The Sales Discovery Call Guide: Essential Questions and Techniques for Success

In B2B sales, the right sales discovery questions are essential to a successful sale. During the discovery period, sales reps can uncover the information that moves deals forward.

The find the pains, needs, wants, and problems that the prospect is experiencing and can therefore tailor their sale to their specific use case. Not only does this provide a more personalized and tailored experience, but it increases the likelihood of a win. You need to know that “74% of buyers choose the sales rep that first adds value and insight during the sales process.” (Forrester​.)

In my experience, the worst sales reps are the ones who immediately launch into a standard product pitch and talk a mile a minute. Conversely, the best reps I’ve spoken to are fantastic listeners. They ask highly targeted, open-ended sales discovery questions and get prospects to open up about budget, authority, timeline, needs, etc.

The discovery call sets the tone for the entire sales process.

It’s your chance to ask the right questions, uncover real problems, and build trust from the start. To help you lead smarter, more productive conversations, we’ve pulled together some of the most effective B2B sales discovery questions. Here you’ll find proven techniques and strategies to guide you through every discovery call confidently.

It’s important to know that:

“82% of B2B decision-makers think sales reps are unprepared during the first meeting.”

The Real Reason Discovery Calls Fall Flat

Jonas Salk, who developed the first polio vaccine, once said, “What people think of as the moment of discovery is really the discovery of the question.”

That wisdom applies perfectly to sales. Because behind every buying decision is a question your buyer is trying to answer.

“How can we grow revenue by 15%?”
“Why aren’t we hitting our productivity goals?”
“What’s holding us back?”

Your job on a discovery call? Uncover that core question. Not just the surface-level answer.

Too many reps move from question to question like they’re checking boxes. They stop at the first answer. But real discovery doesn’t happen until you pause, lean in, and ask the world’s best follow-up question:

“And what else can you tell me about that?”

Michael Bungay Stanier, author of The Coaching Habit, calls it the AWE question. It does one thing: keeps your curiosity alive. It tells your buyer you’re here to understand—not just pitch.

So the next time you think you’ve found the buyer’s pain, stop. Ask again. Ask deeper. Keep going until you uncover the real question they’re trying to answer. That’s where the sale begins.

SDRs Preparing for Discovery Calls

The Scout motto is “be prepared.” But perhaps that should also be the motto for SDRs. One of the biggest mistakes SDRs make is not adequately preparing for sales calls. Sure, there isn’t time to extensively research every sales prospect. But suppose that a key decision maker at one of your target accounts filled out a contact form. It would be a huge mistake to not adequately prepare for the call.

The good news is that there are a variety of sales tools that offer reps the opportunity to gather more intelligence than ever before quicker than ever before. A tool like Datanyze can offer insight into a company’s funding details and the types of software they use. LinkedIn and other social platforms give insight into a prospect’s work history and interests. And Revenue.io can surface lead data from Salesforce that reps can view before dialing.

In order to adequately prepare for an important sales call, here are 10 questions that you should be able to answer:

1. Has your prospect lived/worked in a location you’re familiar with?

One of the most important parts of any sales discovery call is building rapport. If a prospect has worked for a company you’re familiar with or lived in an area you know well, it can help build rapport quickly. Also be sure to look at where they went to school.

2. What has your prospect posted on social media recently?

You can learn a lot about prospects from social media. As an example, you might notice on Twitter that your prospect attended a recent conference that you also attended. Or maybe they’re going on a trip to a location you know well and posted asking about restaurant recommendations. Look for any possible way to break the ice.

3. Do you have any contacts  in common?

LinkedIn is great for finding mutual contacts. One of the best ways to build credibility is to find a mutual friend or business colleague.

4. Has the company had any big news lately (e.g. funding rounds, acquisitions, big wins)?

It’s always wise to be aware of any big company news. Something like a recent funding round or an acquisition can be an indicator that the company has a budget to buy your solution. You can find this information by using a tool that offers company intelligence data. Or simply look the company up on sites like Crunchbase and VentureBeat.

