40 Discovery Questions for Sales Calls

Discovery is where deals are won. The buyer who feels understood trusts your recommendation; the buyer who gets a pitch compares prices. These questions are grouped in the order a good discovery call usually flows. Don't ask all of them. Pick five to eight that fit, and follow the answers.

How to run the call

1. Set the agenda. "I'd like to ask a few questions about how you handle X today, then if it makes sense I'll show you how we've helped others, and we'll agree whether a next step makes sense. Does that work?"
2. Ask open questions and go deeper. The first answer is usually the polite one. "Tell me more about that" and "What happens then?" get the real one.
3. Summarize. At the end, play back what you heard and ask, "Did I get that right?"
4. Agree a next step with a date.

Situation: how things work today

1. Walk me through how you handle this today.
2. Who's involved in that process?
3. What tools or suppliers do you use for it?
4. How long has it worked this way?
5. What made you take this call?
6. What's changed recently in the team or the business?

Problem: what isn't working

1. What's the hardest part of that process?
2. Where do things usually go wrong?
3. What have you already tried to fix it?
4. Why didn't that work as well as you hoped?
5. If you had a magic wand, what would you change first?
6. How do you work around the problem at the moment?

Impact: why it matters

1. What does this problem cost you, in time, money or customers?
2. How many people does it affect?
3. How does it affect your own targets?
4. Who else in the business feels this problem?
5. What happens if nothing changes in the next 12 months?
6. How are you measured, and does this problem get in the way?

Impact questions are the ones most salespeople skip and the most important to ask. A problem without a cost is a nice-to-have, and nice-to-haves don't get budget.

Priority and timing

1. Where does this sit on your list of priorities this quarter?
2. Why solve it now rather than next year?
3. Is there a date or event this needs to be fixed by?
4. What else are you working on that competes for time or budget?

Decision process

1. Apart from you, who will be involved in the decision?
2. Who will sign the contract?
3. How have you bought something like this before?
4. What does your approval process look like once you've chosen a supplier?
5. Will procurement, legal or IT need to review it?
6. How long does that usually take?
7. What would make this an easy decision for the team?
8. What could stop it from happening?

Budget

1. Have you set aside budget for this?
2. If not, how does budget usually get approved for something like this?
3. How do you measure whether an investment like this pays off?
4. What range were you expecting to spend?

Competition and alternatives

1. Are you looking at other options?
2. What do you like about them so far?
3. What would make you stay with what you have?

Next steps

1. Based on what we've discussed, what would you like to see next?
2. Who else should be in the next meeting?
3. Can we put a date in the calendar now?

Listen more than you talk

Good discovery is roughly the buyer talking two thirds of the time. Take notes, use their words when you summarize, and resist the urge to jump in with a solution the first time they mention a problem. Ask one more question first.

Practice it

The discovery scenario in the sales call trainer lets you practice choosing the right question in context. When you're ready, move on to qualifying the deal.