Discovery Meeting: What is it and How to Conduct One

Picture this: you’re meeting a prospect who could become a long-term partner.

The pressure’s on—they share their challenges, and you’re eager to show how you can help.

But how do you build trust right from the start and convince them to partner with you?

This is where discovery meetings come in. They offer a chance to understand your prospect’s challenges and goals, set expectations, and build a rapport.

This guide has everything you need to nail your next prospect discovery meeting, from the initial scoping and financial planning to follow-up.

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Discovery Meeting: What Is it and How to Conduct One

⏰ 60-Second Summary

Discovery meetings are crucial for understanding the needs of your potential customers and building strong relationships
Research your client’s business, goals, and challenges before the meeting. Gather valuable insights and ensure you understand their needs
Outline discussion points, assign speakers, and prioritize topics. Coordinate availability for all participants, ensuring everyone can contribute without conflicts. Integrate with Google Calendar or Outlook for smooth scheduling
Encourage open discussions, take detailed notes, and ensure all critical points are addressed
Brainstorm and document ideas, list meeting notes, and highlight action items with ClickUp Docs and Brain
Send thank-you notes, address outstanding questions, and assign follow-up tasks with ClickUp to ensure clear accountability and progress tracking

Convert Meeting Discussion Points Into Action Items With ClickUp

What Is a Discovery Meeting?

A discovery meeting is an introductory call between a sales representative and a prospective client to understand the client’s pain points and requirements.

Far from just another sales call, it’s a strategic conversation to discover the insights that will guide your entire sales approach. You understand the client’s business, their problems and needs, and their expected goals.

Remember, a discovery call is not the time to pitch your product. Instead, focus on actively listening and empathizing with the client’s situation. Show genuine curiosity, ask thoughtful questions, and create a space where they feel heard and understood.

This helps you build trust, establish rapport, and subtly position yourself as a valuable partner who can help the prospect achieve success.

In short, a client discovery meeting sets the tone for a long-lasting client relationship and boosts sales opportunities. Nail it, and you’ll establish yourself as a partner they can trust to help them succeed.

💡Pro Tip: A successful discovery session is all about clients. It’s your chance to ask the right questions, listen actively, and show that you’re not just selling a solution—you’re offering the right solution.

Role of Discovery Meetings in the Sales Process

Discovery meetings are the cornerstone of a successful sales process because they shift the focus from selling to solving. This initial meeting is where you lay the groundwork for a comprehensive understanding of your prospect’s specific needs, challenges, and goals, allowing you to craft a tailored solution instead of a one-size-fits-all pitch.

In the early stages of the sales funnel, discovery meetings build trust. Prospects want a partner who understands their business inside and out and gives them professional advice. An effective discovery meeting positions you as a trusted advisor, not just a vendor.

These meetings also simplify your sales discovery process by helping you qualify leads early. By clarifying the prospect’s pain points, you can guide the conversation to address what matters most and highlight your value proposition, making follow-up interactions more impactful.

In essence, discovery meetings serve as the foundation for lasting partnerships. When done right, they transform sales meetings from a transaction into a true collaboration.

🧠 Did you know? 68% of customers will spend more money with a brand that understands them and treats them like individuals.

Preparing for a Successful Discovery Meeting

A successful discovery meeting requires meticulous preparation. The more thoroughly you prepare, the more confident and impactful your conversations will be. Plus, it shows that you respect your prospect’s valuable time.

Begin by digging into your client’s business, goals, and challenges to gain a solid understanding of their needs. Create a clear agenda based on the initial conversation. It should define the meeting’s purpose, key discussion points, and desired outcomes.

Next, gather all relevant materials, including client details, market insights, and competitive data, to add value to the conversation. Assign roles within your team to ensure a focused discussion and seamless coverage of all critical topics.

🧠 Did you know? On average, reps talk for 57% of discovery calls

Step 1: Centralize your research and list questions

An initial discovery session is about understanding your prospect’s business challenges and goals. To do this effectively, you need more than surface-level data. Focus on building a comprehensive repository of information.

Here’s how you can collect data to prepare for a discovery meeting:

🔍 Gather essential details such as their business model, key pain points, industry trends, and recent developments

🌐 Explore the client’s website, analyze their social media activity, and review any recent news or press releases to understand their current priorities and potential challenges

📋 Send detailed questionnaires to clients before the meeting to get direct insights into their specific needs

Now, it’s time to write down all the questions you want to ask during the discovery call. For this, you can use the SPIN framework by Neil Rakham to prepare for a discovery call.

