How to prepare for discovery calls that convert – this is the topic I was researching years ago when I first started my business. 

As I prepared for some of my first-ever discovery calls, I ended up in a rabbit hole of sales tactics, mindset work, productivity hacks, and initial call strategy. 

That research from the early days of my business, combined with the past 6+ years of freelancing experience, is what has inspired and shaped my current discovery call strategy.

From Nervous To Confident In Discovery Calls

My current strategy is all about preparation, mindset, confidence, clarity, and connection. It’s also why I don’t really get nervous about discovery calls anymore.

It feels so good to head into initial discovery calls with more excitement than nerves these days because, for a long time, I felt anxious before I got onto discovery calls.

I’d sweat, worry, and constantly try to prepare in different ways for each call. I’d go into the calls feeling a mountain of pressure.

But these days I feel…

• Energetic in the conversations.
• More prepared than ever.
• Confident in the value I offer.
• Clear on who I can serve best, and who is not a good fit.

I think a big reason for this shift is that I finally started treating these calls as a true discovery process — for my potential clients and myself.

Discovery calls are a chance for us to connect — for me to understand your goals, for you to understand my process, and for us to BOTH decide whether working together makes sense.

This means that there’s absolutely no pressure.

Treating Initial Calls As A Discovery Process

In fact, the very first call with a potential client is actually just us discovering if we’re the right fit, and if not (for whatever reason) we part ways with no hard feelings.

Sometimes I even refer other freelancers or contractors who may be a better fit. Because it’s just all about finding the right partner for the project.

This mindset around discovery calls didn’t change for me overnight. I’ve spent 6+ years doing initial calls with potential clients and the biggest shifts have taken time.

Step One – Shifting Your Discovery Call Mindset

It’s always the first step and it always makes the biggest impact. Working on my mindset around how to prepare for discovery calls has been the stepping stone to having more conversion and connection on initial calls.

Here are the steps I took to work on my mindset around the discovery process… 

Getting Clear On Your Value And Ideal Clients

When you know who you can serve best, and who you can create the most value for (certain industries, specific projects, a stage of growth, etc.) it gets so much easier to figure out if you are the right fit in your discovery calls.

Focusing On Attracting The Right Projects

This is such a combination of doing great work, building referral networks, being known for certain skills/industries/projects, and making sure your marketing (website!) is communicating what you do super clearly. But as you attract more of the right projects, the better you’ll feel going into discovery calls.

Channeling Abundance, Abundance, Abundance

Truly believing there is enough work out there for everyone is absolutely necessary (at least from my experience) in having great discovery calls. By focusing on the ‘right fit, right partner’ mindset I now go into discovery calls knowing that I won’t be the right fit for every project and that is a GOOD thing.

So the first piece is the mindset work. That has made a massive difference. But the other side of my shift in discovery calls is my preparation and process.

Step Two – The Preparation Process

Over the years I’ve developed a simple guide for getting ready for conversational, high-value discovery calls.

Brand Research

I start with researching your brand across your current website, socials, articles, and more. I want to come into our discovery call with a good understanding of (and good questions about) who you are, who you serve, and how you stand out.

In this phase, I’ll often start to take notes about how your website or messaging may be improved through design, messaging, UX, clarity, retargeting, or branding.

SEO Research 

Next, I run your website through the SEMrush domain overview tool to get a high-level look at your SEO, organic keywords, domain ranking, and more.

This helps me assess areas of opportunity for ranking you higher on search engines, targeting your audience, content ideas, and more.

Prepare My Notes

I write down all my questions, ideas, and suggestions in my Notion so I’m prepared for our call in advance. This allows for a more natural conversation while also ensuring we don’t miss anything in our chat.

About 10 minutes before our discovery call I will review the notes I made and highlight any questions I want to kick off with. Then we hop on Google Meets and talk about you, your business, and your goals!

This 3-step guide has been so helpful in having successful discovery calls in the past year of my business especially. The preparation and consistent process makes calls run smoother and it gives you a good idea of what it’s like to work with me.

Step Three – Repetition And Building Confidence

The last step in preparing for discovery calls that convert is to practice over and over. 

Try using the same strategy for several calls and reflect after each one, were there questions that got missed? Maybe information that you could collect ahead of time to allow for more time in the discovery process? Certain areas of the call you could prepare for differently?

Repetition and consistency are how you grow confidence in your process and begin to develop your own unique strategy for discovery calls.

Have questions about how to prepare for discovery calls? Interested in getting support with your messaging or website? Book a discovery call with me and we can discuss your goals!