Last reviewed: November 2026
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Printed from checkflow.io/templates/sales/discovery-call-checklist
This free discovery call checklist is for account executives, business development reps and sales managers running the first call with a new prospect. One run covers one call, planned around its date and time. The rep checks the CRM for any history with the account, researches the company and the person, writes their guesses about the prospect’s problems as questions to test, and sends a short agenda. On the call the rep asks about the prospect’s situation, the problem and its impact, how they will decide, the people and the timing, and budget where it comes up, and books the next step before the call ends. The same day the rep writes up the CRM notes, recommends qualify or disqualify against the team’s criteria and sends the follow-up email. The sales manager reviews the decision: qualified opportunities move forward, and disqualified ones are closed with their reason.
A discovery call, in this template, is the first qualification call with a new prospect, owned by the rep who runs it. One run covers one call: the CRM check and the research, a short agenda, the questions on the call, a next step booked before it ends, the notes, the follow-up email the same day and a qualify or disqualify decision that the sales manager reviews. It ends with the opportunity moved forward or closed with its reason.
The demo and the pitch that follow a qualified call have their own Sales Pitch Checklist, and logging every call a rep makes, of any kind, is the job of the Sales Call Tracker Checklist. Once the buyer is evaluating, the Mutual Action Plan takes the deal to signature.
Covers: the CRM check, research on the account and the person, the agenda, the call, the next step, the CRM notes, the follow-up email and the qualify or disqualify decision.
Planned around: the call’s date and time.
Ends with: the sales manager’s decision, then the opportunity moved forward or closed with its reason.
Covers: preparing and giving the pitch or demo, the value proposition, objections and closing on the next step.
Starts: once the prospect has qualified; it opens with a short round of discovery questions before the pitch. Sales Pitch Checklist.
Covers: setting up, making and logging any sales call, with a common set of call outcomes and a daily activity summary.
Runs: every day, for every call a rep makes. Sales Call Tracker Checklist.
Seven phases take one first call from the day it is booked to the sales manager’s decision and what follows it. The first task records the call’s date and time, which sets every due date, and the rep and the sales manager. Planning to record the call adds a task at the start of the call and a note on the rules where the prospect is. The sales manager’s review is the gate: Qualified shows the tasks to move the opportunity forward, Disqualified the tasks to close it out, and More information needed adds a task for the rep before the review.
Owned by the rep who runs the call, on the day it is booked. Enter the call’s date and time on the first task: the research and the agenda count back from it in working days, and the write-up, the manager’s review and what follows count forward from it. Check the CRM before anything else, so you know whether you already have a history with the account.
Keep the research to what will change the conversation: what the company does, what has changed there, who you are meeting and why they might talk to you now. Write your guesses about their problems as questions to test, decide the next step you will ask for, then send a short agenda and confirm the call the day before.
Most of the call is questions and listening. Cover the areas below in whatever order the conversation takes, write down the prospect’s own words, and do not end the call without an agreed next step, even when the step is to stop.
Do this straight after the call, while you remember what was said, and send the follow-up email the same day. The notes, the criteria table and your recommendation are what the sales manager reviews, so write them for someone who was not on the call.
The sales manager reads the notes, the criteria table and the rep’s recommendation, and decides whether the opportunity moves forward or is closed. Nothing after the review can be completed until it is done. More information needed leaves the review open and adds a task before it for the rep.
Applies only when the sales manager’s decision is Qualified. Move the opportunity to its next stage and prepare the next step with what you learned on the call.
Applies only when the sales manager’s decision is Disqualified. Close the record with its reason, tell the prospect if they are still expecting a next step, keep any check-back they agreed to, and tell whoever sourced the lead why it did not qualify.
These are the areas the call tasks in Phase 3 cover, and the criteria table in Phase 4 uses the same headings. Cover them in whatever order the conversation takes. They overlap with named frameworks such as BANT or MEDDICC, but you do not need one to use them.
| Area | What to ask about | What it tells you for the decision |
|---|---|---|
| Their situation | How the work is done today, by whom, with which tools or suppliers, and what they have tried | Whether what you sell fits the way they work |
| The problem and its impact | What is not working, how often, and what it costs in time, money, risk or customers | Whether the problem is big enough for them to act on |
| How they decide | Who signs off, and the steps a purchase goes through, such as security, legal or procurement | Who else you need to meet, and how long a decision may take |
| The people | Who else is affected or involved, and their roles | Whether you are talking to the right people |
| The timing | Whether there is a date the change must happen by, and why | Whether there is a reason to act now |
| Budget, where it is raised | Whether money is set aside or would have to be found, and who holds it | Whether a purchase is possible, now or later |
The first task asks whether you plan to record the call and where the prospect is (the rules where your own team is apply too). Any Yes adds a line to the agenda and a task at the start of the call, with the note for that country. This is a summary for planning, not legal advice.
