Free template for salespeople and coaches
Sales discovery questions that tell you who decides, by when, and why now
Twenty-four questions for a first sales call, grouped by what they uncover: where they are now, the problem, what good looks like, who decides, the budget and the timing, plus six for when an answer is vague. Copy it, print it or download it for Word.
Most lists of discovery questions hand you sixty or ninety and no way to pick. On a real call you'll ask eight or ten, so this template gives you the few in each group that tell you the most, and what a good answer sounds like. Ask one, then stop talking. The notes at the end are what you'll need when you follow up, and they're the part most people skip.
Discovery call questions, by what they uncover
Discovery call: [prospect name]
Date: ______ Call length: 30 minutes
Before the call
What they do, and how they found you: ______
The one thing you most want to find out: ______
Where they are now
1. How do you handle [the thing you help with] today?
2. Who's involved in it day to day?
3. What made you want to talk now?
Listen for: a trigger with a date. Something changed, and they can say what.
The problem
4. What isn't working about the way you do it now?
5. What happens if nothing changes in the next six months?
6. What have you already tried?
Listen for: a cost they can name, in time, money or customers.
What good looks like
7. If this worked, what would be different three months from now?
8. How would you know it was working?
Listen for: a result they could measure. "Better" isn't a result.
Who decides
9. Who else will be part of this decision?
10. How did you decide the last time you bought something like this?
11. Is there anyone who'd rather keep things as they are?
Listen for: names. If they can't name who signs off, you haven't found them yet.
Budget
12. Have you set a budget aside for this?
13. How do you usually pay for something like this?
Listen for: yes, no or not yet. Each one is useful. "It depends" means ask what it depends on.
Timing
14. When do you need this working by?
15. What happens on that date?
16. What would have to happen between now and then?
Listen for: a date tied to something real, like a launch, a busy season or a new hire starting.
The next step
17. What questions do you have for me?
18. Would it help if I [the next step], and we speak again on [day]?
Listen for: a date in both calendars. "Send me some information" isn't a next step.
After the call: write these down before you hang up
The problem, in their words: ______
Who decides, and who else is involved: ______
Budget: yes / no / not yet
The date they need it by, and why: ______
The next step, and its date: ______
Six questions for when an answer is vague
Ask one of these instead of moving on, because a vague answer to "who decides" is the one that costs you the deal later.
- "What makes you say that?"
- "Can you give me an example from the last month?"
- "What happens if nothing changes this year?"
- "Who else would need to say yes?"
- "What would stop this from going ahead?"
- "Is there anything I haven't asked that I should have?"
The call in 30 minutes
- Minutes 0 to 3: why you're both on the call, and that it'll take half an hour.
- Minutes 3 to 10: where they are now, and the problem in their words.
- Minutes 10 to 18: what good looks like, and what it would be worth to them.
- Minutes 18 to 25: who decides, then the budget and the timing.
- Minutes 25 to 30: the next step, with a day and a time, agreed before you hang up.
How to ask the questions without it turning into a pitch
If you're talking more than they are, you've started pitching.
- Ask one question, then stop talking
- Ask "what else?" before you move to the next group
- Skip any question they've already answered
- Write down their words, not your summary of them
- Save your product for the end, and only the part that fits what they said
A 30-minute call structure for coaches, in the coaching discovery call guide
Write down these five things before you hang up
Your follow-up is only as good as the notes you kept.
- The problem in their words, so your follow-up uses them
- Every name that came up, and who signs off
- The budget answer, even if it was "not yet"
- The date they need it by, and what happens on it
- The next step and its date, agreed while you're both on the call
A discovery call, and the notes it left
- Where they are now: bookings by phone and a paper diary. She called because the front desk quit last month.
- The problem: the owner spends her evenings rebooking patients, and nobody chases the no-shows.
- What good looks like: patients book and move their own slots, and the new hire does something else.
- Who decides: the owner and her business partner, who wasn't on the call.
- Budget: not yet. Timing: the new front desk hire starts on 1 March.
- Next step: a 20-minute demo with both partners on Thursday at 4pm, in both calendars.
Keep the notes on the client's card, with the next step dated
Palby CRM is the CRM we make. It keeps each call's notes on the client's record, beside the next step and its date.
- Log the call in one tap, and date the next step
- Talk your notes in after the call, and find them later with one search
- Every message, meeting and note about them on one page
Questions
You ask about where they are, the problem, what good looks like, who decides, the budget and the timing, and you listen far more than you talk. It ends with a next step that has a date on it, like a proposal by Friday.
The questions for your first real call with a prospect. They find out where things stand, the problem, what good looks like, who decides, the budget and the timing, before you pitch anything.
Eight to ten on a 30-minute call. Take one or two from each group, and skip whatever they've already told you.
"What happens if nothing changes?" The answer tells you whether the problem costs them enough to act this quarter.
Ask whether they've set a budget aside, not what it is. Yes, no and not yet are all answers you can work with.
Write down the five notes before you hang up. Send a short recap the same day with the next step and its date, and put that date in your calendar.
Yes. Change "the thing you help with" to the change they want to make. The coaching discovery call guide has a 30-minute structure.
Yes. Copy it, print it or download it, and change it to fit how you work.
Ask the questions. Write down the next step.
Palby CRM keeps every call's notes and next step on the client's card.
30 minutes. You choose the day and the time.