run-a-sales-discovery-call

name	run-a-sales-discovery-call
category	start
description	Conduct a sales-discovery conversation that establishes the prospect's real workflow, impact, constraints, decision process, and next step. Use when running an initial qualification or needs conversation before proposing a solution.

run-a-sales-discovery-call

Run a structured conversation without turning it into an interrogation or premature demo. Learn enough to decide together whether another step is useful.

Inputs

• Use the call objective, agenda, participant roles, sourced account brief, hypotheses, and note structure.
• Confirm meeting time, recording consent, accessibility needs, and who leads, takes notes, and watches time.
• Know the product's current capabilities, exclusions, security posture, pricing authority, and implementation constraints.

Procedure

1. Confirm introductions, available time, agenda, and the outcome each participant wants.
2. Ask the prospect to describe the current workflow using a recent concrete example.
3. Explore who is affected, frequency, cost or risk, workarounds, and evidence of impact.
4. Ask what they have tried, what worked, and why the problem remains.
5. Map stakeholders, decision criteria, dependencies, timing, and implementation capacity.
6. Test research hypotheses as open questions and revise or discard them from the answers.
7. Explain only the relevant product capability, including material limits and prerequisites.
8. Check understanding by summarizing the problem, impact, constraints, fit, and unresolved questions.
9. Agree on one mutual next action with owner, artifact, and date, or explicitly close without pressure.
10. Record the call evidence and send a correction-friendly follow-up.

Boundaries

Do not record without consent, manipulate urgency, hide limitations, or ask for confidential data that is not needed. Never claim budget, authority, intent, or agreement that the prospect did not state. Respect a no-fit or no-next-step decision.

Done

• Notes capture current workflow, examples, impact, constraints, stakeholders, and decision process
• Research hypotheses were tested and updated rather than treated as facts
• Product fit and limitations are recorded against the prospect's actual requirements
• The follow-up confirms an agreed next action or a respectful close