How to Run an Effective Discovery Call [Post-Discovery Workflow Template]

Making a strong first impression in sales usually starts with one pivotal moment: the discovery call. It’s where you understand your prospect’s priorities, uncover pain points, and set the trajectory for the entire deal. But while a high-quality discovery call is essential, what happens after the call is just as important.

Most deals stall not because discovery was weak — but because post-discovery execution breaks down: Follow-ups are delayed, notes get scattered, next steps aren’t clear, and stakeholders lose alignment.

This guide walks you through how to run an effective discovery call and gives you a ready-to-use post-discovery workflow template, powered by Flowla, to help you maintain momentum, build trust, and turn early conversations into real progress.

Here's what we’ll cover:

• How to prepare for and run an effective discovery call
• The exact questions top-performing sellers use
• Common mistakes that derail discovery
• A complete post-discovery workflow template using Flowla
• How to automate your post-discovery process (without losing the human touch)

Let’s dive in.

What is a discovery call?

A discovery call serves as the initial point of contact between a sales rep and a prospective client. Its purpose is to uncover the prospect's needs, challenges, and goals, and to determine if there is a potential fit between the prospect's requirements and the solutions or services offered by the salesperson's company.

However, it’s more than a simple exchange of information within a sales process. It represents an opportunity for both parties to assess the compatibility between the prospect's requirements and the solutions or services offered by the salesperson's company.

Beyond its immediate objective of evaluating fit, successful discovery calls lay the groundwork for long-term customer relationships. From the initial conversation to the eventual contract signing, the focus remains on building rapport and nurturing a partnership grounded in mutual respect, understanding, and shared objectives.

7 tips to nail your next discovery call

Contrary to popular belief, a strong discovery process is more than just asking specific questions or listening to potential clients.

Pinpointing the particular issues or difficulties the prospect is facing, which may require delving deeper to uncover underlying concerns, is a crucial step and the biggest challenge in the sales discovery process. But there are a few other things you should keep in mind the next time you get on a sales call with a prospective client:

1. Come well-prepared with thorough research on the topic, the individual, or the organization you're engaging with, and use relevant information to adjust your discovery call script.
2. Be ready to handle objections, effectively address any doubts or reservations raised by the speaker, show empathy, and offer constructive solutions.
3. Use open-ended questions that encourage the speaker to share more detailed information, promoting a deeper understanding of their needs and preferences.
4. Regularly assess the information being shared to ensure understanding and adjust your responses and next questions accordingly.
5. Clearly communicate your value proposition and solution, including the benefits and advantages of your product in a way that resonates with the speaker's needs and concerns.
6. Understand the competitive environment to better position your offering effectively and set it apart from alternatives.
7. Collaboratively plan the next steps to outline a clear and achievable mutual action plan, ensuring alignment and commitment to moving forward effectively.

How do you run an effective discovery call? Step-by-step guide

According to a recent survey, the average conversion rate from discovery calls to sales is 10% to 30%. We at Flowla understand how important it is to get to that 30% point and beyond.

So here’s our step-by-step discovery process, along with some sales discovery questions you can steal and adapt.

Before the call

First, you need to do your homework: Learn as much as you can about your prospect before the discovery call. You can use platforms like Crunchbase for the company and search your prospects on Google or social media (especially LinkedIn).

💡 AI-powered tools like Humanlinker or Crystal can provide you with valuable insights on how to engage with the person, based on various signals from their online presence.

You will find a characteristic you share with them and boom — there is your icebreaker for a perfect sales discovery call intro!

💡 Pro tip: After your research, pre-build a lightweight Flowla Discovery Room — with agenda, resources, and intro video — so your prospect walks into the call already aligned.

Setting the agenda

Once you're on the call, set a clear agenda. Start by expressing your gratitude for the opportunity to connect, and then outline the topics you'll cover. This will help keep your discussion focused and productive.

💡 Make sure to keep the intro short — 1-2 minutes.

• Before we dive in, let's decide which scenario resonates with you: e.g., {use case 1}, {use case 2}, {use case 2}.

You can also share the agenda ahead of time using Flowla so all stakeholders know exactly what will be covered. This reduces surprises and speeds up alignment during the meeting.

Discovery call questions

Make the call a two-way conversation — ask and listen to what your prospective customer has to tell. You need to understand your potential customer clearly and accurately to gain a deeper understanding of their needs and challenges. You'll gain insights into their business, what's working well, what's not, etc.

💡Be sure to spread out your questions throughout the meeting, not frontload them, so the discovery process doesn’t feel like an interrogation.

