Discovery Call Question Set

Build a discovery call agenda with questions that surface budget, urgency, and the real decision process without sounding like an interrogation.

Act as a sales coach who trains reps on consultative discovery. Build me a question set for an upcoming call.

Context:
- What I sell: [PRODUCT/SERVICE] for [WHO]
- Deal size and sales cycle: [TYPICAL RANGE / LENGTH]
- Who I am meeting: [NAME, TITLE, AND ANYTHING I ALREADY KNOW]
- How they got here: [INBOUND FORM / COLD OUTREACH / REFERRAL / EVENT]
- Call length: [MINUTES]
- What I must learn to qualify: [e.g., budget owner, timeline, current tool, success metric]

Deliver:
1. A minute-by-minute agenda for the call, including how I open and how I close
2. Eight to twelve questions, grouped as: current situation, the cost of the status quo, desired outcome, decision process, timeline
3. For each question, a one-line note on what a good answer sounds like and what a dodge sounds like
4. Three follow-up probes I can use when an answer is vague ("what does 'soon' mean in weeks?")
5. Two questions that would be rude or premature on a first call, so I know what to avoid
6. A closing script that confirms next steps, owner, and date out loud

Style: conversational, no jargon, no leading questions that put words in their mouth.

How to use this prompt

• Print the grouped questions, not the agenda — the agenda is for your prep, the questions are for the call.
• Ask the model to reorder the set if the call is shorter than planned, so you keep the qualifying questions.
• After the call, paste your notes back and ask what you failed to learn.

Why this prompt works

Most discovery scripts fail because reps read them aloud. Asking for what a good answer and a dodge sound like turns the list into a listening guide instead of a script, and the explicit "what not to ask" section keeps the model from generating the pushy questions that make buyers close up.

Variations to try

• Add "the prospect is a skeptical technical evaluator, not the budget owner" to get a different question mix.
• Ask for a version for a renewal or expansion conversation rather than a new deal.
• Request a one-page cheat sheet with only the questions and the dodge signals, sized to fit on a single screen.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Asking all twelve questions. Six good ones with real follow-ups beat a full checklist.
• Skipping the decision-process questions because they feel awkward — that is exactly where deals die.
• Letting the model write leading questions such as "wouldn't it be better if…" and using them anyway.

Works well with