What to Research Before a Discovery Call: The Complete Checklist

Why Discovery Call Research Matters

The first 30 seconds of a discovery call determine whether your prospect sees you as a trusted advisor or just another vendor.

Prospects can immediately tell when you've done your homework. And they definitely notice when you haven't. "So, what does your company do?" is a deal killer.

Here's the complete checklist of what to research before every discovery call.

The Company Research Checklist

Basic Information

• What does the company do? (One-sentence description)
• Industry and sector (Be specific - "B2B SaaS" not just "technology")
• Company size (Employees, locations, revenue range if public)
• Founded when? (Startup vs. established matters for sales approach)
• Headquarters location (Time zone awareness for scheduling)

Business Context

• Business model (How do they make money?)
• Key products or services (What's their core offering?)
• Target market (Who are their customers?)
• Recent funding or financial events (Crunchbase, press releases)
• Growth stage (Early stage, scaling, mature, restructuring?)

Recent Activity

• Latest press releases or news (Last 3-6 months)
• Job postings (What are they hiring for? This reveals priorities)
• Product launches or updates (What's new?)
• Leadership changes (New CEO/CTO often means new priorities)

The Prospect Research Checklist

Professional Background

• Current title and department (Decision maker? Influencer? End user?)
• Time in current role (New = building credibility. Tenured = established preferences)
• Previous companies and roles (Career trajectory reveals priorities)
• Education (Shared alma mater? Relevant for rapport)

LinkedIn Activity

• Recent posts (What topics do they care about?)
• Articles shared or written (Thought leadership areas)
• Comments on others' posts (What conversations are they joining?)
• Mutual connections (Ask for warm intros or mention them)
• Groups (Industry associations, peer groups)

The Pain Point Research Checklist

Industry-Level Pain Points

• Top 3 challenges in their industry (Google "[industry] challenges 2026")
• Regulatory changes (Compliance is always urgent)
• Market trends (What's disrupting their space?)
• Common tech stack (What tools do companies like theirs typically use?)

Company-Specific Pain Points

• Glassdoor reviews (Employees reveal internal challenges)
• Customer reviews of their product (G2, Capterra - shows market position)
• Job postings (Hiring for a "Head of Operations" suggests ops problems)
• Tech stack (BuiltWith, Wappalyzer - shows current tools and potential gaps)

The Competitive Intelligence Checklist

• Who are their competitors? (Direct and indirect)
• What tools are they currently using? (That compete with yours)
• Why might they switch? (Contract timing, feature gaps, pricing)
• What do competitors' customers complain about? (G2 reviews of their current tool)

The Conversation Starter Checklist

Pick at least one from:

• A recent company win ("Congrats on the Series B...")
• A post they wrote ("I saw your post about...")
• A mutual connection ("I noticed we both know...")
• Industry news ("With [trend] happening in your space...")
• A genuine compliment ("Your product's onboarding is really well designed...")

The Realistic Version

Let's be honest: doing all of this for every call isn't realistic. Most reps have 5-8 calls per day.

The minimum viable research (5 minutes):

• What does the company do? (1 min)
• Who is the prospect? (1 min)
• What likely pain points do they have? (2 min)
• One conversation starter (1 min)

The ideal research (15 minutes):

All of the above plus competitive intel, recent news, and LinkedIn activity deep dive.

The automated version (0 minutes of your time):

Use AI Call Prep to get all of this delivered to you automatically before every call. Connect your calendar, and the research comes to you.

Make It a Habit

The best sales reps don't have superhuman research skills - they have systems. Whether it's a checklist, a template, or an AI tool, the key is making preparation automatic so you never walk into a call cold.

Your prospects notice. Your close rate reflects it.