• Can you share more about your product and your role?
• Could you provide insights into your team's size and the current solution you use (if any)?
• Let's talk about the main hurdles you face in {area of application for your product}.

Educating and informing

Once you understand their business needs and situation in general, share your product that can address their specific needs and business challenges (rather than talking about product features). Include real-life examples and customer stories. These can help illustrate how your product has helped others with similar challenges and show them the potential benefits for their business.

💡Use only relevant case studies and research to support your value proposition.

• Did you know that {relevant stat that highlights the pain point}?
• {Product}’s triumph lies in the fact that {value proposition}.
• By working with us, Company X {concrete results from a relevant case study}.

Drop relevant case studies, proof points, or micro-demos directly into your Flowla discovery space. Prospects can revisit them after the call — a huge advantage when you’re not in the room and multiple stakeholders need context.

Crafting the perfect fit

It's important to ensure that your product offering seamlessly aligns with their needs. You need to clarify how the solution can effectively solve their problems and improve their operations.

Your goal should be to provide not just a product, but a customized solution that fits your prospect's unique circumstances.

💡Discovery is the most important part of the qualification process. But you should be ready to disqualify a sales opportunity if you see that there's no actual fit.

• We often find {persona} unhappy about {common challenge}. Has this been a concern for your team too?
• Next, let's delve into why {product} could be a strong contender for your requirements.
• Our objective is to ensure that {product}’s capabilities align seamlessly with your specific needs.

Once you validate fit, instantly convert your discovery takeaways into a structured Flowla MAP with responsibilities, due dates, and decision timelines. This keeps both sides accountable.

Next steps and beyond

As you wrap up the call, discuss the next steps. Whether it's scheduling another meeting, sharing additional resources, or arranging a demo, make sure the action plan is aligned with your prospect's expectations and needs.

The goal is to keep the momentum going and effectively move forward together.

• We can also organize a workshop to solidify a mutual action plan based on best practices.
• Let's set a date for our next meeting in 2-3 weeks.
• Consider inviting additional stakeholders to the next meeting.

💡Even if you see that there’s no fit, it makes sense to ask a person for a referral at the end of your discovery call.

• As we wrap up, may I ask for a favor? Could you introduce us to another company that might benefit from {product}’s capabilities?
• To sweeten the deal, if your reference signs up, we're happy to offer you {product perk}.

Flowla turns your next steps into a live, trackable plan. Whenever a stakeholder views a document, opens a stage, or stalls, you get engagement signals — helping you follow up at the perfect moment.

Best tools for running effective discovery calls

A great discovery process isn’t just about the questions you ask — it’s also about the systems you use to prepare, run, and follow up on the call. The right tools help you show up informed, stay focused, capture insights accurately, and keep momentum going after the meeting.

Here are the essential tools modern sales teams rely on at each stage of the discovery workflow:

Flowla — Digital Sales Rooms for post-discovery follow-up automation

Flowla is the backbone of a modern discovery workflow. Instead of manually writing recap emails or juggling PDFs across email threads, Flowla turns every discovery call into a centralized, trackable experience:

• Auto-generated call summaries
• A single link for your prospect to access resources, notes, and next steps
• Mutual Action Plans created from your discovery insights
• Engagement signals showing which stakeholders are active
• Automated follow-up nudges based on behavior

If discovery happens on the call, post-discovery happens in Flowla.

Zoom / Google Meet — live discovery conversations

Nothing replaces real-time conversation. Zoom and Meet are the default tools used to:

• Build rapport
• Walk through agenda items
• Ask open-ended questions
• Read body language
• Establish fit

Just make sure your video is on — buyers trust faces, not black boxes.

Gong / Fireflies — call recording, notes & coaching

These tools ensure you never miss key insights. With automatic recording and transcription, you can:

• Review exact phrasing of pain points
• Double-check success criteria
• Identify buying signals
• Improve your questioning technique
• Train new reps on real conversations

And when synced with Flowla, your recap becomes even more accurate.

Humanlinker / Crystal — personality & communication insights

These tools analyze public data to reveal how your prospect likes to communicate, what motivates them, and how to build rapport quickly. They help you:

• Personalize your intro
• Adapt your tone
• Predict objections
• Understand buying behavior

A strong discovery call starts with understanding the person behind the Zoom window.

LinkedIn — prospect & company research

Before a call – and especially before inviting additional stakeholders – LinkedIn helps you understand:

• Who’s who
• Org structure
• Recent posts (great for icebreakers)
• Shared connections
• Buying group dynamics

Almost every great discovery call begins with a scroll through the prospect’s profile.

