Short answer
Give an AI assistant the context of your meeting (the client’s industry, the stakeholder, your solution and what you already know) and ask it to draft SIAM discovery questions (Situation, Implication, Approach, Micro-commitment) and a MANT-C qualification plan (Money, Authority, Need, Timing, Competition). Then cut the list to the questions that matter most, mark what you already know, and decide which gaps you must close in this meeting.
Why prepare discovery and qualification separately
Discovery and qualification happen in the same conversation, but they do different jobs:
- Discovery (SIAM) uncovers the customer’s real business problem behind the specs they’ve asked for.
- Qualification (MANT-C) tells you whether this is a real opportunity you should invest time in.
Most sellers prepare neither. They prepare a presentation. AI makes it quick to prepare both, so the meeting becomes a conversation about the customer, not a product pitch.
A quick reminder of the frameworks
SIAM
- Situation: the current situation and the problems behind the stated specs.
- Implication: the impact of not solving the problem, quantified where possible.
- Approach: how the customer wants to solve it; this sets the stage for your positioning.
- Micro-commitment: small agreements during the meeting. “Is my understanding correct?” “Would this approach help?”
MANT-C
- Money: is there a budget, or a way to fund it?
- Authority: who decides, and who influences?
- Need: is there a real business problem with an impact the customer cares about?
- Timing: is there a reason to decide in a defined period?
- Competition: who else is in the deal, including the option to do nothing?
More detail in the field guide to discovery questions.
Step 1: Give the AI the right context
The quality of the output depends on the context you give. Include:
- the client’s industry and size (public information only);
- who you’re meeting and their role;
- what you sell;
- what the customer has asked for so far (often specs);
- what you already know about budget, decision-makers and timing.
Step 2: Draft SIAM discovery questions
Prompt:
“I’m meeting the [role] at a [industry] company in India. They’ve asked for [stated specs or product]. I sell [solution]. Using the SIAM framework (Situation, Implication, Approach, Micro-commitment), draft discovery questions that uncover the business problem behind this request. Include two or three questions per section, and make the Implication questions help quantify the financial and operational impact.”
What to do with the output:
- keep five or six questions you’d genuinely ask;
- rewrite them in your own words;
- make sure at least one question asks about the business goal, such as: “Through this solution, what exactly is the business goal you are trying to achieve?”
Step 3: Build a MANT-C qualification plan
Prompt:
“For this opportunity, create a MANT-C qualification plan (Money, Authority, Need, Timing, Competition). For each factor, list what I need to learn, one or two questions to ask, and the warning signs that the opportunity may not be real. Here’s what I already know: [known facts].”
What to do with the output:
- mark each factor as known, partly known or unknown;
- choose the one or two unknowns you must close in this meeting;
- note the warning signs, so you notice them in the conversation.
A worked example
An illustration, not a client case.
A field seller from a system integrator is meeting the IT head of a mid-sized manufacturing company. The customer has asked for a quote for additional storage.
- Situation questions explore why storage is needed now: data growth, a new plant, a new application, backup problems.
- Implication questions explore the cost of the problem: downtime, delayed reporting, audit risk.
- Approach questions explore how they want to solve it: expand the current setup, move some workloads to the cloud, consolidate.
- Micro-commitments test understanding: “So the real priority is avoiding production delays during month-end. Is that right?”
- MANT-C gaps: the budget is unknown, the CFO’s role is unclear, and the timing depends on a plant launch. The seller decides to close the Authority and Timing gaps in this meeting.
Without preparation, this meeting would likely end with a storage quote. With it, it becomes a conversation about production risk, with the decision-makers identified.
Step 4: After the meeting
Use AI again to:
- summarise your notes into the SIAM structure;
- update the MANT-C plan with what you learned;
- draft a follow-up that confirms the customer’s priorities and the agreed next step.
Then update your forecast honestly: an opportunity counts as qualified only when all five MANT-C factors are clear.
Common mistakes
- Asking every question AI suggests. Choose the few that matter.
- Using AI questions word for word. Customers notice scripted questions.
- Skipping the qualification plan because the discovery questions feel enough.
- Trusting AI facts about the client without checking them.
Frequently asked questions
Can AI do sales discovery for me?
No. It helps you prepare better questions. The answers, and the trust, come from the conversation with the customer.
What is SIAM in sales?
A discovery method from B2B Tech SalesOS: Situation, Implication, Approach and Micro-commitment.
What is MANT-C?
A qualification framework covering Money, Authority, Need, Timing and Competition, including the option to do nothing.
Which AI assistant should I use?
Claude, Gemini and ChatGPT all handle this well. Use the one your company approves, and keep confidential information out of unapproved tools.
Want the full method and 35+ sample questions?
Mastering Discovery Questions walks you through the 5-step process.
