10 · Discovery worksheet

What I send before every first call

Most AEs show up to discovery unprepared and use the call to collect information they could have asked for in advance. This worksheet goes out before the meeting. Fill it in, download a PDF, and share it with me ahead of time — or use it yourself to think through where you actually stand.

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Why I do this

Discovery is the highest-leverage part of any enterprise sale. The AE who walks in knowing the answers to these eight questions owns the room — the AE who asks them for the first time during the call is already losing.

Sending a worksheet before the meeting signals three things to a prospect: I respect your time, I do my homework, and I sell to technically literate buyers who expect precision — not rapport theater.

The questions below are sequenced by the information dependency chain: you need to know the stack before you can scope the problem; you need to know the sponsor before you can size the decision; you need to know what failed before you can propose something that won’t.

Eight questions · Fill in → Download PDF

You can answer all eight or just the ones relevant to your situation. Partial answers are valid.

Worksheet progress0 / 8

1. Current identity stack

Name the IAM tools, IdPs, PAM solutions, and MFA vendors in use today — include version or tier if known. This tells me what integrations are realistic and where technical debt lives.

2. Problem to solve in the next 6 months

What is the one business problem or risk that is forcing a decision right now? Be specific — "reduce friction" is not a problem; "M&A-driven account consolidation across 4 tenants by Q3" is.

3. Executive sponsor & decision committee

Who owns the budget? Who has veto? Who is the technical champion? Knowing the org structure lets me prepare the right ROI narrative for each person rather than a generic deck.

4. What success looks like in 12 months

Describe the measurable outcome — not the feature — that would make this a win. This becomes the north star for scoping, phasing, and post-sale QBR metrics.

5. Evaluation process

Walk me through the gate stages: POC → internal review → security review → legal → procurement. Knowing the process lets me resource the right people at the right time instead of surprises late in the cycle.

6. Production timeline

When does this need to be live? Hard deadlines (compliance audit, contract renewal, product launch) compress cycles; no deadline extends them. I need the real date, not an aspiration.

7. Budget range or band

A band is enough: sub-$100K, $100K–$500K, $500K+. This calibrates whether we talk platform licensing, professional services, or multi-year enterprise agreements. No range = no mutual fit check.

8. What has been tried before — and why it did not work

Past failures are the most valuable signal in discovery. Did a POC die in security review? Did a rollout stall on change management? Understanding the graveyard prevents me from pitching the same cemetery plot.

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Ready to talk?

Once you've filled this in, send the PDF my way or bring it to the call. I'll have read it before we speak.

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