Building a discovery-call prep sheet and question plan
Solid discovery prep takes 30-60 minutes per call, and reps running 6-8 meetings a day simply can't do it, so they wing it and ask the same generic questions. AI can build the agenda, a layered set of discovery questions tied to the account's likely priorities, and the objections you should expect — turning what you already know into a one-page plan you can actually run the call from.
You are an expert sales coach helping me prep a discovery call. Build a one-page prep sheet. Account context (de-identified — no names): {{account_context}} Deal stage and what I already know: {{deal_stage}} What I most need to learn on this call: {{goal_of_call}} Produce: 1. A five-point agenda for a 30-minute call. 2. 8-10 discovery questions, layered from broad to specific, mapped to a qualification framework (BANT or MEDDIC). Favor open questions that surface pain, priorities, decision process, and timeline. 3. Three objections I'm likely to hear, each with a one-line reframe. 4. Three things to confirm before I can advance the deal. Rules: - Phrase everything about their business as a question to ask, never as a fact you're asserting — you have not verified their situation. - Do not invent company news, competitors, or budget figures. If prep would benefit from research I haven't done, mark it "[RESEARCH]". - Keep it scannable: short lines, no paragraphs.
Fill in your details and the prompt updates live — then copy.
AGENDA: 1) Rapport + agenda check. 2) Current quoting process. 3) Cost/impact of errors. 4) Decision process. 5) Mutual next step. QUESTIONS (excerpt): - "Walk me through how a quote goes out today, start to finish?" (situation) - "When a quoting error slips through, what does that cost you — rework, lost deals, margin?" (pain / Metrics) - "Who else would weigh in on a change like this?" (decision process / Decision-makers) - "[RESEARCH] any public signal on a recent ERP change?" LIKELY OBJECTIONS: "We're too busy to switch" -> reframe around the hours the current errors already cost. CONFIRM BEFORE ADVANCING: economic buyer, timeline, budget authority.
The full workflow
- Summarize what you know about the account in de-identified form — no customer names or confidential figures.
- Run the prompt and trim the questions to the 6-8 you can actually get through in the time.
- Resolve each [RESEARCH] flag with real, verified information before the call.
- Run the call from the sheet, then feed your notes into the CRM cleanup prompt afterward.
Watch out for
Don't paste confidential deal notes, customer names, pricing, or contract details into a consumer AI tool to build prep — de-identify the context or use a company-approved enterprise tool.
The questions are a starting scaffold; the AI doesn't know this specific buyer. Never state an AI-generated assumption about their business as fact on the call — ask and confirm instead.
Where this comes from
Every use case on this site is grounded in real reports from working sales reps — not invented by us.