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Discovery & Qualification

Uncover the business need, establish impact and urgency, and qualify opportunities with the discipline to know when to walk away.

You own the number, but not every part of the buying decision. Research competes with meetings, discovery can stay on the surface, and a promising demo can still end in silence. We understand the pressure to create pipeline, earn trust and keep a complex opportunity moving without pushing the buyer. The AE Lab gives you space to sharpen the conversations and judgement behind the result.

Enquire About This Lab Explore the course
Two sellers role-playing a customer conversation while a colleague observes
The Sales House
Explore. Practise. Perform.

Duration

1 day · 9:30am–5pm

Group size

8–10 delegates

Format

Online or face to face

Price — Face to face

From £1,750

+ VAT

Price — Online

From £1,400

+ VAT

where understanding becomes useful —

Why this course matters

The quality of your discovery shapes the quality of every decision that follows.

What you’ll explore in the Lab

When discovery stays at the surface, sellers risk pursuing opportunities without understanding the business problem, its consequences or how a buying decision will be made. This one-day course helps account executives, account managers and sellers navigating long or complex sales cycles run structured discovery meetings that uncover pain, quantify impact and establish urgency.

Delegates explore qualification frameworks such as MEDDIC, map decision-makers and influencers, and strengthen their active listening and summarising skills. For teams seeking to improve low win rates, the focus is on clearer qualification, better-informed opportunity decisions and the confidence to walk away when a deal does not merit further investment.

a real challenge. a purposeful response.

The challenges this addresses

  • Surface-level discovery answers mistaken for meaningful opportunity qualification
  • Time invested in opportunities without a clear reason to change
  • Decision-makers and influencers missing from complex opportunity qualification notes
  • Customer pain recorded without its business impact or urgency

What this can change at work

Raise the standard of evidence behind every opportunity decision. Structured discovery helps sellers move beyond surface answers to understand the problem, its impact and the people involved in a decision. Managers can challenge qualification with more useful questions, rather than rely on a promising conversation. For the business, that supports more selective investment of selling time and clearer visibility of why an opportunity deserves to progress.

Discovery with depth

Sellers follow initial answers with questions about consequences, business impact and urgency, then summarise their understanding with the customer.

Buying processes made visible

CRM notes identify decision-makers, influencers and the decision process, making gaps in qualification visible before further selling time is committed.

Clearer opportunity choices

Pipeline reviews use a qualification framework to discuss evidence, unresolved gaps and whether the opportunity merits further investment of effort.

Explore. Practise. Perform.

Less theory. More application.

What participants will practise

Realistic sales scenarios, role-play and peer feedback around structured discovery questioning and uncovering pain, impact and urgency. Where helpful, participants work on their own live (or anonymised) opportunities.

What they’ll take away

Take-away materials with the questions, frameworks and techniques covered, plus a short personal action plan for the next customer conversations where the skill matters.

How we help it stick

Reflection and action planning are built into the session. Reinforcement such as manager guides, follow-up labs or coaching depends on the programme you choose and is agreed with you.

How we make learning stick

Inside the workshop

The day combines structured input, breakout exercises and peer-to-peer learning in a small group of 8–10 delegates, with live practice in discovery questioning, listening and summarising. Delegates work through business impact, qualification criteria and buying-group mapping, leaving with a practical approach to structuring discovery meetings, assessing opportunity quality and clarifying the customer’s decision process.

Make Discovery & Qualification relevant to your business

Tell us where you want to make progress with structured discovery questioning. We can discuss suitable workplace examples, priorities and access needs before agreeing the scope. Choose live online or face-to-face training for your UK or European team, with delivery arrangements agreed before booking.

Discuss a customised version

What the training covers

The scope below sets out the subjects covered. Workplace examples and practice are shaped around your team within the booked format.

  • Structured discovery questioning
  • Uncovering pain, impact and urgency
  • Qualification frameworks (e.g. MEDDIC)
  • Mapping decision-makers and influencers
  • Active listening and summarising
  • Knowing when to walk away

What’s included in your booking

Your booked time and format
1 day · Live online or face to face, agreed before booking · 8–10 delegates.
Included in every course
  • Interactive, facilitator-led learningLive, hands-on sessions built around practice and participation.
  • Group discussionsShared conversations about real situations, so people learn from each other as well as the facilitator.
  • Breakout exercisesSmall-group practice, role-play and problem-solving, online or in the room.
  • Take-away materialsCourse materials, tools and templates to use back at work.
Facilitated learning and practical application
The subject coverage, exercises and facilitator feedback described above, with space to connect the learning to relevant workplace situations. The workshop description sets out the specific plans, prompts or tools developed in this course.

