During the...

Question

During the sales interview process there is a mock discovery call.  The recruiter is being a bit vague because she said there will be some "curve balls" during the call.  How difficult is this mock discovery?

Former Employee · Accepted Answer

It is not that difficult should you prepare and have knowledge of a discovery call. The goal in mine was discovery as deep as you can go - 2nd and 3rd level questions and get the follow on appointment. Don't close, get the next appointment. Ask good questions and confirm answers.

Former Employee · Answer

my experience is a bit dated but depending on the role you are interviewing for, the discovery call is more about understanding your sales process, your natural curiosity and your ability to pivot during calls(clock speed).

It will likely be in the context of the Gartner position you will be interviewing for (business dev, AM, etc) but historically they have been a value selling and challenger sale based sales process. So come prepared to structure your call along those methodologies. Use a lot of open ended questions and while you may not have a ton of context, do your best about trying to dive into 2nd and 3rd level questions where possible. If they don't cut it short, try to close for the business or next steps.

Current Employee · Answer

Dont forget to ask what they know about Gartner.  When I did my mock disco, the manager had an answer that I could dig into and ask second level questions.

Current Employee · Answer

The mock discovery isn’t too difficult - they’re mostly looking for in depth questioning (2nd/3rd line) to get to the root cause of a problem and quantifying the pain.

They’ll likely have 2 managers playing different ‘prospect’ roles, and want to see you engage with both.

Former Employee · Answer

- set the agenda and ask what they need to see
- the curve balls will be objections like asking if you can include them in the Magic quadrant (integrity is the non negotiable at Gartner so you need to be politely crystal clear)
- display curiosity, active listening, ask why, quantify impact

Current Employee · Answer

The discovery call for HT MSE was quite easy in my opinion. They want to see if you took the feedback and prepared for the mock call, don't over think it though.
Few things to keep in mind:
Make sure to ask 3rd and 4th level questions.
Use open and/or leading questions, depending on the situation.

Current Employee · Answer

Goal is to find key challenge, timelines etc. (BANT) and then book a proposal meeting.

The only “curve balls” presented were like….

“I won’t attend, but I’ll send a member of my team” // “I don’t know you’ll have to ask x person” and so on

Just be prepared for a few objections - good luck!

Former Employee · Answer

The mock discovery is not overly difficult. They will certainly throw you a few objections and want to see your natural curiosity and active listening skills. Don’t overthink the process. Use your discovery process and be thorough and thoughtful.

Current Employee · Answer

Gartner wants to test how you extract information with open questions.  Curve balls will mostly be the type of prospect in front of you.  Follow this structure: rapport, purpose of call, time-check, followed by most importnat priority, open questions, challenge focus and next step.

Current Employee · Answer

In addition to everything else people have shared,  be sure to ask who else is involved on their hypothetical team. They’ll really like that.

Former Employee · Answer

The answer is simply “I would not like to work for Gartner” thanks

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Anonymous Q&A

During the sales interview process there is a mock discovery call. The recruiter is being a bit vague because she said there will be some "curve balls" during the call. How difficult is this mock discovery?