AI Prompts for Discovery Call Preparation

Discovery is where the deal is shaped. A prepared call arrives with hypotheses about the prospect's problems, a question plan that tests them without leading, and an agenda the prospect has agreed to — so the conversation is about their situation, not a demo request in disguise. An unprepared call produces a list of features the prospect asked about and no idea whether they will buy.

These prompts build the preparation: hypotheses and objectives from the research, a question plan structured from situation through pain and impact to the decision process, and the agenda. Analyzing the call afterward and qualifying the opportunity have their own pages.

Before you use these

Have these ready to replace the highlighted [variables]:

• Account brief and pain hypotheses
• Who is attending and their roles
• What triggered the meeting (their inbound, our outbound, a referral)
• Your qualification framework's fields (so the questions cover them)

The prompts

• 1. Set objectives and hypotheses for the call
• 2. Build the question plan
• 3. Draft the agenda and pre-call note

1. Set objectives and hypotheses for the call

Act as a sales coach preparing an account executive for a discovery call with [names, roles] at [company].

Account brief: [summary]
Hypotheses: [ranked pain hypotheses with evidence]
How the meeting came about: [context]
Qualification fields we need: [e.g. metrics, economic buyer, decision criteria, decision process, pain, champion, competition, timing]

1. Call objectives (3–4): what we must learn or agree by the end, in priority order. Phrase each as an outcome, not an activity.
2. Hypotheses to test: for each, what we expect them to say, the evidence we have, and the confirming and disconfirming answers.
3. Information gaps: qualification fields we cannot fill from research, and which attendee can answer each.
4. Their likely objectives: why they took the meeting and what they want from it — so the agenda serves both.
5. Definition of a good outcome: what has to be true at the end for this to progress (a confirmed problem, a named next step, access to another stakeholder), and the outcome that should lead us to disqualify.
6. The one thing most likely to derail the call and the plan for it (e.g. they want a demo immediately).

Keep to one page. The AE should be able to read it in three minutes.

2. Build the question plan

You are building the question plan for a [duration]-minute discovery call with [roles] at [company].

Objectives and hypotheses: [summary]
Our product's value drivers: [summary — the plan must not pitch them]

Structure the plan in phases with time allocation:
1. Situation (short): 2–3 questions that establish how things work today — specific to what we already know, not 'tell me about your business'.
2. Problem: questions that test each hypothesis without leading ('how do you handle X today?' not 'do you struggle with X?'); follow-ups that get to specifics (frequency, who is affected, what they have tried).
3. Impact: questions that quantify — time, cost, risk, what it prevents them doing; the question that surfaces the metric they care about.
4. Decision: process, criteria, other stakeholders, timing, budget, alternatives considered, what happens if they do nothing — phrased conversationally.
5. Branching: for the two most likely answers to the key problem question, the follow-up path.
6. Role targeting: which questions to direct to which attendee.
7. Questions to avoid: leading, closed too early, jargon, anything that sounds like a checklist.
8. The closing question that proposes the next step based on what they said.

Present as a plan with time markers. Fewer, better questions; the prospect should talk more than 60% of the time.

3. Draft the agenda and pre-call note

Act as an account executive drafting the pre-call note and agenda for a discovery call with [names, roles] at [company] on [date].

What they asked for: [demo / overview / specific questions]
Our objectives: [summary]

1. Pre-call email (under 120 words): thank, propose an agenda in three or four lines that leads with understanding their situation and goals, includes a short slot for what they asked for, and ends by asking them to confirm or add anything — and whether anyone else should join.
2. Internal agenda: the same items with timings, owner on our side, and the transition lines between items.
3. If they want a demo immediately: the line that agrees to show something specific while keeping the first part of the call for their situation, and the minimal demo we will show.
4. Attendee prep: for each of their attendees, one thing to know and one question reserved for them.
5. Materials: what to have ready (one relevant example, the one-page overview) and what not to send in advance.
6. The post-call action already scheduled: recap within 24 hours, using the meeting recap prompt.

Keep the tone collaborative. The agenda should read as being about their outcome.

Related prompts

• Discovery Call Analysis
• Sales Qualification
• Account Research
• Buyer and Buying Committee Mapping
• Cold Call Scripts and Talk Tracks
• Sales Demo Storylines

Logical next step

After this, most sales teams move on to Discovery Call Analysis.

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