Discovery Call Questions: What to Ask Before You Take Someone On

The discovery call has a structural problem: both people are auditioning. You want the client, they want reassurance, and the result is a pleasant conversation that tells neither of you very much.

The fix is to change what the call is for. It is not where you convince someone to work with you. It is where you both find out whether they should — and being visibly willing to conclude "no" is, awkwardly, also the most persuasive thing you can do.

Open by Naming the Purpose

Say it in the first thirty seconds: "The point of this call is for both of us to work out whether I am the right person for this. If I am not, I would rather say so and point you somewhere better."

This does more work than any question that follows. It gives the client permission to be honest, and honest answers are the only useful output of a discovery call.

Fifteen Questions

What they actually want (1–5)

1. What made you reach out now, rather than six months ago?
2. If this went well, what would be different in six months?
3. What have you already tried?
4. What do you think is stopping you?
5. Who else is affected by this?

Question 1 is the one to listen hardest to. A specific trigger — a review, a resignation, a diagnosis, a birthday — predicts follow-through far better than a well-articulated goal.

Whether they are ready (6–10)

1. What does your next three months look like?
2. How much time can you give this outside our sessions?
3. Have you worked with a coach before? How did it end?
4. What would make you want to stop?
5. Is anything else going on that would make this hard right now?

Whether you fit (11–15)

1. What are you hoping I will do?
2. Do you want someone who challenges you or someone who steadies you?
3. What would make this feel like a waste of money?
4. What do you want to be sure we do not spend time on?
5. What have I not asked that I should have?

Question 11 sorts more engagements than any other. People wanting advice, accountability, or a thinking partner all say "I want coaching" and mean three incompatible things.

Three Signals Worth Declining Over

• Someone else's goal. When the answer to "what would be different" is really about a partner or a manager's expectations, the engagement usually stalls quietly and neither of you will be able to say why.
• Clinical need. If what is described belongs with a therapist, say so on the call. Referring well is the most professional thing you will do that week.
• Wanting to be fixed. "Tell me what to do and I will do it" is not a coaching relationship. Sometimes it can be reframed on the call. If it cannot, it will not improve later.

How to End It

Do not close. Summarise what you heard, say plainly whether you think you are a fit, and if you are, describe what working together looks like and what it costs. Then stop talking.

If you are not a fit, say that and offer a direction. A meaningful share of referrals come from people you declined, because declining well is rare enough to be memorable.

Afterwards

Write the answers down the same day, in the client's own words. Question 13 in particular — "what would make this feel like a waste of money" — is the sentence to re-read in month three when you are trying to work out whether the engagement is drifting.

If they sign, those answers become the baseline for intake, and the thread continues through the check-ins between sessions — which is where you find out whether what they told you on the call was actually true.