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Discovery Calls: A Complete Guide

Discovery calls can make or break your sales process. When handled well, they provide deep insights into closing deals faster and at higher values.

They are especially critical when markets tend to be competitive or emerging, which means more responsibility is placed on reps to make a strong case to buy.

Well-run discovery calls give you the insights you need to drive urgency and prove ROI.

What Is a Discovery Call?

A discovery call is the centerpiece of your sales process - the conversation in which you establish your relationship with potential buyers and lay out the path to a sale. During a discovery call, a provider and a prospect find out if they're right for one another - whether the provider can appreciate the customer's challenges and provide a solution for them.

Discovery typically occurs after initial outreach has piqued the prospect's interest in your product, but before you move into demos or formal proposals. It's where you qualify fit and uncover the specific needs that will shape the rest of your sales process.

Discovery Call vs. Cold Call: What's the Difference?

Cold calls and discovery calls serve different purposes in the sales process:

  • Cold Call: Unsolicited outreach to generate interest and secure a meeting. Short conversations focused on opening the door.

  • Discovery Call: Scheduled conversation with an already-interested prospect. Longer, consultative discussions focused on qualifying fit and understanding needs.

Think of cold calls as opening the door and discovery calls as walking through it together.

Why Discovery Calls Matter for Pipeline Generation

Discovery calls determine whether your pipeline is full of real opportunities or just noise. They separate leads worth pursuing from those that will waste your time.

Here's what effective discovery accomplishes:

  • Qualification: Determine if the prospect has a problem you solve, budget to spend, and timeline to act.

  • Positioning: Understand which capabilities matter most so you lead with relevance instead of generic pitches.

  • Multithreading: Identify other stakeholders who influence or approve the purchase before you're too far down the path.

  • Deal velocity: Surface blockers early so you can address them before they stall the deal.

Pipeline quality beats pipeline volume. Discovery is where you establish quality.

How to Prepare for a Discovery Call

Before jumping on a discovery call, research your accounts across these critical areas:

  • Prospect history: Review their history with your company and any competitors they've used.

  • Company and industry news: Read recent news about their company and industry trends.

  • Social activity: Check what content they're sharing on social media.

  • Buying patterns: Use platforms like ZoomInfo to understand their fiscal year and buying process.

It may make sense to send your prospect a few questions by email beforehand. If they're too busy, at least prospects will have a better idea of what you'll cover together on the call.

Research the Prospect's Company and Industry

Start with the basics that tell you whether this company fits your ICP:

  • Company size and structure: Employee count, locations, and organizational complexity help you understand decision-making dynamics.

  • Recent news and announcements: Funding rounds, leadership changes, or product launches signal priorities and budget availability.

  • Industry trends: Know what challenges their sector is facing so you can connect your solution to broader market pressures.

  • Tech stack: Understanding what tools they already use helps you position integrations and identify replacement opportunities.

  • Fiscal year timing: Budget cycles dictate when prospects can actually buy, not just when they want to.

Check your CRM history to see any prior interactions. Showing up informed saves time and builds credibility.

Map Key Stakeholders and Decision-Makers

B2B purchases involve multiple people. Know who they are before the call starts.

Identify these stakeholder types:

  • Economic buyer: Controls the budget and signs off on the purchase.

  • Technical evaluator: Assesses whether your solution works for their environment.

  • End user: Uses your product daily and prioritizes usability.

  • Champion: Internal advocate who sells your solution when you're not in the room.

Use org charts and contact data to map the buying committee. Productboard used ZoomInfo to identify decision-makers and multithread opportunities before discovery calls, which helped them close deals faster.

Identify Buying Signals and Trigger Events

Prospects are more likely to buy when something in their business has changed. Spot these signals:

  • Recent funding: New capital means budget availability and pressure to grow.

  • Leadership changes: New executives bring new priorities and willingness to change vendors.

  • Tech stack shifts: Adopting or dropping tools signals broader platform changes.

  • Hiring patterns: Rapid headcount growth in specific departments indicates investment areas.

  • Active research: Prospects visiting your website, downloading content, or engaging with your brand show intent.

Showing up with context means you're not asking prospects to repeat information they've already made public.

How to Run an Effective Discovery Call

Preparation gets you to the call. Execution determines whether you advance the deal.

Open with an Agenda and Build Rapport

One great way to start a discovery call is by using the ACE methodology:

  • Appreciate: Thank the prospect for their time.

  • Check the time: Confirm how long you have together: "It seems we have 30 minutes together today."