Follow-up coaching, refresher sessions and additional delivery days are not automatic inclusions; any additions are agreed in your proposal. Travel, venue arrangements and any software licences are confirmed separately where relevant. Prices exclude VAT.

Outcomes

The capabilities delegates work towards through the training and practice:

  • Run a structured discovery meeting
  • Quantify the impact of the customer's problem
  • Qualify opportunities with a clear framework
  • Map the buying group and decision process

the next conversation is where it counts —

Take it back to work.

Choose a real situation where you want to apply the learning. Use it to turn an outcome into a manageable first step, then reflect on what changes.

Choose

Start with one priority: Run a structured discovery meeting.

Apply

Try the approach in a relevant task or conversation. Note what felt useful and what you would adapt.

Review

Reflect on what happened, seek feedback where appropriate and choose your next step. Follow-up support can be discussed separately.

Bring this topic to your next event

We can discuss adapting Discovery & Qualification into a keynote or large-group session, focusing on the themes most relevant to your audience. Depth, activities, timings and any follow-up depend on the format and package you choose; an event session is not a substitute for the full course.

Explore Speaking & Events

More from Account Executives Lab

Flagship programme

AE Online Lab Pt 1:
Win More. Sell Smarter.

Five live online labs that sharpen how account executives plan their week, lead discovery, qualify with MEDDPICC, handle objections and keep deals moving.

5 × 2.5-hour live online sessions (12.5 hours)Maximum 8 participants

Course synopsis

Strong opportunities are built week by week — in the questions you ask, the evidence you gather and the next step you secure. AE Online Lab Part 1 equips account executives with the skills, confidence and commercial discipline to create stronger opportunities, improve deal qualification and win more business. Across five live online sessions, AEs take control of their sales week, move discovery beyond the surface, apply MEDDPICC with confidence, explore objections without becoming defensive and drive clear next steps. Each session is a small-group working lab with breakouts, role-play and personal coaching. Between sessions, AEs apply an agreed action and bring their experience back to the group.

5 live sessions · 2.5 hours each

Outcomes — you'll be able to

  • Plan a sales week around high-impact activity and routines
  • Lead discovery that uncovers and quantifies business pain
  • Use MEDDPICC to identify qualification gaps, deal risks and missing stakeholders
  • Respond to objections on pricing, timing, competitors and value
  • Secure clear next steps and mutual commitments

Included in every course

  • Interactive, facilitator-led learning
  • Group discussions
  • Breakout exercises
  • Take-away materials

Live online

From £4,450 per group+ VAT

Course details

Flagship programme

AE Online Lab Pt 2:
Advance, Negotiate & Close

Three live online labs to deliver proposals that win, protect your value in negotiation and close with confidence — without high-pressure tactics.

3 × 2.5-hour live online sessions (7.5 hours)Maximum 8 participants

Course synopsis

Late-stage selling is where value is tested — in the proposal, the negotiation and the moment a customer decides. AE Online Lab Part 2 strengthens the commercial skills account executives need to present compelling solutions, negotiate effectively and secure customer commitment. Across three live online sessions, AEs structure customer-focused proposals, plan negotiations around trade-offs rather than discounts, and build closing strategies aligned with how the customer actually decides. Practice uses real-world deal scenarios, role-play and personal coaching, so every participant leaves with a plan for a live opportunity.

3 live sessions · 2.5 hours each

Outcomes — you'll be able to

  • Structure a customer-focused proposal with a differentiated value proposition
  • Plan a negotiation with clear trade-offs and protected margins
  • Handle discount requests and pricing pressure confidently
  • Recognise buying signals and gain commitment without high-pressure tactics

Included in every course

  • Interactive, facilitator-led learning
  • Group discussions
  • Breakout exercises
  • Take-away materials

Live online

From £3,300 per group+ VAT

Course details

your sales team. your priorities. your programme. —

Build your own sales programme.

Combine courses, focus on your skills gaps and shape the learning around your sales cycle. Standard workshops run with 8–10 delegates; BDR and MEDDPICC sessions have a maximum of eight; Sales Leadership workshops run with 6–8. Smaller bespoke cohorts can be discussed, with pricing agreed for your programme.

Your people. Your priorities.Ready to sell better? Build your programme.A programme shaped around your people — and the progress you want to make.

Where better selling begins.

Your team doesn’t need more slides. They need skills that stick.

Know you need help? Book a relaxed, no-obligation 30-minute call. We’ll talk through your team and challenge, and you’ll leave with an honest view of the options — no brief or programme needed.

Book a Discovery Call Enquire about this course