Price isn't the reason why you're losing deals

Fast Company

2 days ago

Ask any sales leader why deals fall through, and you'll likely hear answers like the price was too high, the competitor had a better feature, or the buyer decided to 'go in another direction.' But that's rarely the full story.
At Thirdside, we've conducted hundreds of in-depth B2B buyer interviews with decision makers across multiple industries and company sizes. What we uncovered was that a majority of losses can be attributed—at least in part—to the buyer not feeling understood. This means the sales teams didn't do enough discovery to uncover the right pain points. Instead, they rushed to demo or pitched too soon.
While those mistakes can show up as 'price' or 'competition' in your CRM, the real failure happened far earlier—when no one asked the right questions.
Discovery is the part of the sales process where a rep deeply explores a prospect's needs, goals, constraints, and buying process before making a recommendation. It includes asking open-ended questions, identifying business pain points, understanding stakeholder dynamics, and confirming the technical and political realities of the account. Discovery is about mapping the customer's world to determine how your solution can naturally fit into it.
We've seen what happens when discovery is treated as a formality, not a core competency:
• Sales reps give the same generic pitch, regardless of audience.
• Buyers are unclear how the solution fits into their business.
• 'No decision' becomes the most common pipeline outcome.
• Closed-won accounts show poor adoption—and churn at the first renewal milestone.
These aren't just the result of having a weak sales team. They're the indicators of a missing—or broken—discovery process.
WHAT YOU'RE MISSING (AND WHAT IT'S COSTING YOU)
When discovery is shallow or rushed, companies routinely miss crucial context: the real problem the customer needs solved, the decision-making structure inside the account, the stakeholder friction that could derail the deal, and the technical limitations that might prevent adoption later. And the cost is real: lost deals, wasted pipeline, and silent churn.
For example, one buyer we interviewed said that the sales team never asked about their specific pain points. So it felt like the presentation was meant for an entirely different company. Another buyer said they churned after a year because it took months to realize the product didn't deliver what they needed.
These were discovery failures—plain and simple.
Discovery isn't a checklist or a pre-demo form. It's a discipline. According to a 2022 McKinsey report, successful B2B sales focus less on persuasion and more on helping customers make sense of their needs and navigate internal complexity. Modern customers expect vendors to understand their industry, product, and market challenges and provide informed, consultative engagement throughout the buying journey.
To treat discovery as an ongoing investigation, sales teams must:
• Ask layered, open-ended questions, such as 'What's happening in your business right now that made this a priority?' or 'In past purchases like this, where have things tended to stall internally?'
• Dig into organizational structure, stakeholder incentives, and political friction.
• Understand the 'why now'—and what happens if the buyer does nothing.
• Tailor their pitch only after they've mapped the customer's internal reality.
HOW TO REBUILD DISCOVERY INSIDE YOUR SALES ORG
Whether you're a founder, CRO, or sales enablement lead, rebuilding your discovery motion doesn't require an overhaul. It requires focus. Start here:
1. Systematize the process. Define what good discovery looks like. You can use frameworks like SPIN or MEDDIC, or develop your own around 'fit' and 'friction.'
2. Coach to the early calls. Don't just review late-stage deals. Go upstream. Listen to discovery calls and debrief how questions were asked—and what was missed.
3. Celebrate thoughtful discovery. Do more than rewarding booked meetings or proposals. Celebrate reps who challenge assumptions and uncover deal-saving insight.
4. Ask your buyers. If you're unsure whether your team is truly doing discovery, go straight to the source. Talk to buyers—both those who bought and those who didn't. I can tell you firsthand: it's a goldmine of customer insight.
THE BOTTOM LINE
In B2B, discovery is where trust begins. When it's rushed, skipped, or treated like a checkbox, everything downstream suffers. Your product might be great. Your pitch might be polished. But if your buyer doesn't feel understood, they won't move forward—or they'll move on.
The best teams don't just pitch. They ask. Then they win. Want to know how well your discovery process is really working? Just ask—your buyers will tell you.