Sales

Discovery Call Planner

Prepare a discovery call that uncovers the real problem and its cost, using SPIN questions and a clear next step.

How to use this worksheet
  1. Write what you want from this call and the next step you will propose.
  2. Note what you already know from research so you do not waste their time.
  3. Plan an opening with an agenda and ask for permission to ask questions.
  4. Prepare a few questions per SPIN stage. After the call write down what you learned.
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What do you need to learn, and what next step will you ask for?

Prompts and example

Ask yourself

  • What would make this call a success even if there is no deal?

Example

Learn how routes are planned today and what late deliveries cost. Next step: a 60 minute workshop with operations and IT.

Company, role, trigger events, tools they use.

Prompts and example

Example

300 staff, new COO since January, two dispatcher jobs open, uses spreadsheets according to the job post.

Why you are talking and how you will use the time.

Prompts and example

Example

Thanks for making time. I would like to understand how you plan today, share what we see at similar firms and then decide together whether a next step makes sense. Does that work for you?

Facts about their current set-up. Keep few: research instead of asking.

Prompts and example

Example

How do you plan routes today? Who is involved? Which systems do you use?

Where does it hurt?

Prompts and example

Example

Where does planning go wrong? What happens when a driver calls in sick at 6 am? Where do you lose the most time?

What does the problem cost, and who feels it?

Prompts and example

Ask yourself

  • Can you put a number on the problem?

Example

What does a late delivery cost you, including the penalty and the call from the customer? Who else is affected? What happens if nothing changes this year?

Let the customer say what a solution would be worth.

Prompts and example

Example

If late deliveries halved, what would that be worth to you? Who would benefit most? What would you do with the freed time?

Budget, decision makers, timeline: ask them naturally.

Prompts and example

Example

Who else will be involved in a decision like this? How did you buy similar tools before? Is there a date by which this has to be solved?

What did you learn, what changed, what is the agreed next step?

Prompts and example

Example

Pain confirmed: about EUR 15k a month in penalties. COO owns it. Next step: workshop on 12 Nov with operations and IT.

Before you finish

About SPIN

Neil Rackham and his team analysed more than 35,000 sales calls. They found that in larger sales, the best performers asked questions in a pattern: Situation, Problem, Implication, Need-payoff. Implication questions make the cost of the problem visible, and need-payoff questions let the customer argue for the solution.

Use the questions as a guide, not a script. The aim is a customer who explains the problem to you and to their colleagues.

Recommended reading

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