Discovery Call Prep Skill

Produces a complete discovery call brief — research summary, call hypothesis, structured questions, and success criteria — so every call starts with context and ends with a clear next step.

Required Inputs

• Prospect company name
• Contact name and role
• Any known context (how they found you, prior interaction)
• Your product/solution (one line)
• Call duration (15 / 30 / 45 / 60 min)

Output Structure

Discovery Call Brief

Prospect: Company] | Contact: Name, Title] | Duration: X min]

Research Summary

• What they do: Product/service, customer, business model]
• Size: Headcount, revenue if public]
• Stage: Startup / Scaleup / Enterprise]
• Recent news: Funding, launches, leadership changes — last 90 days]
• Contact background: Role tenure, previous companies, LinkedIn activity]
• Likely priorities for someone in this role: Based on title and stage]

Call Hypothesis

Before the call write your best guess:

• Their most likely pain: What someone in this role at this company probably has]
• Why they would care about us: Specific connection to your value]
• Biggest risk to the deal: What might make this not a fit]

Write it down — then test it on the call.

Call Agenda

"Here is what I was thinking for our X] minutes:

• 2 min: Quick intros
• X] min: Learn more about your situation
• X] min: Share how we have helped similar companies
• 5 min: Next steps

Does that work? Anything specific you would like to cover?"

Discovery Questions

Open with context (not a pitch):

• "What prompted you to take this call today?"
• "What does relevant area] look like for you at the moment?"

Go deeper on pain:

• "How long has problem] been an issue?"
• "What have you tried to solve it?"
• "What is the impact of not solving this?"

Understand buying context:

• "Who else would be involved in a decision like this?"
• "Have you looked at other solutions?"
• "Is there a reason you are exploring this now?"

Qualify on budget:

• "Have you set aside budget for this kind of initiative?"

Close discovery:

• "Based on what you have told me, it sounds like summary]. Is that right?"

Success Criteria

This call is successful if we leave with:

• Understanding of specific pain and business impact
• Knowledge of buying process and key stakeholders
• A clear agreed next step (demo / proposal / intro)
• Sense of timeline

This call is NOT successful if we only pitched and got "sounds interesting, send me some info."

Suggested Next Step

"Based on what we discussed, the logical next step would be specific]. Does day/time] work?"

Quality Checks

• ] Research summary includes recent news (last 90 days) — not just LinkedIn bio
• ] Call hypothesis is written before the call (not post-rationalised after)
• ] Discovery questions progress from context → pain → business impact → buying process
• ] Success criteria define what "not successful" looks like (not just the ideal outcome)
• ] A specific next step is proposed (not "let's stay in touch")

Anti-Patterns

• ] Do not write the call hypothesis after the call — hypotheses written post-hoc are rationalisations, not testable predictions
• ] Do not open with a product pitch before establishing the prospect's problem — leading with pitch signals you are not there to learn, which closes discovery conversations
• ] Do not use closed questions in the discovery phase ("Do you have this problem?") — they produce yes/no answers that confirm bias rather than reveal pain
• ] Do not skip the "not successful" definition in success criteria — a call that ends with "send me more info" feels like progress but is not a qualified next step
• ] Do not treat all prospect research equally — recent news (last 90 days) is more relevant to call context than static company facts from LinkedIn

Example Trigger Phrases

• "Prepare me for a discovery call with company/contact]"
• "Build a call brief for my meeting with name] at company]"
• "What questions should I ask in a discovery call for use case]?"