5. How long has your prospect been in their current role?

If a prospect is new in their role it’s likely that they might not just have been given a mandate to deliver sweeping changes, but a budget to make those changes happen.

6. What kinds of challenges do people in that role typically face?

Identifying a prospect’s role is vital because it empowers you to focus on how your offering can solve pain points for prospects in that role. After all, prospects in different roles might have divergent use cases for your product. To be truly prepared for your call you should be able to answer these four role-specific questions.

7. What are a few ways your solution specifically helps people in their role?

Here is where case studies can come in handy. If you have helped a prospect in a similar role at a similar company it then this is absolutely worth mentioning during your discovery call.

8. What are some common objections raised by those in their role?

It can be helpful to anticipate objections in advance. You may have noticed trends (e.g. marketing managers typically worry about implementation timeline). If so, you can adequately prepare yourself to overcome objections.

9. Do you have any success stories with other companies in their industry?

It’s important to know which industry your target company plays in as well as how to best sell to companies in that industry. Again, look for relevant case studies.

10. What are 2-3 companies they compete with?

If you have sold to one of their primary competitors or even a company in their industry that they’re familiar with, it can really help you establish credibility. It pays to check if you have sold to any of their primary competitors.

The more of these questions that you can answer, the more prepared for you’re call you’ll be. So if a high value lead comes in, it really pays to take the time to do a little prep work before reaching out.

Our Sales Call Data Process at Revenue.io

I’ve had the opportunity to listen to hundreds of sales calls here at Revenue.io. The reps that win the most opportunities manage to meet seven key objectives – which are identified below – in the context of a conversation that doesn’t feel scripted or forced. Making sure you gather all the information you need during a conversation that your prospect feels good about is both an art and science. Practice and discipline are important, but mindset is essential. Bringing a genuine curiosity and eagerness to help is key.

Here are the seven things you absolutely must do (for a list of model questions created by our team of sales leaders, check out our B2B Discovery Call Cheat Sheet!).

Build Rapport

Relationships are the X factor in sales. No matter what it is you’re selling, customers are a lot more likely to buy from reps that they like. That’s why it’s so important to demonstrate that you’re curious, informed and likable from the get-go. Some ways to build rapport include asking about their career trajectory, discussing mutual interests and bringing up local news or sports. You can often use social to get an idea of a prospect’s interests before calls to help you prepare.

Identify Needs and Challenges

One of the most important things to remember is that not all prospects are the same. Two prospects at similar companies with the same job title might have completely different pain points and goals. They might have radically different use cases for your offering. That’s why it’s so important to ask questions to scope their needs. One question that I particularly like is, “What part of your job is most frustrating?” The answer offers insight into the best ways your product or service can help.

Establish Technical Compatibility

One of the top priorities should always be establishing whether there are technical roadblocks. Some roadblocks are not going to be surmountable (e.g. they’re locked into a deal with one CRM, but your product is designed to integrate with a different one.) However, some technical roadblocks can be easily navigated. As an example, say you offer a Chrome app for marketers, but some of their team uses Safari. It might be relatively easy to simply get the marketing team to switch to Chrome.

Define the Process

It’s so much easier to move deals forward if you can agree on a process. In order to define a prospect’s process, reps need to:

• Identify key stakeholders
• Identify an executive sponsor
• Discover their process for purchasing new solutions

This empowers reps to move deals forward by following up with relevant stakeholders in the organization.

Gauge Urgency

In order to identify how sales-ready a prospect is, it’s important to try to uncover their buying timeline.  If you’re going to be replacing another solution, find out when the contract ends. Discern who is in charge of implementation and whether they have the resources in play to handle implementation successfully.

Identify Competitors

Sure, not all B2B deals are going to be up against competitors. But a lot are. It’s important to not only identify whether deals are competitive but look for ways to win against various competitors. Some key questions to ask include:

• Are you looking at any other products at the moment?
• What has your experience been with ?
• How do you feel about the way we compare to other solutions you’ve looked at?