| Where the people on the call are | What the source says | Source, as read on 4 November 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | Tell the people on the call that you are recording it and why; the rest of your privacy information can be given another way, such as a link to your privacy notice. The guidance is under review after the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 | The ICO’s guidance on monitoring workers, “Can we monitor telephone calls?” |
| United States | Under federal law it is not unlawful for a party to a call to record it, or for anyone to record it with one party’s prior consent, unless it is done to commit a crime or a tort. Some states’ laws need the agreement of everyone on the call | 18 U.S.C. 2511(2)(d); check each state’s law with your legal team |
| Other countries | Check the recording and data protection rules where each person on the call is | Your organisation’s policy and legal advice |
| Every recorded call | Ask everyone at the start, say why, and take notes instead if anyone objects | This template’s choice |
The review is assigned to the sales manager alone, and the checklist halts there: nothing after it can be completed until the manager decides. Qualified shows the tasks to move the opportunity forward, Disqualified the tasks to close it with its reason, and More information needed sends questions back to the rep. See how approvals that halt a checklist work.
On Disqualified the next-step tasks stay hidden, and the rep closes the record with its reason, tells the prospect if they still expect a meeting, keeps any check-back they agreed to and tells whoever sourced the lead why it did not qualify.
Due dates count from the call’s date and time, so when the call moves, one change on the first task moves the research, the agenda, the write-up and the review. Overdue alerts go to the people assigned, and the Reports Grid lists every call with its answers, while Analytics shows where tasks are waiting.
CheckFlow does not replace your CRM: the accounts, contacts and opportunities live there. CheckFlow makes sure every first call gets the same preparation and the same questions, with a due date for each step, the sales manager’s review of the decision and a record of who did what and when. See how a checklist runs.
Prepare the demo with the Sales Pitch Checklist, keep in touch after the call with the Sales Follow-Up Checklist and define your stages with the Sales Pipeline Stages Checklist. Managers who review calls with their reps can use the Sales Coaching Checklist.
Describe the process in a sentence and the AI checklist generator drafts the phases and tasks for you.
A check of the CRM for any history with the account, research on the company and the person, your guesses about their problems written as questions, a short agenda, and on the call their situation, the problem and its impact, how they will decide, the people and the timing, and budget where it comes up. Then a next step booked before the call ends, CRM notes, a qualify or disqualify decision with the reason and a follow-up email the same day.
Questions that let the prospect describe their situation, rather than questions that lead to your product. Ask how the work is done today, what is not working and what it costs them, what happens if nothing changes, who else is involved and who signs off, whether there is a date they must act by, and, where it is raised, whether there is budget. Write their answers in their own words.
A discovery call is for finding out whether there is a problem worth solving and a way to buy, so the rep mostly asks questions. A demo shows how the product answers what the prospect said on that call. In this template the demo is the next step a qualified call books, and the Sales Pitch Checklist covers preparing and giving it.
Against criteria your team agrees in advance. In this template the rep fills in a table after the call: the problem and its impact, how they decide, the people, the timing, budget and fit with what you sell, each marked met, not met or not known. The rep recommends qualify, disqualify as not a fit or disqualify as not now, with the reason, and the sales manager decides.
A second view catches a prospect closed too early, such as one who cannot buy now but would later, and a reason that keeps coming up may say something about where the leads come from. In this template the sales manager reviews every decision. Disqualified shows the close-out tasks, which keep any check-back the prospect agreed to and tell whoever sourced the lead why it did not qualify.
Often you can, but the rules depend on where people are. In the UK, the ICO’s guidance says you must tell the people on the call that you are recording it and why. In the US, federal law does not forbid a party to a call from recording it, but some states’ laws need the agreement of everyone on the call. This template asks everyone at the start and takes notes instead if anyone objects.
Thank them, sum up what you heard in their own words, confirm the next step with its date and who will attend, and send anything you promised. If it is not a fit, say so politely and say when you will check back if they agreed to that. This template asks for the email the same day as the call, after the CRM notes.
Before the call ends, while everyone is still there and can check their calendars. In this template the last task on the call asks what was agreed: a next meeting booked, a date to check back, or no next step. The follow-up email confirms it in writing the same day, and the sales manager’s review decides whether the opportunity moves forward.
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