What Is a Discovery Call

A discovery call is a structured conversation where the seller listens, asks thoughtful questions, and determines whether there is a real problem worth solving. In SaaS, discovery calls usually happen before demos or proposals and set the direction for the entire deal.

A strong discovery call helps both sides decide whether it makes sense to move forward.

Why discovery calls matter in SaaS

Most sales problems can be traced back to weak discovery. Discovery calls matter because they:

• Prevent reps from pitching to the wrong problems
• Improve qualification and pipeline quality
• Reduce wasted demos and stalled deals
• Create relevance and trust early
• Shape the demo and value narrative
• Surface deal risks before they become blockers
• Improve forecast accuracy

If discovery is shallow, everything that follows is fragile.

What a discovery call is (and isn’t)

What it is

• A buyer-led conversation
• A chance to understand pain, impact, and priorities
• A qualification checkpoint
• A foundation for demos and proposals

What it isn’t

• A product walkthrough
• A feature comparison
• A scripted interrogation
• A disguised pitch

Good discovery feels like problem-solving, not selling.

What SaaS teams typically cover in a discovery call

1. The problem: What’s broken, inefficient, risky, or limiting today?
2. The impact: How does this problem affect the business, the team, or the individual?
3. The current state: How is the problem handled today, and why isn’t that enough?
4. Stakeholders and decision-making: Who is involved, and how do decisions get made?
5. Timing and urgency: Why now? What happens if nothing changes?
6. Success criteria: What would a good outcome look like?

You don’t need every answer. You need enough clarity to proceed intentionally.

What good discovery sounds like

• The buyer talks more than the rep
• Questions are open-ended and follow naturally
• The rep summarizes and reflects back
• Silence is used comfortably
• The buyer gains clarity as they speak
• The conversation feels focused, not rushed

A quick tip: If the buyer says, “That’s a good question,” you’re usually on the right track.

Common mistakes in discovery calls

• Jumping to a demo too early
• Asking too many surface-level questions
• Talking more than listening
• Asking questions without context
• Avoiding budget or decision discussions
• Treating discovery as a checklist
• Not documenting insights clearly

How discovery calls connect to the rest of the deal

• Discovery shapes the demo narrative
• Discovery informs qualification frameworks 
• Discovery determines deal size and scope
• Discovery reduces late-stage objections
• Discovery improves handoff to SEs and CS

Strong discovery makes later stages easier and faster.

How AI improves discovery calls

AI helps teams run better discovery at scale:

• Analyzes talk-to-listen ratios
• Flags shallow or missing discovery areas
• Surfaces buyer-stated pain and priorities
• Suggests follow-up questions in real time
• Summarizes calls with structured insights
• Identifies patterns across winning deals
• Helps managers coach based on real conversations

Tools that can help with discovery calls

Conversation intelligence, meeting assistance, and AI-driven coaching platforms such as Gong, Chorus, Avoma, SiftHub, and Fireflies.ai help teams run more effective, insight-driven discovery calls.

These tools support discovery by:

• Automatically capturing and summarizing buyer pain, goals, and constraints in the buyer’s own words
• Tracking talk-to-listen balance, question depth, and engagement signals
• Flagging missed follow-up questions or unclear next steps
• Providing call-level and pattern-based coaching insights tied to successful discovery outcomes

By embedding AI into discovery workflows, teams ensure that early-stage conversations are consistent, buyer-led, and actionable, setting a stronger foundation for qualification, solutioning, and deal progression.

How SaaS teams run effective discovery calls

• Set a clear agenda upfront
• Ask fewer, deeper questions
• Let buyers explain in their own words
• Summarize before moving forward
• Be willing to disqualify early
• Document insights immediately
• Use discovery to decide next steps, not just advance stages

A great discovery call creates clarity, even if the deal doesn’t move forward.

AI prompt to design a discovery call framework

What to provide the AI beforehand

• Product description and core use cases
• Target customer segment and personas
• Average deal size and sales cycle
• Typical buyer pain points
• Qualification criteria used by the team
• Common discovery challenges
• Examples of strong and weak discovery calls

Use this with a generative AI tool to design a discovery call playbook: