Discovery calls: questions that uncover real needs
For account executives, account managers and pre-sales engineers at a managed service provider who already know the basics of discovery questions and qualification (see 'Discovery questions and qualification'). This course goes deeper: preparing hypotheses to test, asking about real recent events, finding the need behind a requested product, listening for impact and decision-makers, and writing a needs summary the customer agrees with. It borrows interviewing and user-needs practice from the GOV.UK Service Manual and adapts it to sales conversations. Your company's discovery template and call-recording rules take priority.
- Level
- Intermediate
- Length
- About 68 minutes
- Contents
- 5 lessons · final exam
- Status
- Published · updated 10 Oct 2026
Skills you'll practise
- Prepare a discovery call plan that lists hypotheses to test rather than facts to pitch
- Write open questions about real, recent events instead of opinions or hypotheticals
- Identify the underlying need behind a product the customer asks for
- Recognise leading questions, early pitching and missed follow-ups in a call transcript
- Write a needs summary in the customer's words and confirm it with them
Course outline
- 1.Preparing a call plan with hypotheses to testLesson · 12 min
- 2.Writing open questions about real, recent eventsLesson · 14 min
- 3.Finding the underlying need behind a requested productLesson · 14 min
- 4.Recognising leading questions, early pitching and missed follow-upsLesson · 12 min
- 5.Writing and confirming a needs summaryLesson · 10 min
- 6.Discovery calls: questions that uncover real needs: knowledge checkKnowledge check · 12 questions
- 7.Discovery calls: questions that uncover real needs: practical exerciseKnowledge check · 1 question
- 8.Final exam10 questions · passing it completes the course, so people who already know the material can test out
Sources it draws on
The lessons and questions are written from these references, so learners can go back to the original.
See it with your own jobs and topics
Tell us about your team and we'll walk you through setup, from choosing jobs to your first skills check.