Chapter 03 / Discovery
Last updated: Published by Tim Kilroy
Agency discovery questions are open questions that uncover what is broken in a prospect's business, how big the problem is, what they have tried, how they decide, and whether you can help. This chapter of the Agency Coach FAQ groups them by purpose so you can run a first call that earns a second one.
Ask about urgency, cost, history, decision process and success: why now, what it costs to do nothing, what they have tried, who decides, and how they will measure it. Tim Kilroy's rule is that the discovery call is not a sales call, so these questions replace the pitch rather than lead into it.
In the Agency Coach FAQ, a discovery call is a structured conversation whose only job is to understand the prospect's problem well enough to decide whether a next step makes sense. That definition comes from Tim Kilroy's discovery call playbook. It sits at the front of the sale. The selling comes later, on a separate sales call where you present an approach and ask for a decision.
The most common mistake Tim sees, about twice a month in coaching, is an agency that walks through its process and case studies, asks about timeline, and calls that discovery. It is a pitch with a question stapled to the end. Those are the deals that go quiet after the proposal.
| Purpose | Question to ask | What you learn |
|---|---|---|
| Urgency | What made this a priority now? | Whether there is a trigger and a timeline |
| Size of problem | What is this costing you each month? | Whether the problem is worth money |
| History | What have you tried, and what happened? | What not to propose and what they fear |
| Decision | Who else weighs in, and how do you decide? | Authority and the path to yes |
| Success | How will you know this worked? | The outcome your proposal must promise |
| Fit | What would make this not worth it? | Red flags and deal breakers |
If you want a ready list, these ten cover nearly everything a first call needs to uncover:
The first, second, fifth, eighth and ninth also work as five open-ended questions, because each invites a story rather than a yes or no. The last four are the powerful ones: they make the prospect think about value and decision criteria at the same time.
Full framework: Tim Kilroy's Agency Discovery Call Playbook. To check how a call actually went, see sales-call review, or return to the agency coach FAQ.
A discovery question is an open question that helps you understand the prospect's business, problem and decision process before you propose anything. Tim Kilroy defines the discovery call as a structured conversation whose only job is to understand the problem well enough to decide whether a next step makes sense. Selling comes later.
Good ones uncover what is broken, how big the problem is, what they have tried, how they decide and whether you can help. Examples: What made this a priority now? What happens if nothing changes this quarter? What have you tried, and what happened? Who else weighs in on this decision? How will you know this worked?
No. Tim Kilroy is direct about it: the discovery call is not a sales call. Discovery is about understanding the problem. The sales call comes after, when you present an approach and ask for a decision. Agencies that pitch during discovery tend to give the generic version of their offer and then get ghosted after the proposal.
Try these five. Walk me through how this problem shows up day to day. What have you already tried? What would success look like in six months? How does your team make a decision like this? What would make you say this was not worth it? Each one invites a story instead of a yes or no.
If you only get five, ask why now, what it costs them to leave the problem alone, what they have tried, who decides and how, and how they will measure success. Those cover urgency, value, history, authority and outcome, which is most of what you need to decide whether a proposal makes sense.
Powerful questions make the prospect think rather than recite. What happens if you do nothing? What is this costing you each month? If we solved this, what would you do with the time or money? What would have to be true for you to move forward? They surface value and decision criteria at the same time.
Think about the prospect's business, not just their website. Look at their market, recent news, likely constraints and the questions their situation raises. Tim Kilroy's free Discovery Lab tool is built for this step: it produces a prospect brief with a company overview, recent news, conversation starters and smart questions to ask.
Both sides should know enough to decide whether another conversation is worth the time. If it makes sense, agree on a specific next step with a date. If it does not, say so. The follow-up should then recap what the prospect said in their words and tie your offer to their situation rather than repeat the pitch.
Tim Kilroy coaches owners of marketing, creative, PR and other service agencies on positioning, pipeline and sales. Tell him what is going on, and he will help you find what to fix first.
