You have booked a discovery meeting with us, and now you most likely want to know what to expect on this discovery call. The ‘about us’ article should have answered at least 80% of the questions you are likely to have about us here at Forgeway. But, if you have any other questions about us, the Forgeway team member will answer them on the discovery call.

This article will prepare you for the meeting. It will provide a guide as to what we will cover in the discovery meeting. By the end of this article, you will know what to expect so you can prepare effectively. 

Our team member on the other end of the call will conduct research into your company too. This way, the time spent on the call is maximised. 

We value your time and don’t want to waste it.

What will we discuss on your discovery call?

This discovery call is not about ‘discovering’ each other’s organisations. This discovery meeting is about discovering what your primary challenge is with any bonding or sealing applications. If you want a better idea of who we are and what we provide, have a read of the ‘about us’ article.

Don’t worry, it’s not going to be an interrogation. We will ask you a few questions as you walk us through the problem you are facing. From that, we will be able to determine what the problem is (if there is one). Sometimes there is no problem, you may just want our opinion. 

The whole point of the call is not only ‘discovering’ what your challenge is, but also ‘discovering’ what the potential solution could be, and whether we are a good fit to provide that solution.

What should you expect from the call?

Before we even get to the details about the call, we want you to know what your expectations should be for the call.

We aren’t promising to offer the full solution in this discovery call.

There are occasions when we know what the solution might be straight away. However, we don’t normally expect to be able to provide a solution on the first call.  What we will cover, though, is all the things that any solution must include; the non-negotiables.

We must be aware of these non-negotiables before we can offer you a solution. As an example, if you want a fast-curing glue but you also wanted the glue to require minimal surface preparation, the surface preparation would be a non-negtioable.

Normally we will take away the notes from the meeting and come up with the best solution with the help of our technical team. We will then present the solution in a ‘solutions presentation’ meeting at an agreed time that suits you. This meeting will allow us both to work towards an agreed time where we can discuss your solution.

If at the end of the call, we feel we aren’t able to provide a solution, we will point you in the right direction. We will show you who can provide a solution. We don’t want to leave you high and dry without a way through the challenge.

What do we need to make sure the call is worthwhile?

You must be ready to change from your existing joining method or adhesive supplier. The need for change must be greater than the resistance to that change.

To ensure neither of us wastes our time on this call, we need you to commit to the potential need for change.
If you come with this attitude, the solution we propose in the ‘solution presentation’ meeting will be easier to create. This mindset will enable us to work with you to determine everything you need in a solution.

What sort of questions will we ask you?

There are no guarantees we will ask you the questions we are going to mention in this section. The meeting could go in a million different directions although we keep to a structure to maximise the time we spend together. And there are a few things you can do to prepare for the discovery call.

Our checklist of factors to consider will give you a good idea of how you can prepare.

Some of the typical questions we want you to prepare for will almost always come up in every discovery call we conduct.

Our five most common questions are:

• If you have tried any other solutions, what were they, and why didn’t they work?
• Is the challenge you are facing causing a serious problem? We’ve solved many problems where people’s lives are at stake?
• Is the need for change greater than the resistance to change?
• Who else is involved in the decision-making process? Will they resist the change?
• Have you decided what you want from an adhesive solution? We created a list to help you decide.
• When was the last time you changed a major supplier?

These questions typically give us a good idea of the type of challenge you are facing. And sometimes, we find that a problem can cause you to get tunnel vision. You just want to focus on a solution to your problem, but you forget about what else you need. The checklist we mentioned above will give you ideas of what else you might need.

The pre-meeting survey we included in the confirmation email will ensure we don’t waste any time on the call. You will have a far better idea of what you want from a potential adhesive solution by filling out that survey.