Discovery Contract

Most B2B sellers know the pain of responding to a buyer’s request for proposal (formal or informal). For many sales reps, you end up investing an incredible amount of time in the education of your prospective client. This is all fair and good for clients who truly value your time. However, there is a certain percentage of time when a buyer is actually using your rep’s time to make them a smarter buyer, never intending to give your company the business.

A Discovery Contract, first made popular by John Paul Mendocha (see SpeedSelling.com), is a method of getting the prospect to pay you for your time (think: consulting contract) to prepare a report that identifies the requirements, needs, expectations, importance, relevance and justification for the client’s project.