Discovery Call Questions: What to Ask Next, and When

Before the call: decide what you need to know

Pick no more than three things you must leave the call knowing, and write them where you can see them. A short list stops you running through a script, and it gives you something to steer back to when the conversation wanders.

Do your basic research too. Asking what a company does when it’s on their homepage spends goodwill you may need later.

Questions about the problem

Start here, and spend the most time here. Let them describe the situation in their own words:

• What made you want to talk now?
• How are you handling this today?
• What’s not working about that?
• Can you walk me through the last time this came up?
• What have you already tried?

“What made you want to talk now?” is usually the most revealing question on the call. Problems can sit for years. Something changed, and that change tells you what really matters to them.

Questions about impact

Next, find out what the problem costs, because that decides whether anyone will act on it:

• What does this cost you, in time, money or missed work?
• Who else feels this?
• What happens if nothing changes in the next six months?
• How would you know this was solved?

Don’t supply the numbers yourself. An estimate they make out loud is far more persuasive to them than one you offer.

Questions about the decision

These feel awkward, which is why they get skipped, and why deals stall later:

• Who else needs to be involved in a decision like this?
• How have you made similar decisions before?
• Is there a date this needs to be working by? What’s driving it?
• Is there a budget set aside for this, or would one need to be found?
• What would stop this from going ahead, even if everyone liked it?

The last question sounds risky. In practice, it’s much better to hear the obstacle now than after three more meetings.

How to follow up on a vague answer

Prepared questions get you the first answer. Follow-ups get you the true one. Listen for words that sound like answers but aren’t: “soon,” “probably,” “pretty much,” “we should be fine,” “I’d have to check.” Each one is an open question in disguise.

That last one matters. In negotiations and sales, a confident “no conditions” early in a call can turn into a minimum order ten minutes later. We cover more of those moments in how to tell when someone is dodging a question.

How to choose your next question in the moment

When you’re stuck, run through this order:

1. Was anything just said that I don’t understand? Ask about that first. It’s also the most natural question.
2. Did they make a claim I can’t judge? Ask how they know, or what it depends on.
3. Which of my three goals still has no answer? Steer there.

Then leave a silence. People often add the most useful part of an answer a few seconds after they seem to have finished. If you find yourself writing during those seconds, keep your notes down to the essentials.

End the call with a clear next step

Finish by summarizing what you heard and agreeing on what happens next, with a name and a date. A call that ends with “let’s stay in touch” usually has no next step at all.

Common questions