Client Discovery Skill

The brief a client gives you is rarely the real problem — and the difference is where good consulting (and accurate scoping) lives. This skill preps a discovery session that gets beneath the stated ask to the actual problem, qualifies whether it's a fit (budget, authority, timeline), and pins the success criteria — so you scope and price accurately and write a proposal that lands.

Required Inputs

Ask for these only if they aren't already provided:

• The prospect — who they are, the stated ask, and how they found you.
• Your offering — what you do, so questions probe fit.
• What you need to decide — go/no-go, scope, and price.

Output Format

Discovery Plan: [prospect]

1. The goal of the call — qualify + uncover the real problem + earn the right to propose. Not to pitch.

2. Get to the real problem — questions that move past the symptom to the cause and the stakes:

• "What made this a priority now?" · "What have you already tried?" · "What happens if you do nothing?" · "How will you know this is solved?" · "Who else is affected / involved?"
• Use 5-whys-style follow-ups to reach the root, not the presenting issue.

3. Qualify (fit) — surface, tactfully:

• Budget — is there one, and roughly what range? ("Have you set aside budget / a range in mind?")
• Authority — who decides and signs? Are they on the call?
• Timeline — when do they need it, and why that date?
• — what happens after this call; who else weighs in.