Discovery call questions: examples, follow-ups and template
The discovery call questions to ask a customer, grouped by what each answer tells you, with what a useful answer sounds like, follow-ups for vague ones and a free template.
What are the best discovery call questions?
If you only have time for eight, ask these. Between them they tell you whether there's a deal and what it would take to win it.
- What made you look at this now?
- How do you handle it today?
- What does that cost you, in time or money?
- What happens if nothing changes this year?
- Who else will have a say in this?
- Is there a budget for it, and whose is it?
- What else are you looking at, including leaving it as it is?
- What would you need to see from us to take this further?
For how to run the call itself, from the agenda to booking the next step, see our guide to discovery calls.
Discovery call questions by what they tell you
Ask in whatever order the conversation allows, but keep track of which groups still have gaps. You have enough from a group when you could explain it to your manager without guessing.
Is there a real problem?
How do you handle this today? You can't size a problem you can't picture. A useful answer describes the work: "When a driver is off, the two planners redo the routes in a spreadsheet by hand." If you hear "we've got a system", ask them to walk you through the last time they used it.
What works well, and what doesn't? What works is what they'll be afraid to lose when they switch, so it shapes your demo as much as the complaints do. "The drivers like the printed sheets. The planners hate redoing them" gives you both.
What made you look at this now? A problem people have lived with for years needs a trigger before anyone pays to fix it. "We lost a customer over late deliveries in September" is a trigger. "Just exploring" isn't yet, so ask what would have to happen for this to become a priority.
What is it worth?
What does it cost you today? Ask in time, money or customers, and take whichever the buyer can answer. "Two to three hours of both planners' time, most Mondays" is something a finance director can weigh. "A lot" isn't, so ask roughly how many hours a week, and whose.
What would change if it were fixed? This is the result they're buying, and the measure you'll be judged on later. A useful answer names something they could report: "We could take on the second contract without hiring."
How would you measure it a year from now? It turns a wish into a target. "On-time deliveries above 95%" will hold up in a business case. "Smoother operations" won't.
Is there a budget for this, and whose is it? "About £300 a month, and anything over £5,000 a year needs the finance director" tells you the ceiling and the next person you need to meet. If they won't name a number, ask what they spent the last time they fixed something like this.
Why now?
When do you need something in place, and what's driving that date? A date with a reason holds. "Before our biggest customer's contract renews on 1 March" is a reason. "This year" usually means nobody has committed, so ask what happens on that date if nothing has changed.
What happens if nothing changes? If the answer is "not much", the deal will drift however good the fit. "We'd have to hire another planner by spring" puts a cost on waiting.
What else is competing for time or money this quarter? Most buyers have more than one project. Better to hear "the warehouse move comes first" now than in month three.
Who decides, and how do they buy?
Who else will have a say in this? A useful answer names roles: "Me, the finance director, and IT will want to check it."
How did you buy the last tool like this? People repeat what worked last time. "Three quotes, a two-week trial, then the finance director signed" is the process you're about to go through.
Is there a legal, security or procurement review? These steps come after a yes, and they can take longer than the decision. "IT sends a security questionnaire, and it takes about two weeks" is worth knowing on the first call, not the last.
What would make this a no? It surfaces the deal-breakers while you can still do something about them, such as "if it doesn't work on the drivers' phones".
What are they comparing you with?
What else are you looking at? Ask it plainly. Most buyers will tell you, and "two other suppliers, and building it ourselves" changes what the demo has to show.
Could you leave it as it is? Doing nothing is a common rival. In a study of more than 2.5 million recorded sales calls, 40% to 60% of deals were lost to buyers who meant to buy and didn't. If staying put is cheap, you need a reason it isn't.
What happens next?
What would you need to see from us to take this further? It lets the buyer design the next step. "A demo with the planners, using our own Monday routes" is a next step they'll turn up to.
Who should be on the next call? This is how you meet the people from the who-decides questions: "The finance director, for the last fifteen minutes."
Then book it while you're both still on the call.
What should you ask when an answer is vague?
Most answers on a discovery call start vague. The first question only opens the subject, and the follow-ups find the detail:
- "It's fine." Ask "What happens on a day it isn't?"
- "It's a big problem." Ask "Roughly how big: hours a week, orders, customers?"
- "Soon." Ask "What happens if it isn't done by then?"
- "I'd have to check." Ask "Who would you check with? Could they join the next call?"
- "We're just looking." Ask "What made you start looking?"
Discovery call · office supplies wholesaler, Bermondsey
Call notes
Operations manager · Tuesday 17 November, 10:00
How do you plan the delivery routes today?
“In a spreadsheet, mostly. It’s fine.”
What happens on a day it isn’t fine?“Someone’s off sick and we redo the routes by hand.”
How often? How long does it take?“Most Mondays. Two hours, sometimes three.”
Who’s waiting while that happens?“The drivers. All eight vans leave late.”
next: what does a late van cost you?
Two habits make the follow-ups feel less like an interrogation. Play back what you heard ("so it's most Mondays, two to three hours, and the vans leave late, have I got that right?") and let the buyer correct it. And when an answer stops short, wait a second before your next question. People often fill the pause with the useful part.
