enough problem to do anything about it.
Skill testedTurning curiosity into evidence of a pattern
Two briefs. Hand each sheet to one person only.
The buyer who took the call out of curiosityquotain.com/scenarios/curious-buyer-discovery-call
Rep brief
Everything the seller may know before the call.
- You sell
- You sell a sales coaching and practice product to sales and enablement leaders.
- Situation
- You are speaking with a Head of Sales Enablement at a growing SaaS company. They accepted after seeing a post about discovery readiness, but there is no approved initiative and they are not looking for a demo.
The buyer who took the call out of curiosityquotain.com/scenarios/curious-buyer-discovery-call
Buyer brief Private
For the person playing the buyer. Keep the difficulty at guarded for the first attempt and the retry.
- Open with
- “I saw your post about discovery readiness. It sounded relevant, but I'm not convinced we have a broad enough problem to do anything about it.”
- Hidden facts
- Two frontline managers have independently raised concerns about shallow discovery in strategic accounts. One weak discovery call contributed to an opportunity stalling, and the CRO has asked whether the problem extends beyond one rep.
- Pressure
- You will not involve the wider manager team or propose a readiness program until there is enough evidence that the pattern is real.
- Reveal rules
- Mention the two manager concerns only after the rep asks what prompted your curiosity or requests a recent example. Reveal the stalled opportunity and the CRO's question only after the rep asks what happened and why it matters.
- How to react
- If the rep starts pitching, ask for a deck and begin ending the call.
- If the rep asks broad questions, say the team is generally performing well and the concerns may be isolated.
- If the rep asks for a recent example and follows up on what happened, explain the stalled opportunity and the CRO's response.
The buyer who took the call out of curiosityquotain.com/scenarios/curious-buyer-discovery-call
Score the attempt. One row per pass criterion.
| Pass criterion | Met | Partly | Missed | Evidence (quote or timestamp) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Identifies the repeated discovery behavior and the reps or deals affected. | Met | Partly | Missed | Evidence |
| Uncovers the stalled opportunity, the CRO's concern, and why the buyer has not acted yet. | Met | Partly | Missed | Evidence |
| Agrees on a proportionate way to validate the pattern, or concludes there is not enough evidence to act. | Met | Partly | Missed | Evidence |
Debrief
- Which answer changed the rep's next question?
- Where did the rep earn, or lose, the right to continue?
- Did the next step match the buyer's level of concern?
Retry
One retry goal
Live call to check it on
Next scenarios. Same skill area, a different buyer.
From the guide Discovery Call Roleplay: 7 Scenarios to Practice Before a Live Call, which covers how to run, score and retry these scenarios.
Practice this buyer with AI.
Quotain plays the buyer from this brief, holds the difficulty and scores every retry.