Let’s see how to use the SPIN framework for a client struggling with low customer retention:

Situation: Gather basic facts about the company to understand the challenges.
Example: “How are you currently tracking customer engagement after they sign up?”
Problem: Identify challenges they are facing so you can provide specific solutions.
Example: “Are there specific customer segments that churn more often?”
Implication: Explore the consequences of the problem to highlight urgency.
Example: “If customers keep churning at this rate, how will it impact your revenue in the next six months?”
Need-Payoff: Position your solution in a way that emphasizes value.
Example: “What if you had a system that alerted you when a high-value customer was at risk of churning?”

Once you’ve collected all the information, focus on relevant documentation for easy reference during the meeting.

💡Pro Tip: ClickUp Docs is an ideal solution for creating a centralized repository to store research, team notes, customer discovery questions, and competitive insights. Collaborate with your team in real time to refine your notes, tag members to get feedback, and ensure no critical insights are overlooked.

Use ClickUp Docs to turn discovery meeting insights into action — *Turn discovery meeting insights into action with ClickUp Docs*

Step 2: Create a hypothesis

A discovery call is a chance to show the prospect that you understand their business and can help them tackle the challenges. One great way to build trust is to present a detailed hypothesis on the challenges faced by the client. This is based on how well you do your research.

Here’s an example of a hypothesis for a discovery call.

Hypothesis for Discovery meeting call via The Revenu Enabler — *via* *The Revenu Enabler*

Using a hypothesis is what separates average and elite reps. It allows you to earn the right to run discovery by showing your prospect you’ve done your homework and you’re an industry expert. If you’re wrong that’s OK as it offers the prospect an opportunity to correct you.

James Bisell, Founder of The Revenue Enabler

Step 3: Craft a winning agenda

A well-thought-out discovery meeting agenda ensures every minute of your discovery meeting serves a clear purpose. It provides a clear roadmap, ensuring you cover all critical topics and maintain a focused conversation.

Here’s how to craft an agenda that delivers results:

➡️ Define the primary objective of the meeting. Are you aiming to understand the client’s biggest challenges? Identify their key business goals? or Explore potential solutions?

➡️ Consider the specific needs and industry of the client and what the client expects. For example, if you’re meeting with a marketing manager, the meeting agenda might include topics like:

General business exploration: Company overview, target audience, market position, and overall business goals
Identify marketing goals: Revenue growth, brand awareness, lead generation, customer acquisition, and customer retention
Current marketing strategies: Analyze existing marketing channels, campaigns, and their effectiveness
Marketing challenges: Identify current roadblocks, budget constraints, and areas for improvement

Before scheduling the call, inquire about the client’s expectations for the meeting. This collaborative approach ensures the agenda aligns with their priorities and demonstrates your willingness to adapt.

You should also allocate specific time slots for each agenda item to maintain an efficient discussion. Clearly define who will lead each discussion point and who will be responsible for note-taking.

With ClickUp Meetings, you can organize agendas, schedule discussions, and capture actionable insights seamlessly, setting the stage for productive and meaningful discovery meetings.

For added efficiency, the ClickUp Agenda Template simplifies this process, giving you a reusable framework for consistent and impactful discovery meetings.

For example, a business or sales team can use List View to track topics like ‘Client Challenges,’ ‘Proposed Solutions,’ and ‘Next Steps.’ If your team prefers a visual approach, the Board View offers a Kanban-style layout to prioritize and organize agenda items seamlessly.

Download This Template

🧠 Did you know? The average discovery call is 36 minutes long.

Step 3: Schedule meetings seamlessly

Scheduling virtual meetings may seem like a minor task, but it sets the tone for your meeting. Coordinate with stakeholders to find a suitable time and platform for the online meeting. Be sure to test the platform beforehand to avoid technical glitches.

Once the time and platform are set, send out calendar invites with all key details, including the agenda, meeting link, and pre-meeting materials. Send reminders to ensure timely attendance.

ClickUp Calendar View simplifies this process by displaying your team’s and client’s availability in one place.

ClickUp Calendar View to seamlessly schedule discovery meetings — *Seamlessly schedule and manage discovery meetings by aligning team and client availability at a glance with ClickUp Calendar View*

💡 Pro Tip: Integrations with tools like Google Calendar and Outlook can help you synchronize everything, eliminating double bookings or missed appointments.

Step 4: Collaborate with your team

Collaboration doesn’t stop once the meeting is on the calendar. By fostering open communication and shared understanding among your team, you can ensure everyone is aligned and working toward a common goal.

For example, after compiling a list of client pain points, the team can discuss potential solutions, ensuring the meeting addresses critical issues with actionable insights.

