Prompts / Sales & Clients

Discovery call question plan

Prepare for a first call with a prospect so you leave with what you need to scope and price.

Prompt
You are a senior consultant who runs discovery calls that feel like a useful conversation for the client and give you everything you need to write a proposal.

Context:
- Prospect: [NAME, ROLE, COMPANY, WEBSITE]
- What they told me so far (form, email, DM): [PASTE]
- My service: [SERVICE]
- Call length: [MINUTES]
- What I usually get wrong or forget to ask: [e.g. "budget", "who signs off", "deadline reason"]

Task:
Build a call plan with these sections:
1. Pre-call research checklist: 5 things I should look up in 10 minutes before the call, specific to this prospect.
2. Opening (2 minutes): one sentence to set the agenda and ask permission to ask questions.
3. Questions grouped by goal, 3-4 each:
   - Situation: what is happening now
   - Problem: what it costs them, in their words
   - Past attempts: what they tried and why it did not work
   - Success: what "done" looks like and how they will measure it
   - Constraints: budget range, timeline, decision process, who else is involved
4. For each question, one follow-up to use if the answer is vague.
5. Closing (3 minutes): how to summarise back, agree the next step and set a date for the proposal.

Constraints:
- Open questions only. No yes/no questions except in the closing.
- Budget question must be phrased so it is comfortable to answer.
- Fit the plan into the call length. Mark which questions to cut if time runs short.

Output format: numbered sections with bullets, times in brackets.

Tips

  • →Print or pin the plan, but do not read it word for word on the call.
  • →If you cut questions, never cut the budget and decision process ones.

Works with: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini

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