Discovery Call Questions for Software Sales
Uncover the real problem, what it costs and who decides, before you propose anything.
Questions that reveal the problem
Discovery is about the client's situation, not your product. Ask how the job is done today, step by step. Ask what goes wrong and how often. Ask what happens when it goes wrong. Let silences sit; buyers often add the most useful detail after a pause. Take notes in their words, because you will use them in the proposal.
- How is this done today, step by step?
- What goes wrong, and how often?
- What happens when it goes wrong?
- What have you tried already?
Questions that reveal value and urgency
Ask what the problem costs in time, money or risk, and let the client estimate it. Ask why now: a new law, a growth target, a lost client. Urgency decides whether a deal moves this month or next year. If there is no reason to act now, help the client find one honestly or schedule a later check-in.
Questions that reveal the decision
Ask who else is involved, how they have bought similar tools before, what they need to see to say yes, and any budget timing. Close the call by summarising what you heard and agreeing the next step, usually a demo built around their own example.
Worked example: finding the real problem
A practice manager first said she wanted a chatbot. Discovery questions revealed that the real problem was staff spending the first hour of each day returning missed calls about the same three topics. When asked what that cost, she estimated the staff time and the patients who booked elsewhere.
The proposal focused on after-hours answers for those three topics and a morning summary for staff, not on a general chatbot. The practice agreed to a pilot on one branch.
Common discovery mistakes
The biggest mistake is talking too much. Aim for the client to speak most of the call.
- Pitching in the first five minutes
- Accepting the first stated need without probing
- Putting a number on the problem yourself
- Ending without a next step
- Ask how the job works today and what goes wrong.
- Let the client estimate the cost of the problem.
- Find the reason to act now.
- Learn who decides and what they need to see.
Write your discovery script with three questions in each group. Practise it on a colleague and record the answers in the client's own words.
Check your understanding
1. What is discovery mainly about?
2. Who should estimate the cost of the problem?
3. How should a discovery call end?
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Templates from our playbooks
Copy ready templates with when to use each one and why it works.