Discovery Brief: what to ask on the next call, in order
A Discovery Brief is what you read before the call. Who is in the room, what the deal already knows, what this particular call can realistically close, and the questions that would close it, in the order you would actually ask them. It also names the signal that would tell you to walk away.
Updated
What do I ask on a second discovery call?
Ask about what the first call left open, not what it already answered. Start with what the people in the room can answer easily, and put the question that needs a name, a number or a date after the one whose answer earns it.
A second call that re-runs the first call’s questions tells the buyer you weren’t listening. List what the first call left blank or thin, and aim every question at one of those.
On the sample deal below, Metrics, Economic Buyer, and Paper Process have nothing on them at all, and nine of the ten dimensions are short of their top rung. Identify Pain is already at the top, so nothing on the list asks about it again.
How many questions should I ask on a discovery call?
The Discovery Brief writes six to ten, numbered, and you work down them one at a time. You won’t get through all of them, which is why the order matters more than the count.
The first question is the one these people can answer most readily, and the brief says what its answer sets up for the next. Every question comes with why you’re asking it, what a good answer sounds like, and what to do with the answer.
Where the questions point
The questions go at the dimensions still open, and at any you point the brief at. Here is where each one stands on the sample deal, and what a finished one looks like.
- Metrics
- named
- quantified
- tied to value
- Economic Buyer
- named
- motivated
- engaged
- Decision Criteria
- named
- positioned
- proven
- Decision Process
- listed
- owned
- dated
- Paper Process
- listed
- owned
- dated
- Identify Pain
- stated
- contextualized
- quantified
- Competition
- named
- positioned
- trap set
- Champion
- candidate
- motivated
- influential
- tested
- Compelling Event
- stated
- dated
- consequenced
- Required Capabilities
- named
- tied to value
- evidenced
When do I qualify out?
When something the deal can’t close without is confirmed missing, not just unknown. An unknown is a question for the next call; an absence the buyer confirms, such as no date that forces a decision or nobody who can sign, is your answer.
Every brief ends with When to walk away: the one or two signals that, if this call confirms them, end the deal. Walking in knowing what they are is how you hear them when they’re said.
On the sample deal, the current contract renews itself on 31 January. If nobody on Halden Freight’s side will back serving notice, nothing forces a decision, and the deal closes for the incumbent without a meeting.
After the call, the Discovery Recap writes the follow-up from what they said.
Pre-call plan template
A pre-call plan should end with what would make you walk away. Most don’t. The template below is the Discovery Brief’s seven blocks, in order.
Download the blank template: Markdown · CSV.
These are the sections SalesWolf’s Discovery Brief is built from. In the product each one is written from the facts you’ve accepted on the deal, the meeting you tell it about, and your company knowledge base. A section with nothing to stand on says what it’s missing instead.
The sample deal’s brief is written out below in part: the six top questions it wrote for Thursday’s call.
Who's in the room
Who's coming, the day, what the call is about, the stage, and what you want this call to move.
Where the deal stands going in
One paragraph of what you already know that matters for these people and this call. Leave the rest out.
What this call can close
Three to five things the deal is still missing that this call could settle, each named against its letter.
The questions, in order
Six to ten, in the order you'll ask them, each aimed at something the deal hasn't answered or has only half answered.
Questions that box out a competitor
One or two questions that get them to name a need your strengths answer, before you've said what you do.
What to watch for on the call
Three or four things to listen for, each one an answer that would firm up a letter still open.
When to walk away
One or two answers that would tell you this isn't a real deal, like no date that forces a decision, or nobody who signs.
Top Questions to Ask
Draft1. Ask this first: Who holds the discretionary budget and final commercial authority to sign off on replacing the current carrier tracking setup? Why: Focus Area 1 (Economic Buyer) is an open gap. Marta Reiss and Owen Blake run operations, but we have not identified the single person with sign-off authority. Asking this first names the person so the next question can establish how that person gets contracts approved. Good response: A specific person named by name and title, with confirmation of their authority over this spend. What to do with the answer: Record the name, title, and budget threshold in MEDDPICC. Ask Marta to confirm what this person personally expects from operations this year. 2. Once that person approves a change, what specific legal, security, and procurement steps must happen before a contract is signed, and who leads each stage? Why: Focus Area 2 (Paper Process) is completely unmapped. Knowing the review sequence prevents late-stage legal or security stalls. Good response: Specific named owners for procurement, legal, and infosec reviews, with typical turnaround times for each. What to do with the answer: Map each stage into the deal timeline and calculate total paper process duration back from the target signature date. 3. Marta mentioned Dervla on a previous call. What is Dervla's role in evaluating operational software or reviewing vendor agreements? Why: Dervla was mentioned by Marta but has not been met. We must clarify if Dervla is a decision-maker, influencer, or paper process owner. Good response: Clarification of Dervla's exact role, team, and involvement in vendor evaluations. What to do with the answer: Add Dervla to the stakeholder map with an assigned buying role, or log Dervla as an operational reviewer. 4. Beyond the two staff on the night desk manually chasing carrier exceptions and calling carriers, what specific performance target or success metric does operations need to hit? Why: Metrics is a gap. Pains are verified, but no target metrics exist for the initiative. Good response: A defined operational metric or KPI, such as an SLA threshold or target for automated exception detection. What to do with the answer: Log the target under Metrics and compare proposed technical capabilities against it. 5. Last year service credit penalties reached about four hundred thousand. What internal targets or executive visibility exist around that penalty amount this year? Why: Metrics needs quantifiable targets tied to existing verified pains. The financial figure must be linked to operational goals. Good response: Explanation of how executive leadership tracks that penalty figure and what operational goals are tied to it. What to do with the answer: Align the business case to executive reporting on penalty targets. 6. Marta thinks the current contract requires ninety days' written notice before the 31 January auto-renewal, which makes early November the deadline. Has anyone verified the exact notice window in the agreement? Why: Compelling Event is partial. The auto-renewal on 31 January is confirmed, but the 90-day notice requirement remains unconfirmed. Good response: Confirmation of the exact written notice terms from the incumbent contract. What to do with the answer: Fix the hard deadline date for notice and build the mutual evaluation schedule around it.
One block needs something only you can give it. The Questions that box out a competitor are written from your company’s differentiators, and until those are in your company knowledge base the block says so instead of guessing.
For the questions themselves, the MEDDPICC questions page files every letter’s questions under the rung a good answer reaches.
When you reach for it
Thursday, an hour before a call you do not get a second run at.
This is what comes out.
What goes in is the call you already had.
Your file is read in your browser and never uploaded. The text stays with the deal until you delete the deal, and is removed from the database 90 days after that.
14 days free, no card, no call.