SPICED framework training: discovery questions SDRs can use
Sohrab Mostaghim, Founder · 2 October 2026 · Updated 30 October 2026 · 12 min read
SPICED is a discovery framework developed by Winning by Design: Situation, Pain, Impact, Critical Event and Decision. SDRs and BDRs use it to qualify a lead before handing it to an account executive. Below are discovery questions for each element, a three-step way to handle objections, and a ready / partial / not-ready checklist for the SQL handoff.
What the SPICED framework is, and who created it
SPICED comes from Winning by Design, the revenue-training company founded by Jacco van der Kooij. They describe it as a way to diagnose before you prescribe: understand the customer's situation, problem and urgency before you pitch anything. They also use it across the customer journey, so the context an SDR collects is still useful to the account executive and later to customer success.
I like SPICED for SDRs because it asks for the right amount. An SDR's job is not to qualify a whole enterprise deal. It's to find out whether there is a real problem, owned by a real person, with a reason to act now, and to hand that over so the AE doesn't have to start from zero. SPICED fits that job. MEDDPICC asks SDRs for things they can't own yet, like the paper process, and they end up filling those fields with guesses.
What SPICED stands for
The examples follow one made-up lead: an SDR selling employee-onboarding software calls the Head of People Operations at Kestrel Care, a 900-person clinic group. Company, people and numbers are fictional.
| Element | What it means | Good evidence | Weak evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| S: Situation | Facts about their world: tools, team, how the work gets done today | "Twenty to 35 starters a month since two clinics opened. Four people in People Ops, all on spreadsheets." Said by the buyer. | "Mid-size healthcare, probably uses Workday." From LinkedIn only. |
| P: Pain | The problem they feel, named by them | "New nurses start without system access. Last month three waited four days." | "Onboarding could be smoother." Your words, not theirs. |
| I: Impact | What the pain costs: money, risk, reputation, and what it means for the buyer personally | "We pay agency staff at about twice the cost to cover those shifts. The COO has asked about it twice." | "It's frustrating." No consequence, no number. |
| C: Critical Event | A buyer-owned date or event that forces a decision, and what happens if they miss it | "Clinic three opens on 1 March with 60 hires. If this isn't fixed, we open short-staffed." | "They'd like it this year." Or your quarter-end. |
| D: Decision | How they will decide: the process, the people involved, and the criteria | "The COO has to agree, and IT approves anything that touches the HR system. Last time IT took six weeks." | "She's the decision maker." Assumed, never asked. |
In Winning by Design's own definition, Decision covers the decision process, the decision committee and the decision criteria. An SDR rarely gets all three in a first call, and that's fine. Bring back what you actually heard, and label the rest as open.
SPICED discovery questions by element
Each element has questions for the SDR to ask the buyer, a short sample exchange from the fictional lead, and three checks for the manager reviewing the SDR's work. Winning by Design recommends asking questions with context: show that you did your research, then ask. The examples do that.
Situation
- Walk me through what happens between a signed contract and someone's first day.
- Which tools and teams touch that process today?
- How many people do you bring on in a typical month, and is that changing?
- How does this connect to what leadership is focused on this year?
- What have you tried before, and how did it go?
SDR: "I saw Kestrel opened two clinics this spring. How has that changed onboarding for your team?"
Buyer: "We went from about 20 starters a month to 35. Same four people, same spreadsheets."
Manager checks: Can the SDR restate the buyer's situation without notes? Which facts came from the buyer, and which from LinkedIn? Did the SDR confirm the situation before digging into pain?
Pain
- What's the hardest part of that process right now?
- Where does it break when volume spikes or someone is away?
- How are you working around it today?
- Who feels it most: your team, the managers or the new hires?
- Why look at this now, rather than last year?
SDR: "Where does it break when you have a big intake?"
Buyer: "System access. Last month three nurses waited four days for logins."
Manager checks: Did the buyer name the pain, or did we suggest it? Is it a symptom or the cause? Who feels it every day?
Impact
- What happens if this stays the same for another six months?
- What does it cost you, in hours, money or risk?
- Who outside your team notices when it goes wrong?
- If it were fixed, what would change for you personally?
- How would you know it was fixed?
SDR: "When a nurse can't log in for four days, what does that cost you?"
Buyer: "We pay them anyway and cover the shifts with agency staff, at about double the cost. Our COO has asked me about it twice."
Manager checks: What number or consequence did the buyer attach? Does it matter to the organisation, or only to one person? Did the SDR ask "so what?" about the pain?
Critical Event
- Is there a date or event this needs to be solved by?
- What happens if you miss it?
- Who set that date?
- What else has to happen before then?
- Is this in this year's plan or budget?
