What you'll get
- 3 copy-ready blocks
- 5 min read
- Part 1: The agenda (30 minutes)
- Part 2: The notes sheet
- Part 3: What should you leave the call holding?
How to use it
- Step 1: Send the agenda in Part 1 the day before. A shared agenda makes the structure theirs, not an ambush.
- Step 2: Run the call on the five parts. The minutes are guidance; the order is not.
- Step 3: Fill the notes sheet in Part 2 during and straight after the call.
- Step 4: Check Part 3 before you say goodbye: six things the call should leave you holding.
The questions themselves, by buyer function, are in the discovery call question bank. More on working large accounts under enterprise sales.
What is a discovery call? Thirty minutes where the buyer explains their problem and you earn the right to propose something. Most go wrong in one of two ways: an interrogation that works through a question list, or a chat that ends warm and empty. The fix for both is the same: a visible agenda, and a notes sheet that knows what the call is for.
Part 1: The agenda (30 minutes)
1. Their world (10 min) How the problem shows up, in their words.
What it touches, who feels it, what it costs.
2. What they tried (5) Workarounds, past projects, why those stalled.
3. What good looks like What changes if this is solved; how they would
(5) measure it; who notices.
4. The machinery (5) Who else cares, who approves, what procurement
asks, what timeline is real.
5. The honest close (5) Is this worth a second conversation? Who joins
it? Booked now, in the room.Parts 1 to 3 are the buyer talking. If you are speaking more than a third of the call, it has become a pitch with questions attached.
Part 2: The notes sheet
Account: Person and role:
Date: Their words for the problem: "..."
What it costs them: (their number, or "no number yet")
Tried already: Why it stalled:
Good looks like: Measured by:
People named: (name, role, why they matter)
Process facts: (budget cycle, procurement, timeline)
Risks heard: (their words)
Next step agreed: Date:
Who joins meeting two:The two fields teams skip are the two that matter most later: their words for the problem, which your proposal should quote, and people named, which feeds the committee map. The call notes to account map hack turns that field into the next move.
Part 3: What should you leave the call holding?
1. The problem in their words, not yours
2. A cost or consequence, even rough
3. At least one new name on the committee
4. One fact about how they buy
5. A dated next step, agreed in the room
6. An honest read: is there a problem here we actually solve?Five of six is a good call. Zero names and no date is a pleasant conversation, which is a different thing.
Worked example (illustrative, not a real company)
Sam Carter runs discovery with the operations director at Northfield Logistics. The agenda went over the day before, so she arrives with a story: dock scheduling, in her words "we plan the day at 6am and replan it by 9". Cost: two staff on manual replanning. Tried: a spreadsheet macro that died with its author. Good looks like: replanning in minutes, measured in overtime hours. Named: the finance lead who owns the overtime budget and an IT manager who guards integrations. Close: meeting two booked Thursday, finance lead invited. The sheet is the account plan's first page by lunchtime. All names are invented.
Five mistakes to avoid
- Interrogating from a list. The question bank is preparation, not a script. Follow their answers; the agenda keeps you safe.
- Demoing in part one. The moment the screen is shared, discovery is over and the buyer is a spectator. Hold the demo for its own meeting, prepared for the people it has earned.
- Accepting "it is just painful" as the cost. Ask what it touches: hours, delays, risk, staff. A problem with no consequence gets no budget.
- Leaving with zero names. One polite question does it: "who else lives with this?" A discovery call that maps nobody leaves the account exactly as single-threaded as before.
- Ending with "I will send some times". The close in part five is the whole reason the agenda exists. Book it in the room or hear the honest no.
Why this works on named accounts
Common questions
What is a discovery call in sales?
A first structured conversation where the buyer explains their problem, what they have tried and how they would measure a fix, and the seller learns who else is involved and how the company buys. Its output is understanding and a dated next step, not a pitch delivered.
What questions should you ask on a discovery call?
Open ones about their world first: how the problem shows up, what it costs, what they have tried, what good looks like. Then the machinery: who else cares, who approves, what the real timeline is. Role-by-role wording is in the question bank; the order above keeps it a conversation.
How long should a discovery call be?
Thirty minutes is enough when it is structured and the buyer does most of the talking. Shorter squeezes out the machinery questions; longer usually means a demo crept in. If there is more to discover than fits, that is what the second meeting is for.
More from the Academy
Discovery Call Question Bank by Function
For sellers whose first call with a new stakeholder sounds like the last one.
You leave with a call plan, 36 questions for 6 functions, 4 closing questions, a notes header and one plan filled in.
Second-Meeting Plan
For sellers whose first meetings go well and then go quiet.
You leave with a close for the last five minutes of meeting one, three things to change before meeting two, a 25-minute agenda and an honest parking rule.
Call Notes to Account Map
For sellers who finish a good call and still know only one person in the account.
You leave with one prompt, a five-part output and a rule for checking it.
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