Discovery Questions That Lead to Better Treasury Management Sales

Successful Treasury Management (TM) sales start long before the first service is mentioned. The most effective TM professionals know that asking the right questions and truly listening to the answers creates stronger relationships, deeper insights, and more meaningful sales outcomes.

Here’s how to improve your discovery conversations and uncover what really matters to your business customers.

Start With Understanding, Not Selling

The purpose of discovery is to understand how money flows through the customer’s business. You’re looking for gaps, inefficiencies, and pain points that your services can solve.

Before you talk about ACH or remote deposit capture, ask about:

• The customer’s daily cash flow routine
• How they pay vendors and employees
• How they receive payments from customers
• What tools or software they already use for accounting and payroll

These open-ended questions show genuine interest and help position you as a trusted advisor, not a service salesperson.

Five Powerful Discovery Questions

Try these questions in your next TM conversation:

1. “Walk me through how your company manages incoming and outgoing payments.”
   This helps you map out their cash flow process from start to finish.
2. “Where do you see delays or manual steps that slow things down?”
   You’ll uncover inefficiencies that TM automation can solve.
3. “What concerns do you have about fraud or unauthorized transactions?”
   A natural bridge to discuss Positive Pay, dual controls, and user permissions.
4. “Which systems are most important to your accounting or finance operations?”
   Knowing their technology stack helps you recommend compatible solutions.
5. “If you could improve one part of your payment or reconciliation process, what would it be?”
   This question prioritizes their needs in their own words.

Listen for Clues Beyond the Answers

Customers often reveal their biggest challenges indirectly. Pay attention to:

• Frustration with manual work
• Mentions of delayed deposits or missing remittance details
• Security concerns or previous fraud incidents
• Growth pains that strain their current systems

These “soft signals” can lead to valuable follow-up questions and uncover hidden opportunities.

Connect the Dots

After discovery, summarize what you’ve heard.
Example:

“You mentioned that reconciling ACH payments takes several hours each week and you’re concerned about fraud. Let’s look at a combination of services that can help automate reconciliation and reduce risk.”

This approach confirms understanding, demonstrates professionalism, and transitions naturally into recommending solutions.

Action Steps

• Incorporate at least five discovery questions into every sales meeting.
• Train your team to take structured notes and share insights with TM operations.
• Review discovery results monthly to identify recurring customer needs.

Discovery conversations set the foundation for every successful TM relationship. When you lead with curiosity and empathy, customers see you as a partner who helps them operate smarter.

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