Discovery call prep prompt: free ChatGPT template
Updated · By Robert Breen
Use this before a first sales or discovery call, when you have a little information (a form submission, an email, notes from a referral) and 15 minutes to prepare. AI prep sheets tend to state guesses about the prospect as facts, and then you walk in assuming things. This prompt separates what you know from what you don't, then gives you open questions to fill the gaps and a few signs that you might not be a good fit.
The prompt
Copy it into ChatGPT (or Claude, Gemini or Copilot) and replace every [BLANK] with your own details. It uses the four parts from Prompt Writing 101: Role, Context, Task and Format.
Role: You are a sales coach helping me prepare for a discovery call for [COMPANY]. Context: What we sell: [WHAT WE SELL]. The call is with [PROSPECT], and the goal is [CALL GOAL]. Everything I know about them is below. Treat only that as fact; label anything else as an assumption to check. Task: Prepare me for the call. Don't write a pitch. Format: Four short sections: What we know (facts from my notes only), What we don't know yet, 8 open questions in a sensible order (no yes or no questions), and 3 things to listen for that would tell us we're not a good fit. Under 300 words. Here is everything I know about the prospect: [PROSPECT INFO]
Fill in the blanks
[COMPANY]- Your company name.
[WHAT WE SELL]- Your services or product in a sentence.
[PROSPECT]- Name, role and business.
[CALL GOAL]- What a good call achieves, such as understanding their situation and deciding together whether to talk again.
[PROSPECT INFO]- Their form answers, emails, referral notes and what their website says. Leave out private details the prep doesn't need.
Example, filled in
A made-up example from the free lesson n8n AI Agent Tutorial: Save Social Media Ideas to Google Sheets. BrightPath Marketing is the made-up agency in the n8n AI agent lesson. A made-up bike shop owner filled in its contact form, and the call is tomorrow.
Role: You are a sales coach helping me prepare for a discovery call for BrightPath Marketing. Context: What we sell: SEO, paid advertising, social media marketing and website design for small and midsize businesses. The call is with Ana Ortiz, owner of a bike shop with two locations, and the goal is to understand their marketing today and decide together whether we're a fit. Everything I know about them is below. Treat only that as fact; label anything else as an assumption to check. Task: Prepare me for the call. Don't write a pitch. Format: Four short sections: What we know (facts from my notes only), What we don't know yet, 8 open questions in a sensible order (no yes or no questions), and 3 things to listen for that would tell us we're not a good fit. Under 300 words. Here is everything I know about the prospect: Contact form message: "We run Facebook ads ourselves and honestly don't know if they work. Our website is five years old. We want more people booking spring tune-ups." Referred by a client of ours who runs a local cafe.
What a good answer looks like
- "What we know" containing only things from your notes, such as running Facebook ads themselves.
- Gaps named honestly: budget, who decides, how they track results today.
- Open questions like "How do you decide whether an ad worked?" instead of "Are your ads working?"
- Not-a-fit signals, which save both of you time.
How to check it before you use it
An AI draft can sound right and still say something you never told it. Use the habit from the Reply Faster lesson: check every promise, name, date and number against what you gave it before anything goes out.
- Check the "What we know" section line by line against what you pasted. Move anything not in your notes to "What we don't know yet."
- Cut questions you could answer yourself from their website in two minutes, and look those up instead.
- Make sure no question presumes a problem they haven't mentioned.
- After the call, turn your notes into a follow-up with the sales follow-up after demo prompt.
Why this prompt works
The "Don't write a pitch" line keeps the AI on preparation, and good discovery calls are mostly listening. Splitting facts from assumptions is a small defense against hallucination, and it shows you plainly how much you still need to learn.
Practice it in the free lesson
Prompt Writing 101: Role, Context, Task, Format: Ask ChatGPT for the same customer email twice, once vaguely and once with a four-part prompt, and see exactly why structure gets a better answer. You do every step yourself in a practice copy of ChatGPT, and nothing touches your real accounts.
Also useful: Build a Custom GPT That Writes Sales Follow-Up Emails
Terms used here
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Frequently asked questions
- Can I paste notes from my CRM?
- Yes, but remove anything private the prep doesn't need, like personal phone numbers or payment details (PII). Business notes and past emails are what help.