In short
Good discovery call questions are open and grouped by what you need to learn - the problem, what it costs, how they handle it today, who decides and by when. Ask one at a time, follow up on the answer, and write down the prospect's exact words.
Good discovery call questions are open, few, and grouped by what you need to learn: the prospect's problem, what it costs them, how they handle it today, and who decides. Ask one at a time, follow up on the answer rather than moving to the next question, and write down the words the prospect uses. The list below is organised that way, with the follow-ups that usually matter more than the first question.
The notes you keep from the call are covered in sales call notes, which has a template. This guide is about the questions.
How to prepare discovery call questions
- Research the basics first. Read their website, the role of the person you are meeting, and anything they filled in when they booked. Do not spend the call asking what you could have looked up.
- Write down what you need to learn. Problem, impact, current process, decision, timing. One line each.
- Pick one or two questions per area from the lists below. Five or six in total is plenty for a 30-minute call.
- Prepare follow-ups, not more questions. "What happens then?", "Can you give me an example?", "Who else feels that?"
- Open by agreeing the purpose. "I'd like to understand how you handle this today and whether we can help. If we can't, I'll say so." Ask whether you may record, if you want to.
- Ask, then stop talking. Let silences run. The second half of an answer is often the useful part.
- Write down their phrases. Quotes, not your summary.
- Close by agreeing a next step, or agreeing there is none.
Sales discovery questions by what you need to learn
The problem
- What made you look into this now?
- Can you walk me through the last time this came up?
- What happens today when <the problem> occurs?
- Who feels this most?
Follow up with: "Can you give me an example?" A specific story beats a general description, and it gives you their vocabulary.
The impact
- What does this cost you, in time, money or anything else?
- What happens if nothing changes in the next six months?
- How does this affect <the team or person they mentioned>?
- Where does this rank against the other things on your list?
Write down numbers only if they give them, and write them as theirs. If they cannot say what it costs, that is useful to know too; some problems are real and not urgent.
The current process
- How do you handle this today?
- What have you tried before? What happened?
- What do you like about how it works now?
- If you could change one thing about it, what would it be?
The answer to "what do you like about it now" tells you what they will not give up, which is as important as what they want to fix.
The decision
- Apart from you, who would be involved in deciding on something like this?
- How have you bought something similar before?
- Is there a review your security, legal or procurement team would need to do?
- What would make this an easy yes, and what would make it a no?
Ask these without apology. A deal stalls most often when someone who decides was never on a call.
The timing
- Is there a date or event driving this?
- What would need to be true by then?
- What else is happening on your side in that period?
"Sometime next quarter" is a hope. "Before the audit in March" is a timeline.
Questions to avoid
| Avoid | Why | Ask instead |
|---|---|---|
| "What does your company do?" | You could have looked it up | "I read that you've just opened in Lisbon; how has that changed things?" |
| "Wouldn't it help if you could…?" | Leading; they will agree to be polite | "What would help most?" |
| "What's your budget?" (first) | Too early; they do not know yet what it buys | "How have you funded similar projects?" (later) |
| Three questions in one breath | They answer the last one only | One question, then silence |
| "Any other questions?" to close | Invites "no" | "What would you need to see before the next step?" |
Listening for their words
The prospect's own phrasing is the most valuable thing you take from the call. "We lose about a day each month reconciling the export by hand" can go into a proposal, a follow-up email and a handover to a colleague. "Pain: reporting inefficiency" cannot.
A few habits help:
- Repeat their phrase back as a question: "A day each month?" They will usually expand on it.
- Do not translate into your product's categories while they are speaking. Write the words; interpret later.
- Note hesitation. "We'd probably need to check with Marc" is a decision-maker you did not know about.
For technical discovery, where the details are requirements and objections a sales engineer has to answer precisely, meeting notes for sales engineers goes further.
Talk less than they do
You learn only while the prospect is talking. There is no official ratio, and the right balance depends on the call, but if you spent most of a discovery call explaining your product, you did a demo, not discovery. Some teams measure this as a talk-to-listen ratio, which explains how tools count it and what it is useful for.
If you record the call with Notey on a Mac, and the prospect has agreed, the Notes tab shows the meeting's Your words and Their words as a share of the words spoken. That is a count of words, not of talking time, and it leaves out lines your microphone picked up from your own speakers. It is a rough check on whether you did most of the talking, not a score. Your voice and the prospect's are on separate tracks, so the transcript labels each line You or Them without anyone's voice having to be learned, and you can search it afterwards for the moment they described the problem.
Nothing joins the call when Notey records, so the prospect has no way of knowing unless you tell them. Ask at the start: "I'd like to record this so I get your requirements right. Is that all right?" Accept a no. In some places everyone on a call has to agree to a recording, and a sales call often crosses borders.
A short list for a 30-minute call
If you only take five questions into the call:
- What made you look into this now?
- Can you walk me through the last time it happened?
- What does it cost you, or what happens if nothing changes?
- Who else would be involved in deciding?
- Is there a date or event driving this?
Follow each with "tell me more" before moving on. Then agree the next step, and write the notes before the next call, using the sales call notes template linked at the top.
For where a discovery call sits among other kinds of meetings, and what record each needs, see types of meetings.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best discovery call questions?
Open questions about the prospect's problem, what it costs them, how they deal with it today, who else is involved in the decision, and what is driving their timing. The best one is often the follow-up, "Can you tell me more about that?"
How many questions should you ask on a discovery call?
Fewer than you prepared. Pick five or six that cover the problem, impact, process and decision, and spend the rest of the time following up on the answers.
What should you avoid asking on a discovery call?
Questions you could have answered from their website, leading questions that suggest the answer you want, and several questions strung together in one breath.
How much should the salesperson talk on a discovery call?
Less than the prospect. There is no official ratio; the point is that you learn only while they are talking. Some teams measure talk-to-listen ratio to check.
Should I record discovery calls?
Only if the prospect agrees. Ask at the start and accept a no. In some places the law requires everyone on a call to agree to a recording.