What are Discovery Questions?

Discovery questions, also known as “nonnegotiables” or “deal killers”, are simply the objectives for the transition on which you will not compromise. They are different for each business owner and must be defined by the individual seller.

Discovery questions may include objectives related to caring for staff members, the level of support available for existing clients, the services offered by the new firm, and the level of non-competition or non-solicitation required.

Discovery questions allow you to filter out buyers who are unable or unwilling to meet your needs. What’s more, with clearly defined objectives, you’ll be ready to define your sales strategy.

The Value of Discovery Questions in Your Meeting Room

When inviting another user to your Meeting Room, they are asked to do two tasks: complete an Expression of Interest and answer your discovery questions. With these two things, you must then decide whether you are interested in moving forward with that prospect.

There may be times when you are evaluating two, three or even more prospects at the same time. Since the Expression of Interest can consist of any information the advisor thinks is relevant and of interest to you, the discovery questions provide a way to assess prospects using a common theme. Having at least one or two discovery questions for the invited users to answer will help you assess each prospect based on information you deem to be important.

The discovery questions can provide the advisors you invite with an understanding of what is important to you. This helps them understand if the opportunity is worth pursuing on their end, as well. Just as you are evaluating potential buyers or successors, those buyers or successors are evaluating you and your opportunity to determine if there is fit between each of you and your businesses.

Buying a business or becoming a successor, just like selling your business or finding a successor, is a significant undertaking which requires a lot of time, energy, and investment. Use discovery questions to show what’s important to you and receive answers from prospects to determine whether they’re on the same page and if you both should continue in the process.

Every advisor is different, and depending on what is important to you, you might choose to select one of the discovery questions from the available list, or input your own. It’s important to keep in mind that no matter what discovery questions you include, the prospects you’ve invited will be weighing all of the information presented to them, including questions asked of them, to decide whether they would like to proceed.

How Can You Use Discovery Questions in Your Meeting Room?

Using the discovery questions to assess your prospects both individually and in comparison to another is a primary benefit of including these questions in your Meeting Room.

You can also determine whether you’d like to proceed with certain prospects depending on their willingness to be thorough in both their Expression of Interest and their answers to the discovery questions. For example, would you rather consider a prospect who puts time and effort into presenting themselves well by completing a thorough Expression of Interest and providing thoughtful responses to your discovery questions, or one who tries to bypass the process by stating they’d like to discuss their answers in a call, instead?

It’s not just about the content of the Expression of Interest and answers to the discovery questions, but the intention behind them, too.

On the other hand, there might not be any harm in having a conversation with the prospects who answer your questions in full and provide their Expression of Interest for your review, even if their answers are not exactly what you’re looking for. It can be hard for prospective buyers and successors to know exactly what to say, they’re financial advisors like you, and not writers or marketing executives!

That’s why you might consider proceeding with someone you might not feel 100% about, because you can leverage the Nondisclosure Agreement within the Meeting Room to protect yourselves and feel confident in having a phone or even video call to get a better feel for the person on the other end of the screen.

Ultimately, the power is in your hands as the seller because there is a much larger proportion of people who are looking to buy a business or become a successor than there are people who are interested in selling. Depending on your location, you can feel confident that if the prospects you’ve invited to your Meeting Room are not meeting your expectations, you can connect with other advisors who might be more aligned with what you’re looking for.