SDR: "Is there a point where this has to be sorted?"
Buyer: "Clinic three opens on 1 March, and we're hiring 60 people for it."
Manager checks: Who set the date: us or them? What does missing it cost, in their words? Is the event tied to an impact the buyer already confirmed?
The end of your quarter is not a critical event. Neither is a discount deadline you invented. If the buyer has no date, write "none found", not a guess.
Decision
- If you decided to change this, how would that decision get made?
- Who else would need to be involved, and who signs off?
- How did you choose the last tool your team bought?
- What would a solution have to prove to be considered?
- Is there budget set aside, or would it need to be found?
SDR: "If you wanted to fix this before March, who else would be part of that decision?"
Buyer: "Our COO, and IT has to approve anything touching the HR system. Last time that took six weeks."
Manager checks: Which roles must approve before signature? Where do IT, security or procurement come in? Is this a process the buyer described, or a hint the SDR is stretching into a claim?
Evidence levels: how sure are we?
A filled-in field isn't evidence. Score each element on the same scale we use for MEDDPICC:
| Level | Name | For SPICED this means |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | Unknown | Nothing, or a guess |
| 1 | Suspected | Desk research or a hint, not confirmed by the buyer |
| 2 | Indicated | The buyer mentioned it, but vaguely |
| 3 | Confirmed | The buyer said it in their own words, and you can point to the call note, recording or email |
| 4 | Validated | Confirmed by a second person or in a document |
Rule of thumb for an SQL: Situation, Pain, Impact and Critical Event at level 3 or above. Decision at level 2 is enough at handoff, as long as it's labelled as such. Don't round up. When an SDR claims a decision stage they never heard about, the AE finds out on the first call, and from then on discounts every handoff from that SDR.
SPICED vs MEDDPICC vs BANT
| SPICED | MEDDPICC | BANT | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Origin | Winning by Design | MEDDIC, from PTC in 1996, plus Paper Process and Competition | Commonly attributed to IBM |
| Best for | SDR/BDR discovery and handoffs. Also used by AEs and CS | AEs running complex, multi-stakeholder deals | A quick first filter for simple, transactional leads |
| Main question | Why change, why now, and how will they decide? | Can this deal close, when, and against whom? | Do they have budget, authority, need and timing? |
| Where it breaks | Thin on paper process and competition in enterprise deals | SDRs fill economic buyer and paper fields with guesses | Assumes budget and authority are known early, and misses pain and urgency |
SPICED and MEDDPICC fit together. The SDR's SPICED notes become the AE's starting point:
| SPICED (SDR) | Feeds into MEDDPICC (AE) |
|---|---|
| Situation, Pain | Identify Pain |
| Impact | Metrics |
| Critical Event | Decision Process (the timeline) |
| Decision | Decision Process, Decision Criteria, Economic Buyer |
The full comparison by role, including customer success, is in SPICED vs MEDDPICC: which framework for which role.
Handling objections in discovery: acknowledge, clarify, evidence
A lot of discovery calls go wrong at the first objection, usually because the SDR starts arguing. Three steps work better:
- Acknowledge. Say what you heard, without getting defensive.
- Clarify. Ask one sharp question that shows what's really in the way.
- Evidence. Offer proof tied to their situation, ideally something they told you. A feature list doesn't count.
Buyer: "We already use our HR system for onboarding."
Acknowledge: "That makes sense. Most teams start there."
Clarify: "When clinic two opened, did the HR system handle the access requests, or did those still go by email?"
Evidence: "You mentioned three nurses waiting four days. If the system covers that, I'll leave you alone. If not, that gap is what we'd look at."
The same pattern works for "send me an email" (clarify what would make the email worth opening), "no budget" (clarify whether the problem is unfunded or unimportant) and "not a priority" (clarify what is the priority, and whether it connects).
Note: Winning by Design also uses "ACE" for a call opener: Appreciate, Check the time, End goal. It's worth using too. To avoid confusion, we spell this objection pattern out in full.
SQL handoff checklist
Use this before any meeting goes to an account executive. A meeting the AE sends back should count against the handoff, not for it.
- [ ] Situation: at least three facts confirmed by the buyer, not only desk research
- [ ] Pain: named by the buyer, in their words, with who feels it
- [ ] Impact: at least one consequence with a number, a risk or a named person who cares
- [ ] Critical Event: a date or event the buyer owns, and what happens if they miss it (or "none found")
- [ ] Decision: who else is involved and at least one known step, marked as heard or assumed
- [ ] Contact: this person owns the problem, they're not just friendly
- [ ] Sources: every element points to a call note, recording or email
- [ ] Next meeting: booked with the right person, the agenda agreed with the buyer, the AE briefed
- [ ] Open questions: what the AE needs to find out first
Verdict:
- Ready: Situation, Pain, Impact and Critical Event confirmed by the buyer with a source, and Decision started. The AE can pick it up cold.