Which discovery questions should you avoid?
- Leading questions. "That must be costing you a fortune, right?" gets a polite yes. "What is it costing you?" gets a figure.
- Yes-or-no questions on the big topics. "Do you have a budget?" ends the subject. "How do purchases like this get approved?" opens it.
- Two questions at once. "How do you plan routes, and who signs off on new software?" gets an answer to whichever is easier. Ask them separately.
- "Are you the decision-maker?" Most people say yes, whether they are or not. Ask who else will have a say.
- "What keeps you up at night?" It's too wide to answer honestly on a first call. "What's the first thing you'd fix?" gets the same information.
- Anything their website answers. "So what does your company do?" tells the buyer you didn't prepare.
What should freelancers and consultants ask on a discovery call?
Coaches, consultants, bookkeepers, virtual assistants, social media managers and branding designers use the same call to decide whether to take on a client. The groups above still apply, but the questions shift towards scope:
- What would you want done in the first month?
- How is it handled today, and who does it?
- What went wrong the last time someone did this for you?
- How will we know it's working?
- What budget or rate did you have in mind?
- When would you want to start, and is there a deadline behind that?
- Who else will review the work before it's signed off?
A few questions change with the trade:
- Coaching: What would be different in six months if this worked?
- Virtual assistant: Which tasks would you hand over first, and which tools do you use for them? How quickly do you expect a reply?
- Social media: Which accounts, and who approves a post before it goes out?
- Bookkeeping: Which software are the books in, and roughly how many transactions go through a month? Are they up to date? When is the next VAT return or year end?
- Branding: What has to stay, such as the name or the logo?
Many freelancers send a short questionnaire before the call. That works well for facts, such as the size of the business and the deadline. Keep the why-questions for the call itself, such as why now and what went wrong before. Those answers are too useful to get in a form field.
Discovery call questions example
A seller's notes from a 30-minute first call with the operations manager of an office supplies wholesaler in Bermondsey, after eight of the questions above and their follow-ups.
Delivery routes are planned in a spreadsheet. When a driver is off, most Mondays, the routes are redone by hand, which takes two to three hours, and all eight vans leave late.
Late vans miss two or three customers' delivery slots each Monday, and one customer has complained in writing. Target: every van out by 7:30, every day.
Their biggest customer's contract renews on 1 March, and on-time delivery is in the renewal terms.
The operations manager chooses. The finance director signs anything over £5,000 a year. No procurement team; the IT contractor checks new software.
About £300 a month. More than £5,000 a year needs a business case for the finance director.
A cheaper route-planning app they tried last year, which the drivers wouldn't use, or hiring a part-time planner.
Demo with both planners, using last Monday's routes: Thursday 26 November, 9:00. The finance director joins for the last fifteen minutes.
Every box has an answer the buyer said out loud, and the next step has a date. The gap is in What it's worth: nobody has put a price on a late van yet, so that's the first question for Thursday.
Discovery call questions template
The questions above as one page, grouped the same way. Copy it into your own document and cross out what the call answers. For a Word file with space for the answers, download our sales call notes template, which our discovery call guide walks through.
[company] · [name, role] · [name, role]
- How do you handle this today?
- What works well, and what doesn't?
- What made you look at this now?
- What does it cost you today?
- What would change if it were fixed?
- How would you measure it a year from now?
- Is there a budget for this, and whose is it?
- When do you need something in place, and why then?
- What happens if nothing changes?
- What else is competing for time or money?
- Who else will have a say in this?
- How did you buy the last tool like this?
- Is there a legal, security or procurement review?
- What would make this a no?
- What else are you looking at?
- Could you leave it as it is?
- What would you need to see to take this further?
- Who should be on the next call? When?
Sorinai can fill a template like this one, or your own, while the call runs. It answers each section as the conversation reaches it and keeps a checklist of the questions that haven't come up yet, so you can ask them before the call ends: see how template filling works. It records the call on your computer, so tell the buyer at the start that it's being recorded.
Discovery call questions FAQ
How many questions should you ask on a discovery call?
Fewer than most lists suggest. The eight at the top of this page are enough for most first calls, as long as you follow each answer further. Spread them through the call rather than firing them all in the first ten minutes.
What's the difference between a discovery questionnaire and discovery call questions?
A questionnaire is a form the buyer fills in before the call, and it suits facts such as company size and current tools. The questions on the call are for what a form can't get, such as why now and what the problem costs. Sending the facts ahead leaves the call for those.
How do you ask about budget without sounding pushy?
Give your reason first: you don't want to suggest something that doesn't fit. Then ask how purchases like this get approved, which most people find easier to answer than a figure. If they still won't name one, give the range your price usually falls in and ask whether that's in the right area.
What are discovery questions in sales?
They're the open questions a salesperson asks early in a deal to understand the buyer's situation before suggesting anything. Most sales teams run them against a qualification framework such as BANT or MEDDPICC, so the answers show which parts of the deal are still unknown.
