How to Run a Discovery Call That Actually Moves Deals Forward
Most discovery calls fail for a painfully simple reason: The rep talks too much. They ask surface-level questions. And they hang up without a real next step. Then everyone pretends it was a “good conversation” while the deal quietly dies in the CRM.
A great discovery call isn’t about being charming or smart. It’s about creating clarity, for the buyer and for you, about if a real business problem exists and whether it’s worth solving together.
Here’s how to run one that actually moves deals forward.
At the highest level, your job on a discovery call is to do four things
Be prepared — great discovery starts before the call
Ask great questions and then shut the f*ck up — your talk ratio tells the truth, talk less, and actually listen more
Take them on a journey without making it feel like an exam – adjust your style for the kind of discovery the client is doing on you (latent pain vs. active pain; cheeky exec buyer vs. serious exec buyer)
Land the plane — if there’s even a chance this is real, you should be setting the next meeting before you hang up
Be Prepared — Great discovery starts before the call
If you show up cold, you get cold answers. Before the Zoom ever opens, you should have done your account plan and already have at least a baseline understanding of:
What kind of company this is
What they’re likely trying to solve for
What pressures their category / business might be under
Who’s in the room, what they probably care about, and what executive they probably report up through
And then, given the type of company they are, you should also come prepared with a few stories of similar customers:
What was going on when they first talked to you
What kind of engagement they had with your firm
How it helped
What changed
If you want to be extra prepared, have a few slides ready — but don’t overdo it, Gong research suggests less slides = better conversation. This prep work lets you ask context-rich questions instead of generic ones:
“I saw you just gained distribution at Target — congrats. How is that going so far? What other retailers are most critical for growth this year?”
“I know most snack brands are being squeezed on margins right now — how is that showing up for you?”
And these questions signal: I see you. I understand your world. Let’s talk about what actually matters.
Ask a Question, and then Shut the F*ck Up — Talk less, and Actually Listen More
Gong data shows sellers who talk more than ~60–65% of the time lose more deals. The best calls hover closer to 40–45% rep talk / 55–60% buyer talk. Why?
Because buyers don’t buy because you explained well. They buy because they finally understood their own problem. Your job isn’t to perform. It’s to pull the story out of them, helping them in the process potentially even discover their own pain.
Ask a question, and then shut the f*ck up.
Sometimes this means letting a long silence hang in the air. That’s okay… Let them think. Let them talk. Then go deeper. Sometimes clients will try to short-change you on their initial answers. Things I like to say to get more out of them:
Repeat back exactly what they said to you with an inflection in your voice “This year your biggest objectives are win at Retailer X, expand at Retailer Y, and launch your new innovation before end of October…?”
Say “Tell me more about that”
“Can you clarify what you mean by that”
Take Them On A Journey — Without Making It Feel Like An Exam
A great discovery call always moves through the same stages:
Shoot the shit for no more than 2-3 mins. Take this too far and you lose trust.
Establish the Rules of Engagement with an Upfront Contract. This builds psychological safety for the client and trust their time will be used wisely.
Identify the problem. They showed up to the call for a reason, ask why and what they hope to glean from the conversation.
“What’s not working the way you want it to right now?”
Align on the current state
“How is that showing up day-to-day?”
“What does this look like in the numbers?”
Find the root cause
“What do you think is driving this?”
“What changed before this started happening?”
Explore the cost of inaction
“What happens if this doesn’t get fixed?”
“What’s this costing in time, revenue, or stress?”
Define the future state
“If this were solved, what would be different?”
“How would that change your day-to-day?”
“What would success look like in 3–6 months?”
Now you’re ready to share relevant information with them that aligns with what they hope to glean from the call with you.
If you feel the need to use slides, try to limit to max 3.
Stories are really powerful here… “What you are sharing reminds me so much of this client, who had this problem, engaged us in this way, and got this result.”
Offer up a teaser for what’s to come
“With all of this information, there are a few things I think would be really relevant to you with a range of service models and costs… Before I make any assumptions about where you’re at from a budget perspetive, let’s talk about that. Are there any parameters you want me to be aware of on your end?”
Agree upon next steps
Don’t: “We’ll follow up.”
Do: “Let’s get 30 minutes on the calendar next week with you and finance to walk through this, how does Monday at 2PM look on your end?”
A Note on Identifying the Problem (#3)… Latent Pain vs. Active Pain
Not every buyer shows up in the same emotional place.
If they’re in latent pain (most common with outbound prospecting / when you reached out)
Use context and stories to help them see the problem.
“We worked with a brand who was losing shelf space after a competitor launched. They thought it was pricing, but it turned out they were losing a completely different shopper.
But enough about them — what’s been most challenging about retailer performance for you lately?”
If they’re in active pain (more common with inbound leads / when they reached out to you)
Start with their urgency.
“What motivated you to start looking into this now?”
“What are you hoping a solution will help you do?”
Then rewind:
“Can I go back for a second — what was going on in the business that made this a priority?”
Empathizing with where a buyer is on their pain journey helps you pace your questions and information sharing in a way that is natural to the conversation and what that prospect may be needing in order to determine if and how your firm can help them.
The Takeaway
At the highest level, your job on a discovery call is simple, get to the point of clarity for you and your buyer, about if a real business problem exists and whether it’s worth solving together. This is always best done when you keep in mind these four things:
Be prepared — great discovery starts before the call, respect their time, build trust, and psychological safety by showing up on time and prepared for a great call.
Ask great questions and then shut the f*ck up — most reps talk too much, make too many assumptions, and assume too much (Remember: ASSUME = Make an ASS out of U and ME). Your talk ratio tells the truth, talk less, and actually listen more.
Take them on a journey without making it feel like an exam – everyone is different and sometimes just checking the vibes and enegy of the conversation can help you adjust your style for the kind of discovery the client is also doing on you (are they in latent pain or active pain? Are you working with a cheeky exec buyer or someone who takes things very seriously?), you want to take them through all steps of the journey more often than not, but you also need to be a human, not a script reader, and check the energy of the room. This should not feel like an anal probe. This should feel like a conversation between two people with mutual respect for one another (If it doesn’t, it’s okay to “break the pattern” so-to-speak and call that out — I guarantee you will learn more by doing that than any other thing you could do in that situation).
Land the plane — if there’s even a chance this is real, you should be setting the next meeting before you hang up, that’s just text book good sales acumen.
While every call is going to take it’s own shape, and getting to the bottom of the pain will take time, do those four things more often than not, and your pipeline will start telling a very different story.
Oh, and don’t forget to follow up! Follow Up Rules of Thumb (Especially after Discovery)
My follow up rule is <24 hours later… they need to have a summary email outlining agreed upon next steps in their inbox. Don’t get lazy on this. Time kills all deals and laziness with follow ups are a hugely controllable way to set the pace. Establish a fast pace at the beginning and your client is more likely to match your pace through the entire deal cycle.
That’s all today! Happy Selling!
