Welcome to Module 2: Discovery & Solution Building

Discovery (or Customer Needs Analysis) meetings are where you uncover the real problems, motivations, and goals behind a business’s marketing needs. The goal is to ask relevant questions so you can listen and learn about your prospect’s goals and challenges, and uncover the key pieces of information to build a buyable proposal.

1. Research and General Info Gathering

You never want to ask a prospect questions about their business that you could have researched yourself.  Use this checklist to guide your pre-call research. This will give you a solid foundation and necessary context to have an effective CNA. You may not use all this information, but you'll be able to navigate the conversation, where ever it may go.
Make sure to share these notes with the everyone that will be attending the meeting with you. 

Digital Presence Review

• Explore their website, noting site speed, UX, calls-to-action, content quality, and potential conversion gaps. 
• Review their Google Business Profile for reviews, photos, Q&A, posting cadence, and category accuracy. 
• Analyze their social media (tone, engagement, frequency, messaging). 
• Review any active ads you can find (Meta Ad Library, Google Ads transparency tools). 

Industry & Business Context

• Understand basic business acumen: seasonality, common margins, typical buying cycles, known challenges.
• Identify 2–3 direct competitors and their marketing approach.
• Check for seasonal trends, relevant municipal news, openings/closings, or local events. 

2. Creating Great CNA Questions

Your CNA questions should vary based on industry, business maturity, and the role of the person you're speaking with (owner vs. marketing coordinator vs. director).

Universal CNA Questions:

• Paint-points
• Ideal customer
• Goals
• Timing
• Advertising history

Industry specific Questions:

• CNA sheets for key industries (Need to create this still)
• CSS insights: Sales Accelerator Ai
• ChatGPT prompts
  • Generate 10 CNA questions for INDUSTRY that uncover  potential opportunities for growth.
  • In order to give me INDUSTRY client the best ROI, what type of questions should I be asking to ensure a strong return?
  • Share some questions that help uncover pain points in the INDSUTRY that can be remedied with marketing strategy.
  • What are 5 timely questions for me to ask a business owner in their INDUSTRY.

A great CNA isn’t just about gathering data — it’s about building trust, reading nuance, uncovering real business problems, and influencing buying behavior.  Those things happen best in a conversation, not a questionnaire. Here are some important things to keep in mind:

1. Show Up Prepared

When you walk into a CNA already understanding their business, competitors, website experience, and advertising footprint, you immediately elevate the conversation beyond basic questions.  You shouldn't be asking any questions that you could find out yourself. 

2. In-person meetings are always better than a virtual meetings.

If a prospect is local, always aim for in-person meetings. Not only does in-person establish more trust but in person makes them more likely to follow through on their commitment to meet with you.

3. Let the prospect do all the talking

Asking open ended questions gives the prospect the opportunity to share context, pressure points and what is REALLY keeping them at night.   Giving prospects the attention and space to share information with you not only establishes trust, but priorities will become clear to you and objections will surface naturally so you can address those early on with them. 

4. Summarize Your Findings at the End

5. Always Book the Next Meeting Before You Leave

Taking two minutes to restate what you heard — goals, challenges, timing, priorities — ensures alignment and prevents misunderstandings.  This recap becomes the backbone of your strategy and proposal, and it shows the prospect that you listened, understood, and can be trusted with next steps. 

6. Discuss Metrics and How They Measure Success

If you don’t know how they measure success, you cannot build a meaningful strategy. 
Understanding their KPIs, benchmarks, tracking methods, and current gaps allows you to design a plan tied directly to their business goals — not generic marketing activity. 

This clarity is also what ultimately closes the deal, because you’re aligning your solution with what they already care about. 

7. Identify Their Real ICP, Not Their Assumed ICP

Most businesses think they know who their ideal customer is — but many are wrong. 
Your job is to dig into who actually buys from them, who is profitable, who converts, and which customers align with their goals. 

When you challenge assumptions (respectfully), you become a strategic partner, not a note-taker. 

• Send a recap email within 24 hours:
  • Thank them for their time.
  • Summarize key challenges and goals you heard.
  • Confirm next steps/presentation date
• Update Hubspot immediately — notes, decision makers, and insights.
• Schedule a meeting with your DMD and Manager to start working on the presentation.  Make sure you complete it at least 48 hours ahead of the meeting.
• Follow up even if timing isn’t right — nurture with insights, not spam.
• Reflect: What did you learn that could apply to future meetings? 

A great presentation isn’t just about the deck—it’s about the experience you create for the client. By the time you’re presenting, you should already understand their goals, challenges, and what matters most to them. The presentation is where you connect the dots and show them a clear, strategic path forward. 

Below are the standards and practices that ensure every presentation feels polished, purposeful, and client-centric. 

These trainings require you to be logged into Current.  If you need help accessing Current contact your manager. 

Proposal Builder:  The Proposal Builder is one of two ways to build a proposal. The other way is through SmartProposal. With either method, you will start by creating a new deal in Hubspot. 

Maverick SmartProposal: is one of two ways to build a proposal. The other way is by using the custom proposal builder. 

• Generates and optimizes local-market media campaign proposals using real-time deal-close and campaign performance data.
• Analyzes millions of data points from thousands of media campaigns to create intelligent and focused campaign proposals.
• Uses an AI algorithm to develop product and budget recommendations designed to maximize reach across marketing channels. 

For answers to frequently asked questions about SmartProposal, see FAQ: SmartProposal.