Discovery: Where the Game is Won or Lost

Whether you are a solo consultant or working in the confines of a firm, your goals are exactly the same. You want your client to

1. Trust you

2. Take your recommendations

3. Pay their bills on time

4. Want you to work on every project you have

5. Tell everyone they know about you.

You don’t want to be valued. You want to be loved. And I think all five of these things are accomplished in the discovery process. Sure, you have to do good work in a timely fashion to make them stick, but if you mess up the discovery process, the quality of the solution you provide will become almost irrelevant. And quite possibly invisible to your client.

TRUST COMES BEFORE MONEY

Trust is the most important thing. Without it, nothing happens. In many arenas, we trust procedures or algorithms so that we don’t have to trust people. For example, store checkout. “This guy looks like a total bum to me, but Visa vouches for him… so.”

As you’ll see, I think you’re discovery process should be so good you can charge for it, but even if you do, the most important thing you can do in the process is still to build trust. If all you want is the project, you may get it. But it’s like having an orchard and refusing to water the trees.

INPUTS

The primary input is time spent listening. And I do mean time. I’m sure you’ve got a list of questions that you like to ask. (And we love to tell anecdotes that reveal how brilliant we were on that one project) but I’m not sure any one of those things trumps minutes spent listening.

In a highly influential paper published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers found that the less doctors listened, the more likely they were to be sued.

In my experience, this is the exact opposite of the way many professionals approach discovery. They are anxious to prove their competence, and many times listening to figure out what additional things can be sold to the client. This behavior is transparent to everyone. Usually in the meeting where it is happening.¹

This kills trust.

OUTPUTS

The most important output from the discovery process is the idea in your client’s head that you understand and empathize with their personal business problem. This is usually the problem they are struggling with in their career. Like, how do I get a raise/promotion?

The clients must also know that you have some understanding of their business and its problems. This does not have to be perfect. Even if they’ve come to you because you are an “expert” in their industry, you don’t have to be an expert in their business. But they have to see that you are sincerely curious and quick on the uptake.

You internalize and resolve enough of the internal conflicts within your client’s business so that they can move forward. I often do this with humor. Failing that, I do this with candor. When this is done best, the client never notices.

You present strategy and tactics in a way that makes it very easy for your client to make actionable decisions for the future. Some of these decisions are how much and what kind of work to give you, but not all of them. And maybe not even the most important ones. If you can clarify one significant problem in a way that allows a group of people to move ahead, they will be eternally grateful.

It doesn’t matter if you are an agency, a consulting firm or a freelancer, these inputs and output are the same. Only the services you provide will be different. Maybe you make websites, maybe you do payroll consulting, maybe you develop software, maybe make videos or do leadership development — doesn’t matter. It’s all the same.

PRICING AND DISCOVERY

How do you price? Well, how much value will your discovery process provide?

Are you just getting paid to learn their business? That’s not worth very much.

Are you getting paid to share your opinion on their business? Depending on who you are, that might be worth more. But you know what they say about opinions. (Hint: None of it is very flattering.)

But there are at least four ways than any reasonably well-rounded professional can provide value in this kind of consultative setting":

1. You see what they can’t because they are too close to it. And then you get them to see it.

2. You can tell the truth that people in the client organization can’t because of political and interpersonal reasons.

3. You can give the problem your undivided attention.

4. You make it fun.

Don’t underestimate the value of #4. For knowledge tasks, especially creative ones where people have to grapple with large amounts of ambiguity, everyone performs better when they are curious and happy. For coming up with great ideas, pressure can be important, but fun is indispensable. And the best in the buisness know how to make things fun under the greatest amount of pressure and constraint.

THE PROMISE YOUR MUST MAKE AND KEEP

That discovery will provide more value than you charge for it. By at least a multiple of 5x. Depending on the engagement you might never say this out loud. You might not even have a line item for discovery in your proposal or statement of work and roll the cost into your deliverables. But your intent will show in everything you do.

DON’T BE INTIMIDATED

Over the next few posts, I’m going to show you the tools I use in my discovery process. These go beyond a checklist of questions because remember the key output to present strategy and tactics in a way that makes it very easy for your client to make actionable decisions for the future.

And I’m going to show you how to uncover insights, and how to present them. And I have a few shortcuts for acquiring general business knowledge if you don’t already have it.

But remember: your primary goal is to earn trust. As amazing as it may seem, everyone can do that just by listening well.

AN EXAMPLE TO BRING IT ALL HOME

Let’s say you want some custom cabinets in your kitchen. A good cabinet builder will ask you a lot of questions about what you want. Questions about design, fittings, wood type, finish… etc. And even though you think you know what you want, you’ll probably learn some things. Like maybe a new way to take advantage of some awkward corner space with a special hinge design.

If the guy is really good, he’s going to say, “It sounds like what your wife really wants here is a set of drawers.” or “Is what you really want more headroom over the stove?” or “Would you be happier with a bigger island?”

And, he might add, “I know what you want dowels, but it’s less expensive and just as good as if I use pocket holes for the plywood carcasses.”

Then he’s going to give you a diagram of exactly what he’s going to do and an estimate. And if he does all that well, you will be 95% of the way to trusting him. You’ll feel good and just be waiting on timely project completion to be all-in on your new cabinet guy.

I know that actually doing the work is complicated, but, in my world, that’s price of entry. I know many people and firms that are good at what they do. I don’t know many that are good at discovery. Especially with creative work. When I get the discovery right, and build trust, the work literally sells itself.

NEXT UP: TOOLS and TACTICS

1. And if not, it’s EVEN WORSE. Because they soon figure it out, and may never trust you again. In fact, I would say they most certainly will not trust you again, but may find someone else in your organization that can connect with. But I’ve spent years going it alone, so this is a risk I decided NEVER to take. I believe this so strongly that on several occasions, I have solved problems in the first meeting rather slow-rolling and turning them into projects I could have charged for.