Lesson 2 - The best opening question on discovery calls

You may have heard a dozen different opening lines to use with potential clients, from well-meaning relatives, business bros, and sales trainers. They might work. They might get people’s attention. But today, I want to share one foolproof opening question that you can use on any call with any client that will get them to open up to you. 

It’s simple. All you ask is this:

“What do you have going on today?” 

That’s it. When you ask this question, you immediately see people’s guard go down. They stop to think for a moment, because they’re expecting to hear “what do you do?” or “thanks for the time today,” or some other boring opener like that. Asking “what have you been up to today?” immediately breaks them out of their shell, and has them thinking about what they’re been up to. 

The great part about this question is that they can take it anywhere they want to. If they’re having a stressful work day, they’ll tell you that. If their boss is on their nerves, they’ll hint at that. If they are running around town, they’ll tell you that. If they’re tired or hungry or are headed somewhere fun that night, they’ll tell you that. You really can’t predict what they’ll say, but you can predict that they’ll tell you something interesting and useful. 

But this opening question only works well if you know where to take it next. 

This isn’t the time for you to name drop, or dive into your pitch, or start talking about how busy you are. This is is the time for you to ask a follow up questions. In fact, you should be aiming to ask as many follow up questions as you can, to keep the conversation off of business for as long as you reasonably can. 

So, if someone tells you what they’ve been up to that day, you need to pick up on their energy and match it. For example, if someone says:

“Ah I’ve just been working all day!” 

Then you should match their vibe by saying, “Sounds like you’re slammed! I feel that. What have you been juggling?” 

Here are some other responses you can use when they say different things.

“I’m headed to pick up my kid from school right now” -> “Ah, they’ve got you running all around town! How old are your kiddos?” 

“I’m actually headed to a concert tonight!” -> “Alright! Who are you seeing?” 

“I just got back from vacation and am catching up.” -> “Where did you go?” Or “how did you like it?”

The goal of these responses is twofold:

1. To keep the non-work conversation going as long as you can.

2. To determine what kind of energy you should have on the call.

So, if they’re excited to go to a concert, they might be a little distracted. That means you can’t be boring. You have leeway to be a little more fun, to joke around a little more. If they’re slammed with work, you know you’ve got to get through the call on-time, or maybe even leave them with a few minutes extra.

To make a transition back to your capacities deck, all you have to do is say, “Well, I know you’re busy, so let me run you through this deck and show you how we can help take some work off your plate.” 

As long as you stay open to letting the conversation go where it will go, this opening line is undefeated. It gives you the emotional information you need to lead the call where it needs to go. 

Tomorrow, we dive into understanding your client’s needs and constraints, which will help you determine which pages of your deck to show them.