Write a discovery call agenda and talking points
intermediateClaude SonnetSalesAediscoverycall-agendaaesales-process
Use case
Use this prompt to build a shareable agenda you send to prospects before a discovery call — and use as your own guide during it. A pre-sent agenda sets expectations, signals professionalism, and reduces no-shows.
The prompt
You are a senior account executive who runs highly effective discovery calls. Create a discovery call agenda and internal talking points guide for an upcoming call. Call details: - Prospect name:{{prospect_name}}- Prospect title:{{prospect_title}}- Company:{{company_name}}- Call duration:{{call_duration}}minutes - Call goal:{{call_goal}}(e.g., understand their workflow pain, qualify the opportunity, determine if there's a fit worth pursuing) - Your product/service:{{your_product}}- What they came in knowing about you:{{prospect_context}}Produce two outputs: ## OUTPUT 1: Prospect-Facing Agenda (to send in the calendar invite or pre-call email) - Professional, brief, and outcome-oriented - Lists 4–5 agenda items with approximate time allocations - Includes a note that you've reserved 5 minutes at the end for their questions - Signals that this is a two-way conversation, not a pitch ## OUTPUT 2: Internal Talking Points Guide (for your eyes only) For each agenda item, write: - Your opening line or transition to introduce the section - 1–2 key things to accomplish in that section - A "bridge" line to transition to the next section Include: - An opening that establishes rapport and sets the agenda collaboratively (not unilaterally) - A section for understanding their current state and goals - A section for uncovering problems and their implications - A section for sharing relevant proof/positioning (NOT a full demo — just enough to be credible) - A closing that nails down a specific next step - A "if they go off-topic" recovery line Tone for internal guide: direct coach voice — what to say, not just what to cover.
Variables
{{{{prospect_name}}}}Replace with your {{prospect name}}{{{{prospect_title}}}}Replace with your {{prospect title}}{{{{company_name}}}}Replace with your {{company name}}{{{{call_duration}}}}Replace with your {{call duration}}{{{{call_goal}}}}Replace with your {{call goal}}{{{{your_product}}}}Replace with your {{your product}}{{{{prospect_context}}}}Replace with your {{prospect context}}
Example
Input
prospect_name: Tom Wiesner prospect_title: Director of Operations company_name: Cascade Logistics call_duration: 45 call_goal: understand whether their dispatch coordination problem is severe enough to justify a platform purchase your_product: real-time fleet operations platform prospect_context: responded to a LinkedIn ad, filled out a form mentioning "dispatch bottlenecks"
Output
## OUTPUT 1: Prospect-Facing Agenda Subject: Our call Thursday — agenda Tom — looking forward to our conversation. Here's a quick outline so we make good use of the time: Thursday, [Date] | 45 minutes 1. Quick intros and context (5 min) 2. Your current operations and where things are working / breaking down (15 min) 3. Where Cascade wants to be in the next 12 months (10 min) 4. What we've seen work for similar logistics teams — and whether it's relevant here (10 min) 5. Your questions + next steps if there's a fit (5 min) My goal is to understand your situation well enough to know if we can genuinely help — and to be straight with you if we can't. No pressure, no pitch deck. See you Thursday. --- ## OUTPUT 2: Internal Talking Points Guide OPENING (5 min) Opening line: "Tom, appreciate you making time. I looked at what you filled out on the form — you mentioned dispatch bottlenecks, which is exactly the kind of thing I want to understand better. Before I do any talking, can I ask a few questions to make sure I'm not wasting your time with things that aren't relevant?" Key goal: Establish that this is their meeting, not yours. Get them talking first. Bridge: "Let me start at the 30,000-foot level — tell me about Cascade's operations today. How many routes, how many drivers, what does a typical dispatch day look like?" CURRENT STATE (15 min) Opening line: [Use their answer to your bridge question to go deeper] Key goals: (1) Understand the dispatch workflow — where does coordination break down? (2) Get a sense of team size and whether this is a people problem or a process/tool problem. Recovery if off-topic: "That's useful context — I want to come back to that. But first, help me understand the dispatch coordination piece you mentioned, because that's where I think I can add the most value today." Bridge: "So it sounds like the main friction is [restate what they said]. Has that always been the case, or did something change that made it worse?" GOALS + IMPLICATIONS (10 min) Opening line: "Let me shift forward a bit — where does Cascade want to be operationally in the next year? More routes, better margins, faster dispatch times?" Key goals: (1) Connect today's pain to future goals. (2) Get them to say what it costs them NOT to fix this — in time, money, or customer impact. Bridge: "If dispatch is still a bottleneck 12 months from now, what does that cost you? In driver time, missed pickups, whatever the right metric is for you." POSITIONING (10 min) Opening line: "Let me share what I've seen work for teams with a similar profile — and you tell me if any of it resonates." Key goal: Share 1–2 specific customer stories, NOT a feature list. Frame everything as "here's what teams like yours have done" not "here's what our product does." Bridge: "That's roughly what we do — but I don't want to keep talking about us. Does any of that match what you're dealing with?" CLOSE + NEXT STEP (5 min) Opening line: "Based on what you've told me — [restate their problem and goal] — I think there's something worth exploring here. What would be most useful as a next step for you?" Key goal: Propose a specific next step with a date. Don't leave it at "I'll send you some info." If no clear next step: "What would need to be true for this to be worth continuing the conversation?"
Tips for best results
- 1Send the prospect-facing agenda 24 hours before the call, not 5 minutes before. It reduces no-shows and gets prospects thinking about their answers.
- 2The internal guide is for you to internalize, not read from. If you're reading talking points on a call, the prospect can tell.
- 3The most powerful part of a discovery call is the bridge question after each section — it keeps momentum without feeling like an interrogation.
- 4If the prospect tries to turn the call into a demo, say: 'I want to show you exactly the right thing — let me ask a couple more questions so we don't waste time on parts that aren't relevant to you.'
- 5After the call, run the crm-note-summary prompt to capture what you learned in a structured format.
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