Discovery and Qualification — Asking the Right Questions

You've gotten the meeting. Don't blow it by pitching. Ask, listen, take notes.

The Discovery Framework

Cover six areas:

1. The Project

• What product are you building?
• Where are you in the lifecycle (concept, prototype, NPI, production)?
• What's the volume per year?
• What's the timeline?

2. The Board

• Layer count, board size, special features (HDI, RF, heavy copper)?
• What materials are spec'd?
• IPC class?
• Bare board only or assembly too?
• Component sourcing — your team or ours?
• Test requirements?

3. The Pain

• What's working with your current supplier? What's not?
• Where do you wish things were faster, cheaper, more reliable?
• Any quality or delivery issues recently?
• Are you single-sourced today? Looking for a backup?

4. The Decision

• Who else is involved in choosing a supplier?
• What's your supplier qualification process? Audit? FAI?
• Timeline for selecting a supplier?
• What does "ideal supplier" look like to you?

5. The Money

• What's your target pricing or current pricing?
• What's your budget cycle / fiscal year?
• Are you optimizing for cost, speed, or quality?

6. The Relationship

• How often do you want to talk?
• Who do I work with on quality, on PO, on engineering?
• Any preferences on communication (email, EDI, portal)?

Pro Discovery Tips

• Ask for the files early. "Can you share Gerbers and a BOM under NDA so we can quote accurately?" If they say yes, they're real.
• Listen for problems. Every complaint is a sales opening.
• Take detailed notes. Recap in writing within 24 hours.
• Don't over-promise. If your shop can't do something, say so. It builds trust faster than over-selling.
• Ask the question your competition won't: "What does this product have to do for YOUR customer to be a hit?"

Qualification — Is This Deal Real?

Before you spend hours quoting, qualify with MEDDPICC (or similar):

• Metrics — What does success look like?
• Economic Buyer — Who signs the PO?
• Decision Criteria — What are they evaluating on?
• Decision Process — How will they decide?
• Paper Process — What does procurement / legal / quality require?
• Identify Pain — What's broken today?
• Champion — Who internally is fighting for you?
• Competition — Who else is bidding?

If you can't answer most of these, you're not qualified — keep digging.

Red Flags

• They won't share files.
• They want a quote in 24 hours but won't answer questions.
• They have no end-product story (could be a price-shopper or a broker).
• They've used 5 different shops in the last 2 years (chronic shopper, won't be loyal).
• They demand 90-day terms with no business history.