Here are some best practices for collaborating with your team when preparing for a discovery meeting:

✅ Establish clear roles and responsibilities: Define who is responsible for each aspect of the preparation, from research and agenda creation to presentation development and follow-up

✅ Brainstorm potential questions and objections: Collaboratively develop a list of questions the client might ask and brainstorm effective responses to potential objections

✅ Practice the presentation together: Rehearse the presentation as a team to identify areas for improvement and ensure a cohesive and consistent message

🧠 Did you know? According to a survey, the time spent preparing for discovery meetings ranged from 30 minutes to two days, based on the client’s needs and the agent’s experience.

Conducting the Discovery Meeting

Once you’ve prepared thoroughly, it’s time to conduct a discovery meeting that delivers value and builds trust.

Here are a few tips to make your discovery calls productive.

Step 1: Break the ice

Start with a warm but professional greeting to set the tone for your discovery call. Begin by stating the agenda and aligning on expectations.

🌻 Example: “I’m so glad we’re connecting today! I’d love to hear more about what you’re hoping to achieve and how I can support you. What inspired you to take this step?”

Step 2: Practice active listening and ask open-ended questions

During a discovery call, your main focus should be actively listening to the prospect’s challenges and goals. Ask open-ended questions to get deeper insights into their pain points.

🌻 Example: “What’s the biggest frustration with your current process/system?” “How do you measure success for this challenge?”

Step 3: Brainstorm ideas

Discovery meetings thrive on collaborative discussion and fresh ideas. Try real-time brainstorming with the client to visualize concepts, map out solutions, and engage your team and prospects.

🌻 Example: If you are a marketing agency discussing the client’s ideal customer persona in the discovery call, you could create a flowchart on a Whiteboard, and both you and the client can map out key demographics, behaviors, pain points, and preferences. The ability to share and update the Whiteboard live ensures the session remains dynamic and interactive.

💡Pro Tip: You can use ClickUp Whiteboards to sketch a workflow, outline a project plan, or map challenges.

Use ClickUp Whiteboards for real-time brainstorming and seamless collaboration — *ClickUp Whiteboards turn discovery meeting ideas into actionable strategies with real-time brainstorming and seamless collaboration*

Learn how you can use ClickUp Whiteboards for creative collaboration!👇🏻

Step 4: Get call insights

Discovery calls tend to be dynamic and unstructured, with ideas flowing freely. Clients may jump between topics, share stories, or provide feedback in a non-linear fashion. This makes it difficult to follow a clear path of conversation and identify key insights without missing critical points.

You can use the ClickUp Meeting Minutes Template to note meeting insights, track goals, assign action items, and outline the next steps—all in one place.

With this template, you can:

Document client challenges, proposed solutions, and feedback in an organized format
Use nested subtasks to allocate follow-up responsibilities to your team members
Create a shared record of decisions and action items so everyone is aligned

Download This Template

You can also use ClickUp Brain, ClickUp’s AI assistant, to summarize meeting transcripts, translate meeting discussions, or prepare meeting minutes.

ClickUp Brain can help you analyze the tone and sentiment of the client and your team members during the call. By identifying positive, negative, or neutral sentiments, AI can help you gauge the client’s emotional response to certain ideas or proposals.

Get detailed insights into discovery meetings with ClickUp Brain and create follo-up actions items

Post-Discovery Meeting Activities

The real work begins when the discovery meeting wraps up. What happens afterward can make or break the momentum you’ve built.

Post-meeting activities, like thoughtful follow-ups and effective task management, are key to turning insights into actions.

Step 1: Send a thank you note and list the next action items

Start by sending a personalized thank-you note to your prospect. This simple gesture sets the tone for a professional relationship and reinforces its importance to your process. Use the opportunity to recap key points discussed in the meeting, showing that you value their time and insights.

You should also summarize the key discussion points from the discovery call and outline the next steps, such as sending a proposal and scheduling a follow-up meeting.

💡Pro Tip: Always send a personalized thank-you email within 24 hours of the discovery meeting. It not only shows professionalism but also keeps the conversation fresh in your client’s mind.

Step 2: Debrief with your team

Gather your team for a quick debrief to consolidate the meeting’s takeaways. Discuss what went well, identify gaps, and inform them about the next steps.

Step 3: Address outstanding questions

If there are unanswered questions or pending clarifications, address them promptly. You can review meeting notes and list any questions needing follow-up, such as pricing, case studies, or implementation timelines.