Plan Next Steps

As calls wind down, it becomes critical to identify next steps. After all, so long as a prospect is qualified, the goal of the call should be to move the deal forward. Toward the end of calls, the best reps tend to ask about how to follow up such as:

• When would be a good time to follow up with you about what we discussed?
• Who else on your team should see the product?
• Have you read any of our case studies? If not, would you like me to send you one?

Sales Discovery Questions for Needs and Challenges

It’s paramount to establish whether or not a prospect can truly benefit from your solution. Likewise, it’s important to know exactly which pain points your solution can solve. Here are some questions to help establish a prospect’s needs and challenges.

• What are some challenges you’re looking to solve?
• Have you tried to solve that problem so far?
• What led you to want to make a change now?
• What part of your job is most frustrating?

Questions to Build Rapport

Sales is all about building great relationships. In addition to asking qualification questions, it’s important to take a genuine interest in your prospects. Below are some questions to help build rapport. Look for any connections you can build. If they mention they’re going fishing over the weekend, and you are also into fishing, it can create a personal bond.

• How did you get into [current discipline (e.g. marketing, sales operations, IT, etc.)?
• Are you originally from ?
• Are you a fan of ?
• In case I ever make it to what’s your favorite restaurant there?
• Got any big plans this weekend?
• How has your business changed in the past year?

Sales Discovery Questions About Authority

Part of sales discovery should include discerning who has buying power, as well as the prospective company’s buying process. In B2B deals its common for there to be multiple stakeholders. Therefore it’s crucial to discover who these stakeholders are and what factors may be important to them.

• In addition to yourself, who else at your company is facing these problems?
• Are there any issues that other stakeholders may be concerned with?
• What’s your purchasing process?

Questions About Budget

Budget questions will likely be more relevant when you follow up with inbound leads that are actively searching for a solution. If you’re prospecting, be prepared to talk to prospects with no budget set aside for your solution. It is then your task to convince the prospect that your solution is worth budgeting for. It’s amazing how budget can magically appear once prospects truly recognize your product’s value.

• Are you responsible for establishing budget?
• Do you already have a budget allocated?
• What are you ideally looking to invest?

Sale Discovery Questions to Generate Demand

If you need help generating demand for your offering, here are some questions to help your prospects imagine the better life that awaits them after implementing your solution.

• Say you had no budgetary restrictions, what kind of changes would you like to make happen?
• What will you do with all your extra time/revenue after making a change?
• What happens if you don’t arrive at a decision?

Questions About Competition

It’s to be expected that a fair amount of deals will be against competitors. It pays to find out a bit about their experience with competitors (whether the solution is currently in place or being simultaneously evaluated). Here are some questions to consider asking during competitive deals.

• Are you looking at any other solution providers at the moment?
• What has your experience been with ?
• What sort of positive financial impact has your current solution had for your business?
• How do you feel about the way we compare to other solutions you’ve looked at?

Timing/Implementation Questions

For a deal to close, you need to not only be selling the right solution at the right price, it has to be at the right time. Try to establish timeline with these questions:

• In an ideal world, when would you imagine yourself implementing this solution?
• Do you have a current solution in place? If so, when is your current contract up?
• Does your team have the time and resources in place necessary to handle implementation?

Sales Discovery Follow-Up Questions

Toward the end of a sales conversation (if a prospect seems like a good fit) it’s important to move the deal forward, here are some questions to ask about follow-up.

• What would be the best time for our next meeting?
• What goals would you like to accomplish during our next meeting?
• Would you like to connect me with any other stakeholders at your company?
• When would be a good time to follow up with you about what we discussed?

The Real Reason Discovery Calls Fall Flat

Discovery isn’t about gathering surface-level answers. It’s about staying curious long enough to uncover the real question your buyer is trying to answer.

That takes patience, presence, and the courage to slow down, listen without judgment, and ask the kind of follow-up questions that competitors won’t.

So the next time you’re on a discovery call, remember: it’s not about checking off questions. It’s about unlocking the insight that turns a conversation into a commitment.

Keep digging. Keep listening. And above all—keep asking.