The Discovery Call Guide

Run a 30-minute first sales call: preparation, an agenda, 22 questions including six for AI products, a seven-check qualification rule and a note sheet.

Word document · Free

What this resource helps you do

Run a 30-minute first sales call about the buyer's problem: preparation, a timed agenda, a question bank with AI-product questions, AAJ's seven-check qualification rule and a note sheet.

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What the Discovery Call Guide does

The Discovery Call Guide helps you run a 30-minute first sales call about the buyer’s problem, not your product. It gives you the preparation, an agenda, a 22-question bank with six questions for AI products, AAJ’s seven-check qualification rule and a note sheet, so the call ends with a dated next step or an honest no.

What is inside

Before the call (10 minutes), a timed 30-minute agenda, and a question bank: sixteen questions across five stages, six more if you sell an AI product, and notes for selling to schools and districts and to clinics and hospitals.
A qualification check with seven yes-or-no checks, read by AAJ's rule, not a benchmark: 6 or 7 yeses is a qualified opportunity, 4 or 5 is a follow-up with a named purpose, 3 or fewer is a polite no.
A note sheet, six follow-up steps for the same day, and the free discovery-call-framework skill for your AI agent.

How to use it

Prepare for 10 minutes. Score the account in the ICP Fit Scorer, write down your guess at their problem so you can be wrong on purpose, and decide the next step you will ask for.
Say the agenda in the first minute. Ask what would make the call worth their time.
Pick two or three questions per stage. Ask, then stop talking. Most of the call goes to their problem.
Say plainly where you fit and where you do not. Say it out loud when it is not a fit.
Score the seven checks straight after the call. With the evidence you heard. AAJ's rule of thumb: if you are not sure, the answer is no.
Do the follow-up the same day. The summary, the buying committee map, the objections and the stage.

Who it is for

Founders and first sales hires at seed to Series B startups who run their own first calls, in B2B SaaS, AI products, EdTech or MedTech. If you still do not know the problem well enough to write a guess at it, run a few customer interviews first: an interview is for learning, a discovery call is for deciding whether there is a deal.

The worked example uses Example Co., a fictional company; its figures are illustrative. The template is free in exchange for an email address.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should a discovery call cover?

The buyer's situation, the problem in their words and the last time it happened, what it costs and who feels it, how they will decide and against what alternatives, and whether you honestly fit. It should end with a specific next step with a date, or a clean no.

How long should a first sales call be?

The guide plans 30 minutes: 3 to open, about 15 on their situation, problem and impact, 5 on how they decide, 4 on fit both ways and the last 3 on the next step. The product waits until minute 23.

How do I know if a deal is qualified?

Answer the seven checks with what you heard. AAJ's rule, not a benchmark: 6 or 7 yeses is a qualified opportunity, 4 or 5 is a follow-up with a named purpose, and 3 or fewer is a polite no. AAJ's rule of thumb for each check: if you are not sure, the answer is no.

What changes when I sell an AI product?

Buyers have more to settle: how they will judge the output, who reviews it, who approves AI tools and what data they can share for a trial. Ask what they use today too. If it is a general AI assistant or an in-house build, that is the alternative you are really competing with.

Is the guide free, and what format is it?

Free, in exchange for an email address. It is a Word .docx you can type into, and it opens in Word, Google Docs and Pages. The companion Sales Process workbook is a separate free template.