  • End goal: State what you hope to accomplish by the end of the call.

Be sure to ask the prospect if there's anything you missed that they'd like to get out of the conversation. This helps people understand how the time will be used so there are no surprises.

Lead with Open-Ended Questions

To get the prospect to open up, ask questions that can't be answered with a yes or no.

Here are some of our favorite engaging questions for discovery calls:

  • What prompted you to explore our solution?

  • Tell me about your current process to do X.

  • What are you looking to improve about Y?

  • What would happen if you didn't do anything and kept X the same?

  • How would you measure success for this?

Spread your questions across the whole call. Don't turn discovery into a Q&A followed by a sales pitch. Top sales reps weave questions throughout the conversation, building on what they hear.

Listen More Than You Talk

Discovery is not a pitch. Understanding your prospect's situation before presenting solutions is how you execute effective discovery calls and close deals.

Key listening techniques:

  • Mirror their language: Use the prospect's terminology to show you understand their world.

  • Build on their answers: Ask follow-up questions based on what they just said, not what's next on your list.

  • Pause for elaboration: Give prospects space to think and expand on their answers.

Come equipped with questions like "Can you walk me through your objectives when implementing this kind of solution?" Framing the conversation this way will allow the customer to give you rich, extensive answers.

Summarize Needs and Confirm Next Steps

Before you end the call, close the loop:

  • Summarize what you heard: Repeat back the prospect's key challenges and priorities to confirm alignment.

  • Confirm their priorities: Ask which problems matter most so you know where to focus.

  • Agree on next steps: Schedule a demo, follow-up call, or intro to other stakeholders. Be specific.

  • Set a date and time: Don't leave next steps vague. Get a commitment on the calendar.

  • Log notes immediately: Document everything in your CRM while it's fresh.

Discovery Call Questions to Uncover Buyer Needs

The questions you ask determine what you learn. Organize your questions by what you need to uncover.

Questions About Goals and Challenges

Start by understanding the prospect's current state and desired outcomes:

  • What prompted you to explore our solution?

  • Tell me about your current process to do X.

  • What are you looking to improve about Y?

  • What would happen if you didn't do anything and kept X the same?

  • What, if anything, piqued your interest on our call today?

Questions About Decision-Making and Budget

Understand the buying process and who controls the purse strings:

  • Who is involved in the decision-making process to buy?

  • How does your team typically evaluate and purchase solutions like this?

  • Who typically gets involved in the approval process?

  • What does your budget process look like for this type of investment?

  • Have you considered any other solutions to solve Y?

You also need to prepare to answer the prospects' questions. Often, their questions will involve pricing.

Here are some of the top questions your reps should be prepared to answer:

  • How much does it cost?

  • How does your pricing model work?

  • Who are your competitors?

  • How do you compare to X competitor?

  • What kinds of results are your clients seeing?

  • What's one thing I should NOT use this for?

  • How long does it take to implement and what is the process?

  • Who typically gets involved?

  • How do you handle security and compliance?

  • Do you offer discounts or scaled pricing? How does that work?

  • What services do you offer?

Questions About Timeline and Urgency

Determine when the prospect needs to act and what's driving urgency:

  • Are there any important dates or timelines I should be aware of as we continue conversation?

  • What happens if this problem isn't solved in the next quarter?

  • How would you measure success for this?

  • What types of KPIs would you expect to impact and how?

Discovery Call Script Template

Use this framework to structure your discovery calls. Adapt it to your product, prospect, and what you learn during the conversation:

  • Opening: Set the agenda and build rapport using the ACE methodology.

  • Discovery questions: Ask open-ended questions about goals, challenges, and current processes.

  • Qualification: Understand decision-making, budget, and timeline.

  • Next steps: Summarize what you heard and schedule the next conversation.

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Want to see how ZoomInfo helps sales teams prepare for discovery calls with better prospect intelligence? Talk to our team to learn more.

Discovery Call FAQs

How Long Should a Discovery Call Be?

Most discovery calls run 15-30 minutes, though complex enterprise deals may require longer or multiple calls.

What Is the Difference Between a Discovery Call and a Demo?

A discovery call focuses on understanding challenges and qualifying fit, while a demo showcases your product's capabilities. Discovery typically comes first to ensure the demo addresses relevant use cases.

What Should You Not Do on a Discovery Call?

Avoid pitching before understanding needs, dominating the conversation, asking questions you could have answered with basic research, or ending without clear next steps.