---
name: discovery-call-prep
description: "Prepares a seller for a B2B discovery call: account and attendee research summary, working hypotheses about the problem, a sequenced question plan that moves from current state to impact to decision process, a call agenda, and a post-call recap template. Use before a first meeting, a re-discovery with a new stakeholder, or when calls keep ending without a clear next step."
license: MIT
metadata:
  title: "Discovery Call Prep"
  category: "sales"
  author: "carolina"
  summary: "Walk into discovery with researched hypotheses, a sequenced question plan, a crisp agenda and a recap template that secures the next step."
  tags: "discovery call, sales questions, call prep, qualification, B2B sales"
  version: "1.0"
  updated: "2026-10-19"
---
# Discovery Call Prep

Produces a one-page call plan: what you already know, what you suspect, what you must learn, the questions that get you there in a natural order, and the next step you will ask for. Good discovery makes the buyer feel understood and gives you the facts to qualify or disqualify honestly.

## When to use

- Before a first call booked from inbound, outbound, or a referral.
- When a new stakeholder joins an existing deal and you need to re-run discovery for their perspective.
- When calls feel pleasant but end without a quantified problem or a committed next step.
- When coaching a new rep on how to run discovery.

## What you need

Ask the user for:

1. **Who:** company name, attendees with titles, and how the meeting was booked (what they asked for or replied to).
2. **What you sell** and the two or three problems it most often solves.
3. **Ideal customer** profile and typical buying committee.
4. **Known context:** CRM notes, previous conversations, website activity, any public news (funding, hiring, leadership change, expansion).
5. **Call length** and whether anyone else from your side will join.
6. **Qualification framework** your team uses, if any.

If research inputs are thin, say which hypotheses are guesses and need confirming early in the call.

## Process

1. **Summarise the account in five lines.** What they do, size, likely growth stage, recent triggers, and how they probably handle the problem today. Keep it factual; mark inferences as inferences.
2. **Profile each attendee.** Role, what they are measured on, what a bad quarter looks like for them, and their likely stake in this decision (user, influencer, budget holder, blocker).
3. **Write two or three hypotheses.** "Because they are hiring eight SDRs, they may be struggling to ramp new reps quickly." Hypotheses let you ask sharper questions and show you did your homework without lecturing.
4. **Plan the question sequence.** Move from easy to deep:
   - Current state: how the process works today, who is involved, what tools and workarounds exist.
   - Problem: where it breaks, how often, and who feels it.
   - Impact: what it costs in time, money, risk, or missed targets. Ask for numbers and push gently for the buyer's own estimate.
   - Desired state: what good looks like in the buyer's words, and how they would measure it.
   - Urgency: why now, what happens if nothing changes for six months, any deadlines.
   - Decision process: who else is involved, how they have bought similar things, what approval and procurement steps exist, budget situation.
   Prepare eight to twelve core questions plus follow-ups. Sequence matters more than wording: impact questions land only after the problem is acknowledged.
5. **Prepare the opening.** A short agenda the buyer agrees to: purpose, what you will ask, what they will get (a view on whether you can help), and the outcome you suggest (agree whether a next step makes sense). Ask whether anything should be added.
6. **Plan what to share and when.** Prepare one relevant customer story and two or three capability points tied to your hypotheses. Hold them until the problem is clear; pitching early ends discovery.
7. **Define disqualification triggers.** What would tell you this is not a fit (no problem, no budget path, wrong segment)? Decide in advance so you can say so politely.
8. **Choose the next step to propose,** with a fallback. For example: a working session with the wider team, or a scoped demo built around the problems discussed.
9. **Prepare the recap.** A template to send within a day, written in the buyer's language, that they can forward internally.

## Output format

```
# Discovery Plan: [Company]  [Date]  [Duration]

## Account snapshot
[5 lines, inferences marked]

## Attendees
| Name | Title | Measured on | Likely role in decision | What they care about |

## Hypotheses to test
1.
2.

## Agenda to propose
[3 to 4 lines]

## Question plan
### Current state
### Problem
### Impact (push for numbers)
### Desired state
### Urgency
### Decision process

## Proof to share if relevant
[one story, two or three capability points]

## Disqualify if
[triggers]

## Next step to ask for
Primary: [ ]  Fallback: [ ]

## Recap email template
Subject: [ ]
- What we heard: [problem, impact in their words]
- What success looks like: [ ]
- Agreed next step: [who, what, when]
- Open questions: [ ]
```

## Quality checklist

- Research separates facts from inferences.
- Hypotheses are specific to this account, not generic pains.
- Questions follow current state, problem, impact, desired state, urgency, decision process.
- At least two questions ask the buyer to quantify impact.
- Decision process and budget are covered without interrogation.
- Pitch content is held until after the problem is clear.
- A primary and fallback next step are defined.
- A recap template in the buyer's language is included.

## Common mistakes

- **Pitching in minute five.** Once you start presenting, the buyer stops telling you things.
- **Interrogation by checklist.** Firing qualification questions in a row feels like a form. Follow the thread of what they say.
- **Accepting vague pain.** "It is inefficient" is not a problem statement. Ask what that costs and who notices.
- **Leaving decision process to the end and running out of time.** Budget and approval questions need space; reserve the last third of the call.
- **Only talking to the person who booked.** Ask who else is affected and who would need to agree.
- **Ending with "I will send some info."** No committed next step means no deal momentum.
- **Recaps in your language.** The recap should quote the buyer's words so it travels inside their company.

## Example prompts

- "Prep me for a discovery call tomorrow with the VP Sales and RevOps lead at a 300-person logistics software company."
- "Write a sequenced discovery question plan for a buyer who downloaded our pricing guide."
- "I have 30 minutes with a CFO. What should I ask and in what order?"
- "Give me hypotheses to test based on this company's recent hiring and funding news."
- "Draft a recap email template after a discovery call that my champion can forward."