FAQs

FAQs

How long should a discovery call be? Thirty minutes is the right default for a first call, and it should feel slightly too short. A tight window forces you to focus on the problem rather than wandering into a demo, and it respects a busy buyer's time. Book longer sessions later, once you have qualified the deal and there is real reason to go deep with more people in the room. If you genuinely need an hour for the first call, you are probably trying to pitch when you should be diagnosing.

What if the prospect just wants to see a demo straight away? Acknowledge the request, then redirect. Say something like "happy to show you exactly the part that matters, but so I do not waste your time on the wrong thing, can I ask a few questions about what you are trying to solve first?" Most reasonable buyers accept this, because it is obviously in their interest. A demo without discovery is a tour, not a sale, and you will be showing features to someone whose actual problem you have not found.

How do I ask about budget without scaring them off? Ask it plainly and frame it as protecting their time, not extracting their wallet. "Is there budget set aside for this, or would part of the work be building the internal case for it?" is a normal question that respects everyone involved. The fear of asking is almost always worse than the asking. Prospects who are serious will answer without flinching, and the ones who dodge every money question have just qualified themselves out, which is information you needed anyway.

Should I send an agenda before the call? A one-line note helps, not a formal document. Something brief that says you want to understand their situation and figure out together whether it is a fit sets the right expectation and reduces no-shows. Keep it light. An over-engineered agenda makes a thirty-minute call feel like a project and can scare a casual prospect off before you have had a chance to talk.

What do I do when I realise mid-call this is not a fit? Say so, kindly and clearly. "Based on what you have told me, I do not think we are the right solution for this, and here is why." Then, if you can, point them somewhere genuinely useful. This costs you nothing and earns you a great deal. People remember the seller who told them the truth, and they refer you, come back when their situation changes, and trust your yes far more because they have seen your no.

How many qualification questions is too many? There is no magic number, the test is whether each question is helping you understand the problem or just filling a checklist. Qualification should feel like a conversation, not an interrogation. Weave the four things you need to know, real pain, budget, authority and urgency, into the natural flow of the diagnosis rather than firing them off in a list. If the prospect starts giving one-word answers, you have tipped from discovery into questioning, and it is time to ease off and listen.