Discovery

Run structured discovery calls and workshops. AI generates question frameworks, meeting agendas, and produces a complete discovery summary with pain points, stakeholders, and next steps.

Skill Details

Install this skill

Versionv1.0.0AuthorJorge ArteagaLicenseMITSections19

Works with

Claude CodeCursorWindsurf

When This Skill Owns the TaskWorkflow

Required Context to Gather FirstWorkflow

Before generating any discovery artifact, ask for or infer:

Company name and industry — What is the prospect's vertical?

Discovery stage — Pre-call prep, in-call facilitation, or post-call debrief?

Known context — What do we already know? (company size, current tech stack, stated interest)

Call duration — 30 min, 60 min, or multi-session workshop?

Audience — Who is attending? (technical, business, C-suite, mixed)

Goal of the call — First discovery, technical deep-dive, or executive alignment?

Previous touchpoints — Has there been any prior conversation or demo?

WorkflowWorkflow

When this skill is triggered, follow these steps:

Determine the artifact needed — Agenda? Question bank? Post-call summary? All three?

Research the company — Use known context to tailor questions to the specific industry and role.

Build the agenda — Apply the Open / Explore / Confirm structure.

Generate the question bank — Layer SPIN questions with MEDDIC probes.

Run through the call — If facilitating, follow the agenda; capture responses verbatim.

Produce the discovery summary — Use the output template below; fill every section.

Score the opportunity — Hand off to sf-se-qualification if a deal score is needed.

Core Frameworks

Discovery Call Structure: Open / Explore / Confirm

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  OPEN (5 min)                                       │
│  Set the agenda. Establish psychological safety.    │
│  "Our goal today is to understand your world        │
│   before we talk about ours."                       │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  EXPLORE (40 min)                                   │
│  Situation → Problem → Implication → Need-Payoff.   │
│  Listen 70%, talk 30%. Never pitch in this phase.  │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  CONFIRM (10 min)                                   │
│  Reflect back what you heard. Validate priorities.  │
│  "Did I capture the most important things?"         │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  CLOSE (5 min)                                      │
│  Agree on next steps. Set the mutual action plan.   │
│  Never leave without a date for the next meeting.   │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

SPIN Question Framework

MEDDIC Qualification Probes (use in Explore phase)

Active Listening Patterns

Reflect — Repeat back what you heard: "So if I understand correctly, the issue is..."
Probe deeper — "Tell me more about that." / "What does that look like specifically?"
Normalize — "That's actually really common in [industry]. We hear that a lot."
Validate — "That makes sense given [context you just learned]."
Silence — After a question, count to 5 before jumping in. Silence generates answers.

Output FormatTemplate

Discovery Call Agenda Template

MARKDOWN

# Discovery Call — [Company Name]
**Date:** [Date] | **Duration:** [X] min | **Attendees:** [Names/Roles]

## Agenda
1. Introductions and purpose (5 min)
2. Current state: [process area] (15 min)
3. Challenges and pain points (15 min)
4. Vision and success criteria (10 min)
5. Next steps and mutual action plan (5 min)

## Context We Have Going In
- Industry: [Industry]
- Current tech: [Known systems]
- Stated interest: [What they asked about]
- Open questions: [What we don't know yet]

Discovery Summary Template (Post-Call)

MARKDOWN

# Discovery Summary — [Company Name]
**Date:** [Date] | **SE:** [Your Name] | **AE:** [AE Name]

## Attendees
| Name | Title | Role in Decision |
|------|-------|-----------------|
| [Name] | [Title] | [Sponsor / Evaluator / User / Blocker] |

## Current State
[2-3 sentences describing how they do things today and what systems they use]

## Key Pain Points
1. **[Pain #1]** — [Description. Include their exact words if possible.]
2. **[Pain #2]** — [Description.]
3. **[Pain #3]** — [Description.]

