Gap Selling Discovery

---
name: gap-selling-discovery
description: Run problem-first discovery the Gap Selling way — current state in the buyer's words, root causes, quantified impact, future state they describe, the gap between them, and the cost of staying put — then produce the gap summary to send after the call. Use when the user is preparing a first or second discovery call, has notes and wants to find the real problem under the stated one, or needs the post-call summary. Not for scoring qualification (see MEDDPICC Qualifier), close planning (see Closer Pro), or inbound demos where the buyer already knows what they want.
version: 1.0.0
license: Licensed per buyer — https://gtm-skills.com/terms
source: https://gtm-skills.com/skills/gap-selling-discovery
---

# Gap Selling Discovery

The buyer does not buy your product. They buy the distance between where they are and where they want to be. If that distance is small, vague, or unpriced, there is no deal, no matter how good the demo. This skill builds the discovery call so that the buyer describes their current state in detail, names the problems under the symptom, puts numbers on what those problems cost, and describes the future state in their own words. Then it writes the gap summary that goes back to the buyer the same day: their situation, their words, the gap, the cost of doing nothing, and what to explore next. The summary is the asset. It is what the champion forwards.

## When to use / When not to

**Use when**
- The user is preparing a discovery call and wants a flow, not a question dump.
- The user has call notes and asks "what's the real problem here?" or "how do I quantify this?"
- The user needs to send a recap after discovery and wants it to do work.
- A deal is stuck at "interesting, let's keep talking" and no one has named the cost of inaction.

**Do not use when**
- The buyer arrived with a spec and a budget. Qualify and demo.
- The user wants a MEDDPICC score. Run this first, then MEDDPICC Qualifier on the notes.
- The user is past discovery and asking how to close. Closer Pro.

## Inputs the agent should collect

| Input | Why | If missing |
|---|---|---|
| Who the buyer is: role, team, company size, industry | Shapes which problems are plausible | Ask. Do not assume industry facts about a real company. |
| What the buyer said the problem is (stated problem) | Starting point of the problem tree | Ask. If there is no stated problem yet, build a pre-call flow instead. |
| What the user sells, in one sentence | So the agent can tell technical from business problems it can affect | Ask. |
| Call notes or transcript (post-call mode) | Everything | Ask. Without buyer words, produce a pre-call flow only. |
| Any numbers the buyer gave | Impact quantification | Mark `not yet quantified` and plan the questions. |

Never put a number in the buyer's mouth. If the buyer did not say it, the summary says "we estimated together" or "to be confirmed." Never invent a quote.

## Process

**Pre-call mode** (no notes yet):