- Partial: one or two core elements are missing or only suspected. Coach the SDR, flag the gaps to the AE, and decide together whether the meeting stands.
- Not ready: Pain or Critical Event is missing, or the contact doesn't own the problem. It isn't an SQL yet. Keep working it or nurture it.
New SDRs should practise against this checklist from week one. The SDR onboarding guide builds a ramp plan around it.
A 75-minute SPICED practice session
This works with a manager or peer playing the buyer, or with a simulation. Use the same lead for every SDR.
| Time | Block | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| 0–5 min | Frame | Introduce the lead and the goal: a handoff the AE would accept. Pick one focus element. |
| 5–15 min | Prep | SDRs research the account, write a situation hypothesis and an opener with context. Check that each SDR has listed their situation facts before the call. |
| 15–45 min | Run | Discovery calls. Pause once, when Situation and Pain have come up, to check what was confirmed and what was assumed. |
| 45–60 min | Debrief | Evidence level per element, the objection moments, and a ready / partial / not-ready verdict for each SDR. |
| 60–75 min | Plan | Each SDR gets one element to work on in live calls. The manager reviews their next three real handoffs against the checklist. |
Two things make roleplay worth the time. First, give the buyer a hidden critical event the SDR only finds by asking well. Second, add a friendly contact who doesn't own the problem, someone who replies fast and says yes to a meeting. Booking that meeting feels like a win, and it's one of the most common bad handoffs.
FAQ
What is the SPICED framework in sales?
SPICED is a discovery and qualification framework: Situation, Pain, Impact, Critical Event and Decision. Sellers use it to understand a buyer's context, the problem and what it costs, why they need to act by a certain date, and how they will decide. SDRs often use it to qualify leads before handing them to an account executive.
Who created the SPICED framework?
SPICED was created by Winning by Design, the revenue-training company founded by Jacco van der Kooij. Winning by Design presents it as a customer-centric way to diagnose before prescribing, and uses it across sales, account management and customer success so that customer context survives handoffs between teams.
What are good SPICED questions?
Good SPICED questions are open, specific and asked with context. For example: "Where does onboarding break when volume spikes?" (Pain), "What happens if this stays the same for six months?" (Impact) and "Is there a date this has to be solved by, and who set it?" (Critical Event). The buyer should do most of the talking.
SPICED or MEDDIC: which should we use?
Usually both, in different seats. SPICED suits SDRs and early discovery: is there a real problem, an urgent reason and an idea of how they'll decide? MEDDIC or MEDDPICC suits account executives qualifying complex deals with economic buyers, paper processes and competitors. The SDR's SPICED notes become the AE's MEDDPICC starting point.
Is there a SPICED framework PDF?
Winning by Design publishes SPICED material, including a blueprint, on its own website, and that's the source to start with. This page has discovery questions for every element and an SQL handoff checklist you can copy into your own playbook or CRM.
Is SPICED only for SDRs?
No. Winning by Design positions SPICED across the whole customer journey, including account executives and customer success. In practice, SDRs establish Situation, Pain, Impact and Critical Event, AEs deepen Decision and often add MEDDPICC for complex deals, and customer success revisits impact and critical events at renewal.
Where Game Is Serious fits
Practising SPICED needs a buyer who doesn't make it easy, and a way to compare SDRs on the same lead. That's what the SDR seat in Deal IQ is for.
- SDRs: play an outbound week across a set of fictional accounts. They pick where to spend effort, research, reach the person who owns the problem, steer clear of the friendly contact who doesn't, and hand off. The win is a meeting the AE can work, not a closed deal.
- Managers: see SPICED element scores and a ready / partial / not-ready handoff verdict in the debrief.
- Try it: open the SDR / BDR seat or the SDR practice room.
- Individuals: the SPICED Qualifier issues a verifiable training credential after a scored run. It's a work sample, not a certification. That same work-sample logic is how you assess sales candidates for SDR seats.
- Pricing: no public tiers. It starts with a discovery call.
Limits. We don't certify SPICED. SPICED is Winning by Design's framework, and we teach practice on it, not the methodology itself. A simulation verdict describes one run, not how an SDR will do on every live call. Game Is Serious is not affiliated with Winning by Design.
About the author. Sohrab Mostaghim founded Game Is Serious in Berlin and is a published board game designer.
Sources: SPICED, Winning by Design · The SPICED Framework blueprint, Winning by Design · How to Diagnose blueprint, Winning by Design