Your failure state is a call that goes fine and never books a next step. The rep fires a question list or pitches early, so the buyer stays polite and disengaged. The second meeting is where the deal actually starts. You earn it by running one structured call the buyer feels understood on, not interrogated by.
Read time: about 5 minutes. First step runnable Monday morning.
Open the call with ACE, then run situation and pain before any pitch.
Most reps skip the frame and jump to questions or a demo. ACE tells the buyer you are running this. Appreciate the time, check the clock, set the end goal. Then two situation questions, one pain question, and a summary they confirm.
Start here: pick your next discovery call, write your ACE opener, and list two situation and one pain question. You need the invite and 10 minutes of prep.
Ignore this week: do not build a 30-question script. A script makes you interrogate. Prepare five questions and listen instead.