How to automate post-discovery follow-up workflow with Flowla

A great discovery call only matters if you keep the momentum alive afterwards. This is usually where deals go dark – recaps get delayed, next steps aren’t clarified, and new stakeholders join with zero context. Flowla removes all of that friction by turning your call into an automated, personalized follow-up workflow that keeps everyone aligned and moving forward.

Here’s how the post-discovery flow works inside Flowla:

Right after the call, Flowla drafts a clean recap using your notes — pain points, goals, stakeholders, timelines — so you can send a polished summary in minutes instead of writing it from scratch.

That recap becomes the foundation for a Discovery Room: a single, branded link where your buyer finds everything in one place — the call summary, relevant resources, case studies, demo clips, and a clear decision timeline. Buyers can invite additional stakeholders themselves, ensuring everyone is aligned without extra emails.

Flowla automatically transforms your recap into a simple, collaborative Mutual Action Plan, so next steps are visible, owned, and time-bound. As buyers move (or stall), Flowla triggers the right nudges at the right moments – reminders for incomplete steps, alerts when new people view the room, and prompts when engagement drops – helping you follow up without chasing.

As the deal progresses, the same room smoothly evolves into the next phase: demo, POC, proposal, or onboarding. No duplication, no rebuilding, no new links – just one continuous buyer journey with full visibility for both sides.

Flowla handles the administrative layers in the background, syncing activity and progression back to your CRM, while you stay focused on the human part of selling.

As a result, sales teams using Flowla to automate their follow-ups report that:

• Reps save 30 mins/call on average on demo follow-up tasks
• They observe 12% faster deal velocity
• Buyers get value instantly in the post-demo with personalized follow-ups & deal rooms

What are the biggest discovery call mistakes to avoid?

During discovery calls, it's easy to fall into habits that alienate prospects instead of attracting them. Here are five common bad habits that can result in losing prospects, along with effective solutions to fix them:

• Entering calls with the intent to sell

Entering a call with the sole intention of making a sale can come across as pushy and self-serving.

Solution: Offer an alternative by giving the prospect an easy way out. Acknowledge that your solution may not be right for everyone and invite them to opt out if it doesn't meet their needs or expectations.

• Being caught off guard when asked for a demo

Being unprepared or nervous when the prospect requests a demo can signal a lack of readiness and confidence.

Solution: Anticipate the request for a product demo by thoroughly understanding the prospect's problem and use case beforehand. Redirect the conversation to ensure that the demo addresses their specific needs and challenges.

• Focusing too much on your company

Launching into a presentation about your company without addressing the prospect's interests or needs can come across as tone-deaf and irrelevant.

Solution: Instead of starting with company information, start the conversation with a thought-provoking question that demonstrates your understanding of their strategic priorities and challenges. Make the call more about them and less about you.

• Ignoring the signals during the call

Disregarding key indicators of prospect interest or disengagement can lead to misunderstandings and lost opportunities.

Solution: Pay close attention to subtle cues and signals from the prospect, adjusting the approach accordingly to maintain momentum and interest.

• Putting your best interests before your prospect

Focusing solely on your agenda and objectives during the call can leave the prospect feeling undervalued and disengaged.

Solution: Prioritize the prospect's needs and interests by allowing them to opt out if the conversation or demo doesn't align with their priorities. Respect their time and choices, even if it means walking away from the sale.

• Lack of follow-up after the meeting

Failure to maintain regular and timely communication with prospects can result in missed opportunities and stalled deals.

Solution: Implementing a structured follow-up plan to stay engaged and responsive, ensuring that prospects feel valued and supported throughout the process.

Bringing your discovery process full circle

An effective discovery call does more than uncover pain points – it sets the tone for the entire buying experience. But even the strongest live conversation will fall flat if the follow-up lacks clarity, structure, or momentum. That’s why the real magic happens after the call, in how well you recap, align stakeholders, and guide next steps.

Flowla bridges that critical post-discovery gap. By turning your call insights into a shared, trackable workspace with clear next steps and light automation, you create a seamless handoff from conversation to action. Instead of scattered emails, lost notes, or stalled deals, you and your buyers move forward inside one continuous, transparent workflow.

The result?
A discovery process that feels organized, personal, and easy to follow – not just for you, but for every stakeholder involved.

If you want to run discovery calls that actually lead somewhere – faster timelines, clearer alignment, and more confident buyers – pairing a strong call with a structured post-discovery workflow is the simplest and most effective way to get there.

Want to turn your next discovery call into real momentum? Try Flowla’s post-discovery workflow and see how much smoother the process can be.