Step 4: Assign and track follow-up tasks

Turning meeting insights into actionable tasks is critical. Here’s how you can do it:

Task management: Create tasks for each action item discussed in the discovery meeting. Assign team members, set deadlines, and link related files for context
Subtasks: Break down complex follow-ups into manageable subtasks, ensuring every detail is covered
Reminders and notifications: Set reminders to ensure successful project execution
Collaboration features: Use task comments to discuss follow-up details, attach relevant documents, and tag teammates for input, creating a transparent and collaborative workflow

ClickUp Tasks can help you here. You can assign tasks to your team members, set priority levels, and track project tasks with custom statuses.

ClickUp Tasks to assign tasks to your team members

🌻Example:

Imagine you’ve wrapped up a discovery meeting with a potential client. During the meeting, they highlighted a need for process automation. Here’s how you can assign tasks in ClickUp:

Create tasks: Log a follow-up task to research automation tools tailored to their industry
Assign responsibilities: Assign subtasks to specific team members for deeper research or proposal drafting
Track progress: Monitor task updates in real time and ensure deadlines are met using ClickUp’s Calendar View
Collaborate seamlessly: Use task comments to keep discussions in one place, attaching relevant materials like case studies or demo schedules

Post-discovery activities help keep the momentum alive. With ClickUp’s online meeting tools and resources, you can ensure your team is aligned, follow-ups are handled efficiently, and clients feel valued at every step.

📮ClickUp Insight: 37% of workers send follow-up notes or meeting minutes to track action items, but 36% still rely on other, fragmented methods.

Without a unified system for capturing decisions, key insights you need may get buried in chats, emails, or spreadsheets. With ClickUp, you can instantly turn conversations into actionable tasks across all your tasks, chats, and docs—ensuring nothing falls through the cracks.

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Best Practices and Mistakes to Avoid for Discovery Meetings

Discovery meetings are critical for building trust, identifying client needs, and positioning yourself as a valuable partner.

However, without careful planning and execution, these meetings can derail, wasting time and harming your credibility. Here’s how to maximize success with proven best practices and avoid common pitfalls.

Best practices:

🙌 Dive deep into the client’s business, their industry landscape, and potential challenges they may face. The better prepared you are, the more personalized and impactful your approach will be

🙌 Start every meeting with a clear purpose. Share an agenda outlining what will be discussed and what you aim to achieve

🙌 Go beyond surface-level questions. Pay attention to not just what the client says but also their tone and body language. Ask follow-up questions like, “Can you elaborate on that challenge?” to ensure you fully grasp their pain points and priorities

🙌 Don’t just ask what the client wants; delve deeper into the why. Uncover the motivations driving their goals. For example, instead of just noting they need a faster software solution, explore why speed is essential—perhaps to reduce customer churn or improve operational efficiency. This deeper understanding helps you craft tailored solutions

🙌 Treat the meeting as a conversation rather than an interview. Establish rapport by showing empathy, aligning on shared objectives, and creating an environment where the client feels heard and valued

🙌 Watch for signs of disengagement, confusion, or discomfort in the client’s body language. If they seem hesitant, adjust your approach or ask, “Is there anything we need to clarify further?

🙌 The meeting doesn’t end when the conversation does. Promptly address outstanding questions, share a summary of action items, and maintain consistent communication to keep the momentum going

🙌 Use collaboration tools like ClickUp Docs and ClickUp Whiteboards to capture key takeaways, action items, and next steps during the meeting. This ensures alignment and serves as a reference point for both parties, reducing miscommunication

💡Pro Tip: You can use ClickUp’s AI Notetaker to record, transcribe, and summarize discovery calls. This helps you get actionable insights into the prospect’s challenges and share a solid business proposal.

Mistakes to avoid:

❗Discovery meetings are about understanding, not selling. Avoid rushing to promote your product or service before fully exploring the client’s needs

❗A discovery meeting is an opportunity for the client to share. Avoid dominating the conversation; instead, ask open-ended questions and listen intently. Aim to let the client do at least 70% of the talking

❗Highlighting your product’s features without connecting them to the client’s problems can dilute your value. Focus on how your offering solves their specific challenges and delivers measurable results

❗Ending the call without clear action items, leaving the client uncertain about what happens next and not hinting about a future relationship

Turn Prospects Into Customers With ClickUp

Discovery meetings are the first step to building meaningful relationships with new clients. From preparation to execution and follow-up, every step counts in making a productive discovery meeting.

With ClickUp, you’re equipped to master every stage of the discovery process. Its powerful tools, like Whiteboards for brainstorming, Docs for real-time note-taking, and task management for seamless follow-ups, ensure you stay organized and ahead of the curve.

So, the next time you schedule a discovery meeting, let ClickUp handle the heavy lifting—leaving you to focus on what truly matters: understanding and solving your client’s needs.

Everything you need to stay organized and get work done.

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