## Business Impact of Status Quo
- [Quantified or estimated impact: e.g., "~20 hours/week lost to manual reporting"]
- [Risk or compliance exposure if applicable]

## Desired Future State
[What success looks like in their words]

## Decision Criteria (What They're Evaluating On)
1. [Criterion 1]
2. [Criterion 2]
3. [Criterion 3]

## Open Questions / Gaps
- [ ] [Question we didn't get to]
- [ ] [Information we still need]

## Next Steps
| Action | Owner | Due Date |
|--------|-------|----------|
| [Action] | [Name] | [Date] |

## Deal Assessment
- **MEDDIC completeness:** [x/6 elements confirmed]
- **Recommended next step:** [Technical deep-dive / Demo / Pilot / Qualify out]

Anti-PatternsReference

Scoring Rubric (90 Points)Reference

Score Guide:

80-90: Excellent discovery. Advance the deal.
60-79: Solid. Fill the MEDDIC gaps before next meeting.
40-59: Surface-level. Schedule a second discovery before demoing.
Below 40: Restart discovery. Not enough known to demo or quote.

Cross-Skill IntegrationReference

Task	This Skill	Defer To
Write discovery call questions	Yes	—
Build a discovery call agenda	Yes	—
Produce a discovery summary after a call	Yes	—
Map pain points to Salesforce solutions	Yes	—
Score whether to advance the deal	No	sf-se-qualification
Map specific stakeholders and their influence	No	sf-se-stakeholder-mapping
Build the demo based on discovery findings	No	sf-se-demo-scripts
Write the business case from discovery	No	sf-se-proof-of-value
Layer	Purpose	Example Questions
Situation	Understand current state	"Walk me through how your team currently manages [process]."
Problem	Surface pain and friction	"What's the biggest challenge with that today?"
Implication	Expand the pain	"What happens downstream when [problem] occurs?"
Need-Payoff	Let them articulate value	"If you could solve that, what would that mean for the business?"
Element	Discovery Question
Metrics	"How do you measure success for this initiative? What's the target?"
Economic Buyer	"Who ultimately owns the budget and signs the contract?"
Decision Criteria	"What does the ideal solution look like? What's a must-have vs. nice-to-have?"
Decision Process	"Walk me through how you've made technology purchases like this before."
Identify Pain	"What's the cost — in time, money, or risk — of not solving this?"
Champion	"Who internally is most passionate about solving this problem?"
Anti-Pattern	Why It Fails	Fix
Pitching in the first meeting	Signals you care more about selling than understanding	Follow Open/Explore/Confirm; never pitch until you've confirmed their pain
Asking leading questions	Confirms your assumptions rather than revealing reality	Use open-ended SPIN questions; avoid "Don't you think X would help?"
Taking over the conversation	Prospect stops sharing; you miss critical information	Talk 30%, listen 70%; use silence as a tool
Generic questions not tailored to the industry	Shows lack of preparation; loses credibility	Research the vertical before the call; reference industry-specific terms
No next step at the end of the call	Deal stalls; momentum dies	Always leave with a specific, time-boxed mutual action
Skipping the Implication layer	Pain stays surface-level; urgency never builds	After every Problem question, follow with "And what does that mean for...?"
Not capturing verbatim quotes	You lose the exact language that resonates with the economic buyer	Write down their exact words during the call; use them in your summary
Category	Points	Pass Criteria
Pain Depth	25	At least 3 distinct pain points with business impact quantified
MEDDIC Coverage	20	At least 4 of 6 MEDDIC elements confirmed
Listening Ratio	15	SE talked less than 30% of the time
Summary Quality	20	All sections of the discovery summary template filled
Next Steps	10	Specific follow-on meeting scheduled before call ends
Skill	When to Use It
sf-se-qualification	Score the deal after discovery using a formal qualification framework
sf-se-stakeholder-mapping	Map the specific individuals named in the discovery summary
sf-se-demo-scripts	Use the pain points from discovery to tailor the demo story
sf-se-presentation	Build the follow-up presentation anchored on discovered pain points
sf-se-proof-of-value	Quantify the business case using metrics surfaced in discovery
sf-se-deal-strategy	Build a win plan using the MEDDIC data from this discovery