# The discovery call: ask before you pitch > Why a call that opens with a pitch ends with "send me something to read", and how to run one that finds the problem, its cost, the budget owner, the buying process and a dated next step. - Course: [B2B Marketing and Sales: Win Your First Company Customers](https://productovi.com/courses/b2b-marketing-and-sales.md) - Module: Selling conversations - Lesson 17/32, ~23 min - Source: https://productovi.com/courses/b2b-marketing-and-sales/the-discovery-call ## Where we are **Alex Tutor:** You're still Klasna for Teams' first marketing-and-sales hire. Demand now brings companies to a first conversation; this module is about the conversations themselves, from the first call to the signature. **Marta:** Your first call with Pavlo from Veloria is today. Let's rehearse: he plays himself, you lead. **Sofia:** Thanks for your time, Pavlo! Let me show you Klasna: hundreds of tutors, an AI practice partner, flexible schedules, progress reports for HR... **Pavlo:** Sounds great. Could you send me something to read? I'll come back to you. **Alex Tutor:** Pause. What did you learn about Veloria in that minute? **Sofia:** Nothing. And "send me something to read" sounds like a polite goodbye. > **Exercise:** In a rehearsal of the first call, the seller opened with a minute of Klasna's features: hundreds of tutors, an AI practice partner, flexible schedules, reports for HR. Pavlo, playing himself, answered: "Send me something to read." Why did the rehearsal end that way? ## Ask first **Alex Tutor:** A **discovery call** is mostly asking and listening. Its goal isn't to present Klasna. It's to learn whether there's a real deal. **Alex Tutor:** Use the four questions from qualifying deals: is there a problem worth paying to solve? Who pays? By when? What will the buyer do next? Add one more: how does Veloria buy? **Alex Tutor:** And ask them the way the Customer Development course teaches: about real past events, not opinions about the future, and without hinting at the answer you hope for. **Marta:** "Would your team like better English?" gets a yes from everyone and tells us nothing. **Alex Tutor:** Marta's example is worth a check of its own. > **Exercise:** **True or false:** "Would your team like better English?" is a good discovery question, because it is open and easy to answer. > **Exercise:** Match each discovery question with what it reveals. ## The rerun **Sofia:** Let me try again. Pavlo, tell me about the last time an English call went wrong at the dispatch desk. **Pavlo:** Last month a dispatcher misunderstood a Polish carrier about the delivery window. The truck waited at the border for hours, we paid a penalty, and the client complained to Stepan. **Sofia:** How often does something like that happen? **Pavlo:** Stepan says a couple of times a month. Yaryna would know what it costs; I only see the complaints. **Alex Tutor:** Now you're learning. Notice what you didn't do: you didn't jump in with "our program would fix that". Keep digging before you offer anything. > **Exercise:** Pavlo has just described an incident: last month a dispatcher misunderstood a Polish carrier about a delivery window, the truck waited at the border for hours, Veloria paid a penalty and the client complained. Which follow-up question is best? ## Who pays, by when, and how **Sofia:** If Veloria decided to train the dispatch team, whose budget would that come from? **Pavlo:** Small courses come from my training budget. Something this size needs Yaryna's approval, and our 2027 budgets close in mid-December. **Alex Tutor:** Write that down. Mid-December is a real date from Veloria's own process, not a deadline we invented. It shapes every next step. **Alex Tutor:** Why does that date matter so much? > **Exercise:** Pavlo says Veloria's 2027 budgets close in mid-December. How should you treat that date? **Sofia:** And before Yaryna approves, who else would want to see it? **Pavlo:** Stepan, for the shifts. And IT security, for any new app. > **Exercise:** So far on the call, Pavlo has said: the border incident brought a penalty and a client complaint, and Stepan says it happens a couple of times a month; Yaryna would know what it costs; small courses come from his training budget, but something this size needs Yaryna's approval; 2027 budgets close in mid-December; Stepan and IT security would want to see it first. What has the call established so far? Choose all that apply. ## A next step with a date **Pavlo:** This was useful. Send me a proposal and I'll pass it around. **Alex Tutor:** A proposal now would be priced before you know what the problem costs, and passed around without you. Propose a step that moves the decision instead. **Alex Tutor:** Before you answer Pavlo, pick the reply that moves the decision. > **Exercise:** Pavlo ends with: "This was useful. Send me a proposal and I'll pass it around." Which reply is best? **Sofia:** Pavlo, could we show a sample lesson built on a carrier call to you and Stepan in the first week of December, and ask IT for their questionnaire now? Then the proposal can reflect what you need before budgets close. **Pavlo:** That works. I'll check Stepan's week and forward you IT's contact today. **Marta:** A date, two names and an action on his side. That's a real next step. > **Exercise:** Put the parts of a discovery call in order. ## Your turn: a call script for Cobalt **Marta:** Next week you have a first call with the learning lead at Cobalt, the IT services company. They're unhappy with their current school, but still under contract. **Sofia:** So they're switching. Then I need to know what went wrong and when they can actually leave. **Alex Tutor:** Good. And no criticism of the other school: let her describe it. Write the script. **Marta:** Short enough to fit into thirty minutes, please. > **Exercise:** Write a short script (**5–7 questions**, in order) for the first call with Cobalt's learning lead. Cobalt is unhappy with its current English school and still under contract with it. Cover: a recent real example of what is not working, its cost, who pays and who else decides, when the current contract ends and what notice it needs, and a next step. > **Key ideas** > > - A **discovery call** is for learning whether there is a real deal, not for presenting. Pitching first ends in "send me something to read". > - Ask the four questions: is there a problem worth paying to solve, who pays, by when, what happens next; and how the company buys. > - Ask about real past events and their cost, without hinting at the answer you want. > - A date from the buyer's own process (a budget deadline, a contract notice) is real; never invent one. > - End with a next step that has a date, names and an action on the buyer's side, not with "I'll send a proposal". **Alex Tutor:** Next time: the demo for Pavlo and Stepan, and a shared plan that gets Veloria from a sample lesson to a signature. - Previous lesson: [Case: a quarter's budget and what really moved](https://productovi.com/courses/b2b-marketing-and-sales/quarter-budget-case.md) - Next lesson: [The demo and a mutual plan to close](https://productovi.com/courses/b2b-marketing-and-sales/demo-and-close-plan.md) --- Productovi Learning. Free, no sign-up needed to read.