Practice a 25-minute discovery with a time-starved VP who resists deep questions. Read the script, choose your responses, and learn why each path works — backed by SPIN, active listening, and HBR research on discovery resistance.
VP Operations
Hidden agenda: Needs cover from CFO if this fails again; will not sponsor unless risk feels lower than status quo
Style: Direct, time-boxed; deflects open-ended questions with “just send pricing” or “we’re fine for now”
Executive Assistant (brief appearance)
Style: Polite interruption at 12-minute mark
You play Alex Rivera. Read their lines aloud or have a partner play the buyer.
First scheduled call after your SDR booked a meeting from a webinar lead. Jordan attended for eight minutes, downloaded nothing, and agreed to “15 minutes max” only after your SDR cited peer companies in logistics tech.
Stakes: Your pipeline target requires three qualified opportunities this month. Jordan’s team owns warehouse workflow automation; budget may sit with Finance if ROI is unclear.
Company: Mid-market logistics SaaS buyer (~800 employees). Incumbent point solution for route planning; internal project to unify ops data stalled in Q1.
Qualify whether a Q3 initiative is real, identify economic pain, and secure a follow-up with Jordan plus their Director of Operations — without delivering a product pitch on the first call.
Read through each act, then work the decision points below. Coaching notes appear after annotated lines.
Chat message before video connects
Morgan Lee · Executive Assistant (brief appearance)
Jordan is joining now. They have a hard stop in fifteen minutes.
Jordan Chen · VP Operations
Alex? Let’s keep this tight. I’ve got another board prep right after this.
Alex Rivera
Absolutely — I’ll respect the time. I’d suggest we spend ten minutes on what’s driving your ops priorities this quarter, and if it’s worth it, we lock two minutes on whether a follow-up with your ops lead makes sense. Fair?
Jordan Chen · VP Operations
Fine. But I’m not looking for a platform pitch. We’re reviewing vendors in Q4 maybe.
Alex Rivera
No pitch today. Quick context on my side: I work with ops leaders in logistics who are trying to unify data without another nine-month science project. If I ask a few pointed questions and it’s not relevant, we’ll say so. Sound okay?
Jordan Chen · VP Operations
Okay. Ask away.
Alex Rivera
What prompted you to take the call today if Q4 is the earliest vendor review?
Jordan Chen · VP Operations
Honestly? Your SDR named two peers who cut dock wait times. We’re behind on Q3 efficiency targets after our Q1 integration blew up. I don’t want another vendor — I want to know if anyone’s actually getting this right.
Alex Rivera
So Q1 integration slipped and Q3 targets are now at risk — did I hear that right?
Jordan Chen · VP Operations
That’s fair. Finance is on my back about labor variance. But replacing what we have? Non-starter until we prove ROI.
Alex Rivera
When you say the Q1 project blew up — what did that cost you beyond timeline? Headcount, customer SLAs, credibility upstairs?
Jordan Chen · VP Operations
We burned three FTEs for six months, missed two enterprise SLAs, and I took the hit in our Q2 review. So yeah — I’m cautious.
Alex Rivera
If Q3 targets slip the same way, what happens to the unification initiative — shelved or escalated?
Jordan Chen · VP Operations
Escalated, which means more steering committees. I’d rather fix it quietly. That’s why I’m listening — barely.
Interrupt
Morgan Lee · Executive Assistant (brief appearance)
Jordan, five minutes until your next meeting.
Jordan Chen · VP Operations
Alex, just send me a deck and ballpark pricing. I’ll loop procurement when we’re ready.
Choose a path before reading the debrief. In pair practice, pause and discuss which option you would take.
Decision 1 of 2
End of Act 1 — Jordan said “Ask away” after Q4 vendor timing.
Lead with a 90-second product overview to build credibility
Risky“Let me share how our platform unifies route and warehouse data — three modules, API-first…”
Why: Violates the agenda contract and triggers discovery resistance. HBR’s 2025 piece on discovery notes buyers disengage when sellers revert to presentations after agreeing to diagnose.
Ask what prompted the meeting despite Q4 timing
Recommended“What prompted you to take the call today if Q4 is the earliest vendor review?”
Why: Open-ended, buyer-centric question surfaces urgency without pitching. Aligns with SPIN situation/problem flow.
Offer a pricing range to show respect for their time
Risky“Ballpark, teams your size land between $80K and $120K annually…”
Why: Pricing before pain is quantified anchors on cost, not value, and invites procurement too early without a champion.
Decision 2 of 2
Morgan’s time warning; Jordan defaulting to low-commitment exit.
Agree to send deck and pricing — follow up in two weeks
Risky“I’ll send the deck today and check back in two weeks.”
Why: Passive close; no mutual action plan. Forrester and Gartner buyer-enablement research emphasize helping buyers make progress — “send deck” rarely advances a complex B2B deal.
Offer a five-minute screen share now
Risky“Let me show you the dashboard quickly before you drop…”
Why: Rushes to demo under time pressure; Jordan explicitly rejected pitches. Loses chance to bring ops lead who owns implementation risk.
Trade a tailored one-pager for a 30-minute working session with ops
Recommended“I won’t flood you with a generic deck. If I send a one-pager tied to Q3 labor variance, can we book 30 minutes Thursday with you and your ops lead to pressure-test whether a pilot is even worth pursuing?”
Why: Specific next step, multi-threading, low-threat ask. Gives Jordan internal cover while keeping you in diagnostic mode.
Continue practicing related situations.
They’ve been a customer for a year. Usage is up — but your champion won’t introduce you to HR or Finance for the expansion module.
You caught CFO Morgan Lee between meetings. You have ninety seconds before they hang up — and they didn’t ask for your pitch.
Everything was smooth until you showed the API. The lead engineer stopped asking questions — and started checking email.
Frameworks and research cited in this scenario.
Role play is the closest approximation to real selling without revenue on the line — when designed correctly, it accelerates skill transfer more than any slide deck.
Understanding modern discovery call framework helps sellers align with how buyers actually think, feel, and decide — not how slide decks assume they do.
SPIN Selling revolutionized consultative sales by proving that the questions you ask matter more than the pitch you deliver.
Top sellers talk less and listen more. Active listening is not silence — it is structured engagement that makes buyers feel understood.
