Meeting Stakeholders — Discovery Calls That Earn Trust

• Read each attendee's LinkedIn (current role, tenure, last post).
• Skim the company's last earnings call or annual report — find one quote you can reference.
• Pull three news items from the last 90 days.
• Write the one outcome you want from this meeting (e.g. "confirm budget owner").
• Pre-write three questions you'll ask if the conversation stalls.

"We have 30 minutes. I'd like to spend the first 20 understanding your situation, then 10 on how we might help — does that work?" Asking permission is the most underrated discovery technique.

1. Situation — "Walk me through how this works today."
2. Problem — "Where does this break down?"
3. Implication — "What does that cost you?" (Time, money, risk.)
4. Need-payoff — "If we removed that, what would change?"

Stay in Situation/Problem longer than feels comfortable. The discomfort is where the real problem lives.

BANT isn't a script; it's an internal checklist. By the end of a good first call you should be able to answer: who signs, what they'll spend, what they actually need (not just want), and when they need it live.

If someone is hostile, name it gently: "It sounds like you've been burned by a vendor before — would it help if I told you what we'd do differently?" Then listen. Defensiveness is almost always a story about a previous bad experience.

Never end a stakeholder meeting with "let's circle back." Every meeting ends with: a named next step, a named owner, and a calendar slot.

A short email within 24 hours. Three sections: what I heard (bulleted, in their words), what I'll do next, what I'm asking of you. Forward the calendar invite for the next step in the same thread.