# Sales Discovery Role Play: A Buyer Who Has Not Defined the Problem

Facilitate a pre-pitch sales role play: surface a customer example, separate facts from hypotheses, and choose a useful next step.

- Canonical URL: https://www.harmate.com/en/blog/sales-discovery-role-play-a-buyer-who-has-not-defined-the-problem
- Author: Harmate Team
- Published: 2026-11-15
- Updated: 2026-11-15T01:49:53.268313+00:00
- Language: en

## Content

# Sales Discovery Role Play: A Buyer Who Has Not Defined the Problem

This role play practices a discovery conversation before a product pitch. The scenario is fictional: an operations lead says she wants “better job tracking,” but the problem, people affected, and decision process are not yet clear. The seller’s goal is to understand enough to choose a useful next step, including deciding that a product meeting would be premature.

## Prepare the roles

**Seller card.** You are meeting Camille, operations lead at a 14-person repair workshop. You do not know her budget or current tools. Your goal is to understand a recent example, its consequences, what has already been tried, and who needs to be involved in a decision. Do not present a solution before checking the problem. You may suggest a follow-up if a concrete question remains open.

**Buyer card.** Your opening line is: “We need a better way to track jobs.” Share context only if the seller asks. If asked what happens today, explain that technicians update a shared spreadsheet, sometimes at the end of the day. If asked for a recent example, say one repair was due Tuesday but was still waiting on a part; the office called the customer with an outdated date. You do not know whether a new tool would solve the problem. The workshop owner approves spending; you cannot commit on their behalf.

**Observer card.** Note questions that invite a specific fact, interpretations presented as hypotheses, and any moment when the seller recommends a solution too early. Do not score charisma or personal style.

The facilitator allows two minutes to prepare, then lets the conversation run until the pair chooses a next step. The seller may suggest a follow-up, an internal question to verify, or no meeting. A good conversation does not require a fictional sale.

## Designed dialogue for illustration

This dialogue was written for the scenario; it is not from a real call or a participant evaluation.

**Camille:** We need a better way to track jobs.

**Seller:** What prompted you to look for a different way of working now?

**Camille:** We sometimes miss the dates we give customers.

**Seller:** Can you tell me about the most recent time that happened?

**Camille:** A repair was due Tuesday. The part had not arrived, but the spreadsheet had not been updated before the office called the customer.

**Seller:** So the delay was related to the part, and the case information reached the office too late. Have I got that right?

**Camille:** Yes. I don’t yet know whether the spreadsheet is the cause or whether we update it at the wrong time.

**Seller:** Who could help us understand when that update needs to happen?

**Camille:** The workshop lead. The owner would need to join if we considered a purchase.

**Seller:** Then a next conversation could map how information moves from the workshop to the office, with the workshop lead. I don’t know yet whether a tool is the right answer. Would that be useful?

## Debrief and variation

Ask the seller: “Which fact changed your understanding? What is still a hypothesis?” Then ask the observer to cite the question that opened the example and the moment when the seller deferred proposing a solution.

For a replay, change one element: Camille asks for pricing at the start, or the workshop lead is unavailable. The seller must handle the constraint without pretending to know an answer. Keep the review criterion observable: did the seller clarify the request and the next step before recommending? This case provides conversation practice; it does not establish a conversion rate or the quality of a sales method.

To build more role cards, use the [test persona template](https://www.harmate.com/en/blog/synthetic-persona-template-a-minimal-card-for-testing-an-ai-assistant) to separate a person’s preferences from the facts they reveal during the conversation. For research on actual buyers, see the [evidence-based buyer persona guide](https://www.harmate.com/en/blog/buyer-persona-build-it-from-evidence-not-assumptions).