ID Case File #1 - The Discovery Call
Is the best way to prepare for the first client call to show up empty-handed?
July 14, 2025
The Dilemma
You're wrapping up your last onboarding task at the end of your first week as the new Senior Instructional Designer at ID Inc. when a new message from Skye Calloway, the Director of Design, pops up.
An email forward appears in your inbox:
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: David Chen <dchen@innovamed.com>
Date: Mon, Jul 21, 2025 at 10:44 AM
Subject: Enablement Training for EMR Sales Reps
To: Skye Calloway <skye@id.inc>
Hi Skye, Your firm came highly recommended to me by a trusted colleague. Our main competitor, a company called Cura-Flow, is eating our lunch in head-to-head deals. Their reps just seem more polished. My sales team needs to get better at closing, and I think they just need more confidence. I heard you have some innovative approaches to sales training.
Can you help?
David Chen
VP Sales, InnovaMed
Powering the Future of Medicine
Naturally, I said yes, but that's all we have to go on. InnovaMed is a mid-sized company, about 500 employees, and they're growing fast. They make a sophisticated EMR, an Electronic Medical Record system, for specialized private clinics.
You have a 30-minute call with David scheduled for this afternoon.
Since we don't have a contract yet, this isn't a formal project kickoff; but this first conversation is where we move from being a 'recommended vendor' to becoming their trusted strategic partner.
This is your project to lead now.
The Decision
Your preparation for this 30-minute call will define the entire project. What do you do?
Prepare Solutions:
You decide the best way to establish credibility is to come to the meeting with concrete ideas. You spend your time researching proven sales enablement strategies and prepare a presentation on how to train David's team on a modern, high-impact sales methodology.
Select an option above or scroll down to view the debrief.
The Debrief
The path you choose in your preparation for a first consultation defines whether you act as a vendor or as a strategic partner. Both approaches have very real pros and cons.
Prepare Solutions:
Coming to the call with a presentation on proven sales methodologies is a strong move on the surface. It shows initiative and expertise. A client like David, who is looking for 'innovative approaches,' will often be impressed by this. It feels like you're building credibility quickly.
The risk, however, is massive. You've anchored the entire project to David's initial, self-diagnosed problem of 'confidence.' A client's initial request is often a symptom, not the root cause. You're betting the project's success on the client's assumption being correct. If they're wrong, you will build a brilliant solution to the wrong problem. It might secure a contract quickly, but it won't lead to a successful long-term partnership.
Prepare Questions:
On the other hand, walking in with only questions requires more professional discipline. It can feel like you're slowing things down, and as we saw, it can make a client who wants easy answers feel uncertain. You've ended the call without a clear "yes" to a proposal, however, you have successfully shifted the dynamic. You are not a vendor who sells training; you are a consultant who solves problems. You've risked some initial sales momentum in exchange for a much higher probability of designing a solution that creates real, measurable impact in the long run.
This is the Consultant's Mindset in action. In Human-Centered Design (HCD), we start with empathy before we ever consider a solution. Your goal in that first call is to conduct a rapid, conversational Needs Assessment to find the gap between the current state and the desired business outcome. By asking what top performers do differently, you're looking for an observable performance gap, not a vague feeling.
The Hybrid Strategy
So, which path is right? Neither.
The expert approach isn't about choosing one or the other; it's about blending them to get the best of both worlds. A successful first call is a carefully choreographed dance between demonstrating expertise and guiding discovery.
Here’s the step-by-step process we train our project leads to follow in a 30-minute scoping call.
1
Frame the Conversation
What you might say:
"David, thank you for your time. I'm excited to talk about the innovative approaches we can take to help improve your sales team's performance. To make sure we design the most impactful solution, I'd love to use this call to first understand the specific challenges your team is facing. After that, we can explore some potential strategies."
What's Happening Here:
This is about taking control of the agenda. You immediately validate the client's request ("innovative approaches") but reframe the immediate goal. You are shifting the conversation from "let me show you solutions" to "let's define the problem together." This allows you to focus on discovery while also giving you the flexibility to present only the most relevant solutions once you've done a little more digging.
2
Ask Diagnostic Questions
What you might ask:
Start Broad: "Tell me about your sales team. What's working well right now?"
Probe the Problem: "When you say they 'lack confidence,' where does that show up? Can you give me a specific example of a recent deal where that was an issue?"
Define Success: "Let's imagine it's six months from now and this project has been a huge success. What's different?"
What's Happening Here:
This is the core of the Needs Assessment. You are acting as a performance detective, using strategic, open-ended questions to uncover the root cause of the issue. You are digging for an observable, measurable performance gap, not a vague feeling.
3
Define the Problem
What you might ask:
This will vary of course, but as an example, maybe David mentions that his team knows their product inside and out but struggles with talking about their competitors.
"That's a fascinating insight. It sounds like the core challenge isn't about general confidence, but more about preparing the team for that specific, high-stakes conversation about competitors. That's a problem we are exceptionally good at solving."
What's Happening Here:
This is the critical pivot. You listen for the client's "aha" moment and then synthesize their messy thoughts into a clear, concise problem. By reframing the problem for them, you demonstrate your value and expertise far more effectively than any pre-made presentation could.
4
Close with Next Steps
What you might say:
"This has been incredibly helpful. Based on this conversation, our next step is to develop a brief Project Scope Statement that outlines the problem we've defined today and our proposed high-level approach. I can get that over to you by the end of the week. Does that work for you?"
What's Happening Here:
You've helped the client define their own problem. Now, you close by confidently outlining the next step in your professional process. You are not promising a proposal for a solution; you are promising a plan to explore the now-clarified problem. You leave the call not just with a potential contract, but with a clear, validated Problem Statement, which is the foundation of every successful project we run.
The Bottom Line
This hybrid approach builds lasting trust by proving your expertise through insightful questions, not just pre-made solutions.
But what happens next? Ideally, you'd leave that first call with a clear, validated problem and a direct path to a contract.
The reality, however, is that not all problems are straightforward and not all clients are that forthcoming. A successful first call often doesn't end with a "yes." It ends with the client saying, "You've given me a lot to think about."
By guiding them to this point, you may not get to celebrate a quick sale, but you've achieved something more valuable. You've started to establish a long-term, strategic partnership built on trust, and you've ensured that the project, if and when it does begin, will be focused on solving the right problem. That is the foundation of every successful project we run, and the focus of our entire 5D Spiral.
