Discovery Qualification Swipe File

54 questions, organized BANT-first with a MEDDIC-style bonus block. Don't ask all 54 on one call — pick 2-3 per category based on what the conversation actually needs, and let the prospect's answers dictate which follow-up you pull next.

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BUDGET (10)

1. Walk me through how budget gets allocated for something like this — is it a fixed line item already, or would it need to be built into next year's budget?
2. What's the last project of similar size that got funded, and what did that approval process look like?
3. If this exact line item isn't budgeted, what would need to happen to free it up — reallocation, a business case, a different fiscal year?
4. What range were you expecting to invest to solve this, roughly?
5. Is this budget already approved, or does approval happen after you choose a vendor?
6. Who has to sign off before budget is released — and have they seen the cost of the problem this solves?
7. What's the cost of doing nothing, in dollars, that we could use to build the business case together?
8. Is there existing spend being displaced here (a tool you'd cancel), or is this net-new spend?
9. What fiscal quarter does this budget reset — does that create urgency or a delay for us?
10. If the ROI is clear, is budget really the constraint, or is this a prioritization/timing issue wearing a budget costume?

AUTHORITY (10)

1. Besides yourself, who else needs to say yes before this moves forward?
2. Walk me through the last purchase this size — who was in the room for the final decision?
3. Is there a procurement or legal review step that happens regardless of who champions this internally?
4. If everyone on this call agreed today, whose signature actually gets this across the line?
5. Who would be most unhappy if this initiative failed six months from now — and are they involved yet?
6. Is there a budget owner separate from the day-to-day user of this, and have they been part of the conversation?
7. Has a deal like this ever stalled in your org because the wrong person was the primary contact? What happened?
8. Who on the leadership team would need a one-page summary of this before final sign-off?
9. Are you the final decision-maker, the recommender, or an influencer here — and how does that group typically reach consensus?
10. If I asked [economic buyer] the same question I just asked you, would they answer it the same way?

NEED (10)

1. What's happening today that made this conversation worth having right now, versus six months ago?
2. If nothing changes, what does this problem cost you — in time, money, or missed opportunity — over the next 12 months?
3. Who feels this problem most acutely day to day, and how are they solving for it today — workaround, spreadsheet, or nothing?
4. What have you already tried to fix this, and why didn't it stick?
5. On a scale from "nice to have" to "actively bleeding," where does this sit for your team right now?
6. What does success look like 90 days after this is solved — what actually changes operationally?
7. Is this need shared across multiple teams, or is it isolated to your group?
8. What's the broader business initiative this ladders up to — is this tied to a leadership-level priority?
9. If you solved this internally with headcount instead of buying something, what would that cost and how long would it take?
10. What would have to be true for this to go from "nice-to-fix-eventually" to "must-fix-now"?

TIMELINE (10)

1. Is there a specific date this needs to be live by, and what's driving that date?
2. What happens if this slips a quarter — is there a real consequence, or does the date just quietly move?
3. Walk me through your typical time from "we like a vendor" to "contract signed" — what are the actual steps?
4. Is there a compelling event — renewal, audit, board meeting, fiscal year-end — anchoring this timeline?
5. Whose timeline does this depend on besides yours — IT, security review, legal, a budget cycle?
6. If we could implement in half the time you're expecting, would that change your evaluation timeline?
7. What's the very next internal step after this call, and when does that happen?
8. Have you set an internal deadline for choosing a vendor, or is this genuinely open-ended?
9. Is there a seasonal or operational blackout window — like peak season — that would block a launch?
10. If we don't hit this timeline, what's the backup plan — do you wait, or does the problem get solved another way?

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MEDDIC BONUS BLOCK (14)

Metrics

1. What metric will your VP look at in [quarter] to know this investment worked?
2. Can you put a number on the problem today — hours lost, dollars, error rate — that we could use as the baseline?

Economic Buyer

1. Who controls the budget line this would come out of?
2. Have they been part of any conversation yet, even secondhand?

Decision Criteria

1. What are the 3-5 things that matter most in choosing between vendors here?
2. Which of those is non-negotiable versus "nice to have"?

Decision Process

1. After a favorite vendor is picked, what steps remain — security review, legal redlines, procurement, exec sign-off?
2. How long has each of those steps taken historically?

Identify Pain

1. Whose job gets harder every week this problem isn't solved?
2. What's the story behind why this became a priority now?

Champion

1. Who internally is going to advocate for this when we're not in the room?
2. Has this person successfully championed and gotten a purchase approved before?

Competition

1. Who else are you evaluating, and what's pulling you toward or away from them?
2. What would make you choose doing nothing over any vendor at all?

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When to use each block

• Need questions open the call — you can't qualify budget or timeline for a problem that isn't real yet.
• Authority and Economic Buyer questions come next, before you invest more time with the wrong person.
• Budget and Decision Criteria come once there's a confirmed problem and the right person is engaged.
• Timeline and Decision Process close the call — they're what you use to build the mutual close plan.

Handling evasive answers

• "We're still exploring options" → "Totally fair — what would moving from exploring to deciding depend on?"
• "Budget isn't really an issue" → "Good to hear — what range have similar projects landed in, so I scope this right?"
• "I'll need to check with my team" → "Makes sense — who else should be on the next call so we're not relaying secondhand?"