Walk in with the questions that qualify.
“What should I ask on this first call so I walk out with a qualified deal?”
Tailored discovery questions sequenced problem to impact to next step, each mapped to your qualification framework.
What this skill does
Takes a persona and the problem you think they have, and returns a sequenced set of discovery questions that move from surfacing the problem, to sizing its impact, to agreeing a next step. Each question is mapped to the qualification field it fills, so a good call also fills your framework instead of leaving you to backfill it later.
Inputs
- Works today with: a persona, the problem hypothesis, and the framework you qualify against. Paste it and go.
- More powerful connected to a CRM: it reads the open opportunity and the qualification fields already filled, so it only asks what is still missing.
- Sharper with a meeting or call tool: it can pull prior-call notes so you do not re-ask what you already learned.
- Sharper with an enrichment tool: pulls the role and context so the questions land in the prospect's world, not a generic one.
How it works
- 1Problem to impact to next step
Questions run in three passes. First surface and confirm the problem in the prospect's words. Then quantify what it costs them, in time, money, or risk. Then agree the next step. Impact questions before you have confirmed a problem land flat; this order keeps them earned.
- 2Map every question to a field
Each question is tagged with the framework field it fills, Metrics, Economic Buyer, Decision Criteria, Pain, and so on for your framework. A discovery call is not done because time ran out; it is done when the fields that gate the next stage are filled.
- 3Layered, not interrogation
Questions layer: an open question, then a follow-up that goes one level deeper on the answer. The plan gives you the follow-up so you are not caught flat when they say "it's a problem." No rapid-fire checklist feel.
- 4Impact quantification
At least one question forces a number or a consequence, "what does that cost you a quarter," "what happens if this is still true next year." A pain with no size does not survive a deal review. Any example figure is illustrative, drawn from the prospect, never asserted by you.
- 5Earn the next step
The plan ends by scripting the transition to the next step, tied to what they just told you, so the ask feels like their logic, not your quota.
Output format
DISCOVERY PLAN · economic buyer · framework: PLAN
Pass 1 - Problem (fills: Pain, Metrics)
Q: How is [process] handled today, start to finish?
follow-up: Where does it break most often?
Q: What made this worth looking at now?
Pass 2 - Impact (fills: Metrics, Economic Buyer)
Q: When it breaks, what does that cost, roughly, per quarter?
Q: Who else feels that cost? Who signs off on fixing it?
Pass 3 - Next step (fills: Decision Process, Champion)
Q: If we showed this solved, what is your process to move on it?
Ask: "Based on the [cost] you mentioned, worth a working session
with [role] next week to map it?"
Tips
- Every question maps to a named framework field. No orphan questions.
- Impact questions come after a confirmed problem, never before.
- At least one question forces a quantified consequence.
- The next-step ask references the prospect's own stated pain, not a generic close.
Turn one signal into a cold email that earns a reply.
From a prospect and a specific angle, writes a short email or 3-touch sequence built on one idea, no filler.
Turn a cold dial into a conversation.
A permission-based opener plus ready turns for the four objections you actually hit on the phone.