Sales and Onboarding

Discovery Call SOP

What

A structured 30-minute phone or video call with a qualified prospect. The goal is not to pitch — it is to diagnose. You are a specialist, not a salesperson. By the end, you either present the right solution or you disqualify. Either outcome is a win.

Guiding principle: The call should be the most helpful 30 minutes they’ve had all year. If they hang up feeling like they learned something valuable whether they buy or not, you ran a great call.

Who Owns It

Account Executive / Owner — whoever handles sales. This call should never be delegated to a VA or junior team member until your close rate is proven and your script is locked.

Steps

Pre-Call Prep (15 minutes before)

Pull up the intake form they submitted. Read every field. Do not go in cold.
Note their current revenue range (if provided). Adjust your framing accordingly — a $300K/yr business needs different messaging than a $2M/yr business.
Google the business. Look at their website, Google Business Profile, and one social platform. Note: Are they running ads? How do their reviews look? What does their online presence signal?
Check your CRM ([YOUR CRM]) for any prior contact history, emails, or notes.
Have your offer tiers pulled up and ready. Do not wing the pricing conversation.
Set a timer for 30 minutes. Respect their time.

The Call: 5-Question Diagnostic Framework

Work through these questions in order. Do not skip ahead. Each answer informs the next question.

Question 1 — Type of business and current situation

“Tell me about your [YOUR NICHE] business — how long have you been operating, how many locations, and roughly how many leads or jobs do you handle in a typical month?”

What you’re listening for: Scale, stage (new vs. established), whether they’re in growth mode or survival mode.

Question 2 — Current revenue

“Without getting too specific, are you currently closer to [revenue range A] or [revenue range B] per year? I ask because the right strategy looks different depending on where you are.”

What you’re listening for: Whether they’re a fit for your minimum viable engagement. If they’re too small, be honest about it now.

Question 3 — How they get customers today

“Right now, where does most of your new business come from — referrals, Google, ads, social media, drive-by? And roughly what percentage would you say each?”

What you’re listening for: Dependency on referrals (vulnerable), whether they’ve invested in marketing before, and gaps you can fill.

Question 4 — What they’ve already tried

“Have you worked with a marketing agency or tried running ads or SEO before? If so, what happened — what worked and what didn’t?”

What you’re listening for: Pain points from past agencies (unreturned calls, no reporting, false promises). This tells you what NOT to do and what to emphasize in your proposal. If they’ve been burned, name it: “That’s actually the most common thing we hear.”

Question 5 — 12-month goal

“If we were sitting here 12 months from now and everything went the way you hoped, what would be different about your business?”

What you’re listening for: Their real outcome — not “more leads” but what more leads represents. A second location. Hiring. Less stress. Knowing their actual goal lets you sell the outcome, not the service.

Present the Offer Stack

Only present tiers AFTER you have completed all five questions. Use what you heard to frame the recommendation.

“Based on what you’ve shared, here’s what I think makes sense…”

[TIER 1 NAME] — [$X]/month

Best for: businesses newer to digital marketing or with a tighter budget
Includes: [list core deliverables — e.g., GBP optimization, local SEO, monthly reporting]
Setup fee: [$X]

[TIER 2 NAME] — [$Y]/month (recommended for most)

Best for: established businesses ready to scale lead volume
Includes: everything in Tier 1 + [e.g., Google Ads management, review generation system, bi-weekly calls]
Setup fee: [$Y]

[TIER 3 NAME] — [$Z]/month

Best for: businesses with multiple locations or aggressive growth targets
Includes: everything in Tier 2 + [e.g., content marketing, social ads, dedicated account manager, weekly calls]
Setup fee: [$Z]

Present all three. Let them tell you where they land. Do not pre-disqualify them from the top tier.

Handle the 3 Common Objections

“I need to think about it.”

Do not panic. Do not offer a discount. Ask:

“Of course — what specifically do you want to think through? Is it the budget, the timing, or something about how this works that isn’t clear yet?”

Usually they’ll give you the real objection. Address that specific thing. If they genuinely need time, schedule the follow-up call before you hang up: “Let’s put something on the calendar now so you have a slot — you can always cancel if you decide sooner.”

“I can’t afford it.”

First, validate:

“I hear you — budget is a real constraint and I don’t want to push you into something that doesn’t make sense financially.”

Then probe:

“Can I ask — is it that the number is outside your budget entirely, or is it more about not being confident yet that it’ll pay off?”

If it’s confidence, address ROI with a concrete example: “A client we work with in [niche] was spending [$X] per month and generating [Y leads] at [$Z cost per lead] within 90 days.” If it’s truly a budget issue, offer Tier 1 or be honest that they may not be the right fit yet.

“We’re not ready yet.”

Ask:

“What would need to be true for you to feel ready?”

They’ll give you either a real condition (waiting on a hire, opening a new location) or a vague delay. If it’s a real condition, note it in your CRM and set a follow-up task for that date. If it’s vague, ask if you can stay in touch and send them one resource per month — keep them warm.

Close or Schedule Follow-Up

If they’re ready to move forward:

“Great — I’ll send you a proposal by [specific date — within 48 hours]. I’ll also include a link to pre-schedule our kickoff call so we can hit the ground running the moment you sign.”

If they need a follow-up:

“Let’s do this — I’ll put 20 minutes on the calendar for [specific date/time]. By then you’ll have had a chance to look at the proposal and I can answer any remaining questions.”

Never leave a call without a next step on the calendar.

Post-Call CRM Logging (within 30 minutes of the call)

Log the following in [YOUR CRM]:

Contact record updated with call date and outcome
Revenue range noted in custom field
Current marketing channels noted
Past agency experience noted (good and bad)
12-month goal noted verbatim if possible
Tier they seemed most interested in
Objections raised
Next step + follow-up date set as a task
Lead stage updated (e.g., Discovery Complete → Proposal Sent)

Definition of Done

All 5 diagnostic questions answered and logged in [YOUR CRM]
Prospect received a clear presentation of all 3 tiers
Next step is scheduled (proposal delivery date OR follow-up call)
CRM updated within 30 minutes of the call
If no-show: one email + one call attempt made within 2 hours, reschedule offered